Tag: celebrity

MARIA BY CALLAS – Review

Maria Callas. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

In many ways, American-born soprano Maria Callas’ life was operatic, with plenty of triumph and tragedy. Early in MARIA BY CALLAS, we see Maria Callas being interviewed by television host David Frost, as she describes her life being divided into two parts, a professional self she calls Callas and a personal self she calls Maria. Maria Callas was a fabulously famous opera star and icon of the mid-20th century who embodied the word diva, and also an intriguing international celebrity avidly covered by tabloid media. MARIA BY CALLAS allows the singer herself to set the record straight on personal and professional gossip.

Maria Callas was the most acclaimed soprano of her time but she was nothing like the stereotype of an opera singer – you know, the heavy woman in elaborate costume standing stiffly while singing. Tall, slim, with large eyes and strong regal features, Callas moved and emoted as she sang, in that golden voice that needed no amplification. Her performance style, stage presence and glorious voice brought her legions of fans. But Callas also was a jet-set celebrity, famously linked with Greek millionaire Aristotle Onassis, who left Callas to marry Jackie Kennedy and then returned to her after the marriage broke up.

Director Tom Volf’s MARIA BY CALLAS offers a personal view of the legendary singer, more an introductory sampling of her work and life than a definitive, exhaustive biography. MARIA BY CALLAS captures a sense of the time period, as well as letting the singer tell us about her life and her work in her own words. For fans who know her work well, the best parts of this film are the performance segments, which are plentiful.

With her large eyes, strong features and tall slim figure, Maria Callas looked the part of a diva, as well as having the golden voice and technical skills to thrill audiences. In MARIA BY CALLAS, the singer herself speaks about her life and career in a series of interviews, supplemented with performance footage, adoring fans speaking about her, and news coverage of this celebrated star whose fame transcended the world of opera. Anyone even a little curious about this icon of her era should enjoy this warm, well-made film, as will opera fans.

This enjoyable documentary skips both the usual narration and talking head expert interviews to let the singer tells us directly about herself, with only a couple of title cards to set the stage. This very intimate approach is effective, drawing us into her world in a warm manner.

One need not be an opera fan to enjoy this documentary but it holds particular delights for those who are. Opera is bold, melodramatic and demands big, beautiful voices that need no amplification, and Callas had the goods. Not only did she have the voice and training, she brought acting skills to her singing, enhancing the vocal fireworks by “selling the song” dramatically, instead of just standing and singing as some opera singers do. The film features archival clips of Callas singing some of the most famous arias from “Carmen,” “Madame Butterfly,” “La Traviata,” and others. The performance footage is presented in an unusual way, as if we are peering through the back of a movie projector, seeing the black-edged square of the individual frame, as well as portions of the frames above and below and the sprocket holes or sound strip running along side. The result is an unexpected image that keeps you focused on the singing itself. Other archival footage dispenses with that technique, allowing us to concentrate on Callas remarkable acting skills as she sang.

MARIA BY CALLAS gives us home movies, news footage, and plenty of interviews. Callas talks about growing up in New York as part of a Greek-American family, her mother’s drive to make her daughter an opera star, her own work ethic and commitment to her career at the cost of a family life. She talks about her failed early marriage, her never-fulfilled longing for children, and about her famous long-running affair with Aristotle Onassis.

Callas was as famous in her era as a jet-set celebrity as a opera star. While adoring opera fans lined up for hours to get tickets to her performances, others eagerly snapped up tabloid papers to read about her love life or tales of temperamental behavior. Callas herself explains the latter as more a consequence of her exacting professional standards in her work than moodiness or temper. The film also delves into lesser known details of her life, such as her dabbling in film acting.

