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Maria!Ive just seen a film calledMaria!Say it once and theres music playing.
Say it twice and it sounds like … Oscar?
However, two potential issues loomed.
The first was that the film did not have U.S. distribution.
This makesMariaa statelier, quieter film than its predecessors.
But here, such departures from reality come off as all-too-fitting flights of fancy.
As Jolies Callas reminds us, My life is an opera.
There is no reason in opera.
Three years after giving up public performances, Maria wants to find out if she still has a voice.
When you work with Pablo, you cant do anything by half, Jolie told the Venice press.
Still, if it was easy to sound like Maria Callas, she wouldnt have been Maria Callas.
How well does Jolie pull it off?
Thats Maria singing, a kindly instructor says after hearing her first faltering notes.
I want to hear La Callas.
However little Jolie there may be in the vocals, the performance is all Angelina.
Later, she tells a concerned doctor, Happiness has never produced a beautiful melody.
In this Callas we see, too, an imperious quality that matches the actresss own star persona.
But when asked her feelings about the word diva, she cracked the door slightly.
Its often come with a lot of negative connotations, Jolie said.
It is often other peoples perceptions of a woman that defines who she is.
Her director chimed in: A diva would never exist if there was not excellence in what she does.
Im in the mood for adulation.
This fall, Jolie had better be as well.
