Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas

An Operatic Life

Dearest Reader,

I love to sing. I always have. But I am not particularly fond of movie musicals, except for Grease (1978)…because I’m not a savage. Well, honestly, there are other musicals I’ve enjoyed, but I suppose I am more intrigued by the singers themselves. For instance, I remember listening to an NPR segment, over a decade ago, with the Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey where he explained how he built such amazing breath control and projection in his voice. Sharing one technique, Dempsey would jump off a bluff into a river in Ireland. Swimming and diving to help cultivate his booming voice through mindful breathing techniques. In some ways, singers and many types of performers are effectively athletes. But instead of a physical feat performed in relative silence, singers cultivate both physical stamina and vocal agility. Those who are the highest achieving have to maintain great discipline in order to protect their body as a instrument of their craft. This week I was fortunate to dive into the life of soprano opera legend Maria Callas who is portrayed by celebrity actor and humanitarian Angelina Jolie in Maria (2024). The film, directed by auteur Pablo Larraín and streaming on Netflix, artfully explores the life and death of a musical genius during her final days as portrayed by a maturing Hollywood rebel on the verge of a major creative and critical comeback. Spoilers ahead.

Although Angelina Jolie is considered Hollywood royalty, she comes from relatively humble beginnings. Her estranged father is actor Jon Voight and her mother is the late actress, producer and humanitarian Marcheline Bertrand. Voight was never a consistent figure in her life, so I’m not going to overstate their relationship. By all accounts, especially in Jolie’s own words, Bertrand was a major presence and inspiration for her life. Jolie grew up in Los Angeles with her French-Canadian mother and older brother; they were not wealthy, but well cared for. Sadly, Jolie’s beloved mother passed away in 2007 from ovarian and breast cancer at just 56-years-old. In the intervening years since her mother’s death, Angelina bravely opted for preventative surgery to avoid a cancer trait that runs in the family.

Jolie started nurturing her own family in 2002 with the adoption of her son from Cambodia. She went on to adopt two more children from other parts of the world, as well as, give birth to three children with ex-husband, actor Brad Pitt. At first, I didn’t know what to make of this white celebrity adopting children from across the globe and was admittedly skeptical. But as the years rolled on and I saw the art Jolie was making, I came to recognize the humanitarian impulse in her as genuine and committed. Also she seems to be following in her mother’s footsteps who was a lifelong humanitarian and creative. I suppose if Jolie ever took her privileges for granted, I don’t think she does so any longer, especially after years as United Nations (UN) Goodwill ambassador and Special Envoy for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) from 2001 to 2022. Her work has been genuine and purposeful. Speaking as the daughter of a former UN executive and feminist, I appreciate the work she has done and how she carries that into other areas of her life.

Returning to Jolie’s chosen profession in entertainment, she often remarks during interviews that Maria the film and Callas herself have returned Jolie to her roots as an “artist.” Although she started as a child actor and is now a multi-hyphenate actor/writer/producer/director, I first noticed Jolie in the 1995 cult classic Hackers. In the film Jolie plays a punk, computer savvy teen who along with other hackers thwart a vast conspiracy. She next stood out to me in 1998 biopic Gia about top fashion model Gia Carangi who died young following a high-flying, volatile, drug addled life. Carangi died at just 26-years-old after a heroin addition exposed her to HIV before dying of AIDS in 1986.

Many consider Carangi the world’s first supermodel given her indelible impression on the industry during such a tragically short life. Jolie’s award-winning performance was bold and alluring; I watched it in real time and was arrested by the risky, dark and expansive life of such a young woman. That is when I became a fan of the actress. In subsequent years Jolie exploded to stardom in Oscar-winning film Girl, Interrupted (1999), blockbuster sequels like Tomb Raider, Maleficent and Kung Fu Panda plus action hits like Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Wanted (2008) and Salt (2010). Although Jolie has always made art-house movies to varying commercial success, with Maria it feels like the actor is marking a new, increasingly liberated chapter of life as her children age out of the home and she explores more personally daring creative work.

Before diving into the film, I would like to take a moment to commend the title artist—Maria Callas. Callas was born in 1923 Manhattan to mismatched Greek parents in a deteriorating marriage. While raising their first-born daughter Yakinthi or “Jackie,” Callas was conceived to fill a void left after the premature death of their two-year-old son Vassili in 1922. Maria’s parents were ill-matched from the start especially since George Callas, her father, was decidedly unambitious and Litsa Callas, her mother, was a frustrated artist. Litsa was a neglectful mother to Maria, and both parents resented that she was not born a male child. Maria’s life was rough from the beginning.

Still a child, Litsa recognized a natural talent for singing in Maria, but instead of lovingly nurturing the child, Litsa went on to aggressively cultivate Maria’s talent. Maria was trapped in the shadow of Litsa’s own failed hopes to be an artist and financial desperation after separating from George in the midst of WWII. Maria was raised in New York City (NYC) until her parents separated when she was thirteen and Litsa returned to Greece with her two daughters. Maria’s life in Greece was crippled by the war with accounts of Litsa “servicing” German soldiers to feed her family and even extending her daughters to the enemy—Maria was forced to date and sing for the German soldiers whereas Litsa and possibly Yakinthi were not as fortunate.