MARIA BY CALLAS paints a warm, touching portrait of the legendary Maria Callas, as a person as well as offering a sampling of her work and an overview of her career. This delightful film should please her fans as well as offer a warm introduction to non-fans. MARIA BY CALLAS opens Friday, November 30, at Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA – The Review

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The “metacinema” is a small but ever-present category of films that span all genres, typically are of a smaller, art house or independent scale of production and typically are also hit or miss. Metacinema, for the sake of this review, is loosely defined as a film presented as a story about its own production. These films, albeit possible, are usually not documentary, but are presented in a way that can seem based in non-fiction. For this reason, some viewers find them confusing or distracting. Some of these films are rather pretentious, while others are quite groundbreaking.

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA falls somewhere safely between pretentious and groundbreaking on the scale of successful metacinema filmmaking. Truth be told, this is not actually a true example of metacinema, as its not a film about its own production. However, it is a film about an actress preparing for a major role in a play and the insecurities she has in connection with the play, her career and her stage in life.

Juliette Binoche plays Maria Enders, a popular but aging actress who must face an uncomfortable reflection of herself when she reluctantly agrees to taking part in a revival of the play that kick started her career 20 years prior. In the revival, however, she plays an older character, while a much younger rising actress named Jo-Ann Ellis (played by Chloe Grace Moretz) takes on the role Maria played 20 years ago. Struggling to connect with her current role and still emotionally attached to her original role, Maria must face the young actress and herself and embrace her place in time.

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA is set within the Swiss Alps as she and Valentine, her personal assistant, travel by train to attend a tribute to the playwright and director that gave Maria her break, only to have tragedy strike and alter their plans. Having made the journey into the mountains, Maria and Valentine decide to make the most of it and prepare for her role. What ensues is a rather surreal, often uncomfortable blending and blurring of reality and rehearsed performance that juxtaposes the two throughout the two women’s time in the mountains.

Valentine, played by Kristen Stewart, provides a sort of balancing reality check for Maria, who is far too caught up in her own drama to focus herself on the role. Maria needs Valentine, not only to organize and plan her daily life, but also to challenge and force her to delve into her role, no matter how it makes her feel. Stewart gives a surprisingly deft and articulate performance, carrying much of the philosophical workload for the film. Stewart trademark persona is still present, but it takes a backseat to the script’s strengths and to her veteran co-star who outshines her, despite Stewart’s commendable portrayal.

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA is written and directed by Oliver Assayas. As is typical of his past work, Assayas still proves to be a writer filling the role of a filmmaker, delivering though-provoking stories with strong characters. Aside from the most obvious dilemma of dealing with one’s own aging and sense of losing relevance, some other smaller but related themes pop up as well. There is a thread of generational and cultural gaps that runs through the film, represented by Maria and Valentine. One of my favorite scenes occurs when the two are having drinks together and discuss a new big budget superhero science-fiction blockbuster in the works and their difference of opinions on the topic. Valentine thoughtfully supports and defends the underlying nature of the genre and its themes while Maria can only laugh and mock the over-the-top, often cheesy superficial appearance of the genre, which she clearly discredits.

Continuing this string of underlying subsurface themes, Maria gradually proves herself to be the quintessential self-indulgent elitist, the type who is concerns with herself and her own life before all else. Manners and compassion for other matter only when convenient for her, but these less desirable traits are subtle and not forthright enough to make her a villain, only occasionally uneasy to like. On the other hand, there are moments when the generational and cultural gap present themselves in reality as well as fiction. For example, when Maria and Valentine take a dip in a lake amongst the mountains, its the aging, not as fit as she once was Binoche that strips down to her full birthday suit, whereas the younger and still more conventionally desirable Stewart who chooses to swim in her panties and bra. This is not to say she should have stripped down as well, but what does this say about the generational and cultural difference in how we see ourselves? I do not believe this was a choice by the character, but rather by the actors.

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA ultimately proves to be an interesting, if somewhat uneven character study that occasionally gets lost within itself. Accompanied by a score that is curiously engaging and eclectic and some immensely beautiful scenic landscapes, the film is certainly not a disappointment, but also does not quite live up to its own potential.

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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