Maria’s musical training continued for years, even beyond her first professional performance at 18 years old with the Royal Opera of Athens in 1941. Throughout their relationship Litsa harbored a mixture of grudging admiration and palpable contempt for Maria, shaping a very outward-looking, hard-working, long-suffering, creatively gifted woman who would go on to become arguably the best opera singer of the last century. Maria Callas’ dynamic range wrapped in an emotive, booming voice coupled with impassioned acting skills transformed the opera world to such an extent that she is nicknamed "La Divina" ("The Divine One"). Having watched sections of her live performances, I realize I am more familiar with her voice than I initially thought—I bet we all are. Her voice is the voice of popularly known opera, in many ways.

Callas went on to marry Giovanni Meneghini in 1949, a much older Italian entrepreneur who came to manage her career. He syphoned off more than half of her fortune though she retained substantial wealth. They divorced soon after Callas started a high profile affair in 1959 with Greek business magnate Aristotle Onassis (while both married). Onassis is known for his industry, charisma, chicanery and opulence. The magnate divorced his first wife in 1960 and after nearly a decade together, Callas and Onassis separated when he started seriously courting John F. Kennedy’s (JFK) widow Jackie Kennedy. Onassis and Kennedy eventually married in 1968. Although they remained very friendly until his death in 1975, Callas never re-married and like many women bucking norms or even breaking them, she was singled-out and lambasted in the press for the relationship. The film reveals a bit more context in how Onassis seduced Callas and she took the blind leap into a passionate Greek love affair.

Callas was also subject to scrutiny for her commitment to professional excellence. She gained an unfair public reputation for occasional outbursts during rehearsals and a handful of flawed performances among countless ovations at the most renowned opera houses across Europe and the United States. However, privately Callas suffered from a degenerative illness that would affect her ability to perform, sometimes cancelling performances; Callas’ confidence was shaken. She also had terrible vision, so much so that she sometimes could not see the conductor according to Jolie; this perhaps contributed to her perfectionist work ethic where she needed to be deeply aligned with the orchestra in order to keep time.

Eventually Callas was diagnosed with dermatomyositis, a degenerative illness that causes soreness and muscle weakness; affecting her vocal cords and extinguishing her ability to sing opera as she once could at her peak by 1965 although her final live performance was 1974. As performing became less frequent, Callas began teaching opera including at Julliard School in NYC. There was a lot of speculation at the time about why Callas’ star “fell” as a singer—was it the weight loss (seriously, she lost a bunch of excess weight at one point and people were obsessed)? Onassis stifling her career? A desire to be a mother? A lack of discipline? In this respect, the film Maria provides a kind of afterward or “human song,” as quoted in the film, to Maria Callas’ biography of life, presented as an approximation of her last days, with reverence for her transformational career.

Maria is a lyrical, lush, romantic and tender retelling of the life of "La Divina." Directed by Pablo Larraín as the last installment in a trilogy on tragic, talented, public women of the 20th century beginning with Jackie (2016) about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in the immediate aftermath of JFK’s assassination and funeral, starring Natalie Portman. Then came Spencer (2021) about Princess Diana as she contends with the final days of he tortured marriage to Prince Charles and starring Kristen Stewart. And now Larraín presents Maria, starring Angelina Jolie. Smartly, Larraín and his illustrious team of creative collaborators sought out to reset the record on Maria Callas’ life story, taking it back from the press, public and various opportunists who caged her vitality in life and stifled her legacy in death. Larraín is a Chilean writer, producer and director whose work I am not as familiar with, but has been professionally very accomplished for many years working in both English and Spanish.

I genuinely think Maria is a film worth watching, preferably on a big screen. The production design by Guy Hendrix Dyas—the design genius behind Spencer also with Larraín, Inception (2010) and Steve Jobs (2015)—boasts meticulous and captivating scenes in her Paris apartment to stages of various opera houses to Aristotle Onassis’ world famous yacht, Christina O, which hosted celebrities and statesman like Elizabeth Taylor, JFK, John Wayne, Richard Burton and Winston Churchill. Throughout the feature, Jolie is dressed in regal ensembles that are a direct reflection of "La Divina" and her impeccable style from trademark eyewear to bold jewelry to cool everyday fashion to more elaborate ensembles for entertaining or the stage. Jolie’s physical transformation into Callas is intriguing with big thick glasses, changes to her hairline and hairstyle, an accent and a physical comportment that conveys inner dignity and pride alongside emotional torment and profound uncertainty.

By the end of Callas’ life she was addicted to a prescription hypnotic sedative called Mandrax (see: Quaaludes) which was effectively illegal or scarce by the mid 1980s. In the film she is flanked by two loving employees played in the film by Pierfrancesco Favino as Ferruccio and Alba Rohrwacher as Bruna. In the film, Callas only ventures outside occasionally for voice lessons or some public adulation. It makes perverse sense that Callas in life and on film would choose to mentally dissociate rather than contend with her demons directly, considering how much unprocessed trauma she likely contended with. Her mother exploited and later extorted her (her mother is a looming influence, but mostly absent in the film), Meneghini diminished and stole from her (he too was less memorable in the film) and Onassis abused then arguably abandoned her as a committed partner (their challenging relationship is thoughtfully depicted in the film).

Callas was born on the outside, pulverized by her family and romantic partners, but I think she feasted on the purity of love and transcendent self-expression on the stage. Music and performing were her escape from all the misery that can come from simply being a person. However, when she could no longer perform, as depicted in the film, Callas was left with emotionally conflicted memories that bounced between the highs and lows of her life. And yet, there was always a kind of dignified grace about her.

Larraín and impeccable writer Steve Knight, of Peaky Blinders fame, constructed a story that danced between the past and present with additional flights of delusional fancy inspired by her addiction to Mandrax. Revered cinematographer Edward Lachman from Erin Brockovich (2000), Far from Heaven (2002), Carol (2015) and more shot the entire feature on film stock, which is unusual these days. Lachman provided a delightful visual landscape as the narrative jumps through time and space. Maria’s personal memories, present events, and past performances or encounters are all in different film styles with lighting and textures that add to the storytelling.

Far from confusing to watch, the cinematography provides visual markers and orientation for the audience to keep track of Knight’s ambitious narrative of a complex opera soprano’s life. One biographer of Callas’ life and career took issue with the film’s narrative choice to focus on Callas’ last days. By centering her triumphs and myriad sorrows, alongside questions of mental acuity, the author mused if a male figure of her stature would be confined to the same frame. Although the film basks in complex emotions and wistful recollections, the narrative structure strategically mirrors key operas Callas once performed throughout her career. These operatic arias or solo performances were often emotionally longing or tragic. Therefore, a subtextual drama plays out in Maria as it attempts to both exalt and humanize Callas through her own art. More than likely, a female director would have emphasized different facts or employed different creativity with Callas’ life. Nevertheless, Larraín clearly cares for Maria Callas and her legacy, often saying to the media how much he adores her music since his mother introduced him to opera as a child. Also in some press, Larraín comments that few if any films have been made about the opera as a main theme, so there are some intangible benefits to Maria being out in the world.

Angelina Jolie definitely brought everything she has to this production. The actress even learned to sing opera, as he did so live in every scene, allowing Larraín to mix her real singing voice, to varying degrees from scene to scene, with “La Divina.” There was no expectation that over seven months of training that Jolie would become Callas, but the physical effort and training of opera is hard, exacting work and it shows on screen. This performance is a triumph for Jolie who has been acting less frequently in recent years, favoring her humanitarian work, time raising her children and directing occasional features over complex character studies like Maria or Girl, Interrupted which won her an Oscar—Jolie’s second Oscar is an award for her humanitarian efforts. Though Jolie quietly won a Tony Award for her outstanding musical production of The Outsiders on Broadway. The opera is the only co-lead to Jolie as Callas’ voice and professional excellence inspire the viewer to consume more opera; to wrestle with all our human emotions without judgement.

Researching for this installment of Loving Spoonful Newsletter was delightful, but rather intimidating. Every person involved in creating this film is a master of their craft and it feels lazy to speak about masters without studying enough to comment articulately. Watching hours of interviews and reading numerous articles, I came to deeply respect Maria the film and Maria Callas the woman. There is a 1974 interview with Barbara Walters, three year before Callas’ death in 1977 from heart failure, where she refers to the pedestal she was put upon by the public and critics. Speaking to Walters, Callas gracefully rejects these projections because she prefers to be understood as a woman and a serious artist. Indeed the need to be understood as human meant so much to Callus—to be truly loved unconditionally; something she rarely, if ever, received. Though I suspect Ferruccio and Bruna, her real-life employees, had genuine love for her.

Opera like many sports is arguably best suited for the young, but even still, the rigor of Callas’ work ethic, ambition and external pressure from family, press and perhaps even the public, shorted her career. I don’t think Callas could have done anything differently under the circumstances, and yet she is still considered the best to ever do it. I suppose towards the end of her life, Maria Callus understood that her success confined her to a kind of lonely journey where compassionate understanding and loyalty were in short supply. In a way, Maria seeks to and succeeds in moving beyond the page in revitalizing “La Divina” as a human being and that being as one of the greatest to exalt operatic tragedies (and more) for the stage, as well as, the grace of self-expression.

Wishing you all a blissed out Christmas and Holiday Season and I hope you play some opera from Maria Callas or at least take a moment to soak up some damn good music.

With Love During End Times,

Agunda