Thursday, 10 April 2025

maria (d.larrain, w stephen knight)

Pablo, we’ve got another one for you. 

Si? Cuéntame.

Woman, beautiful, emblematic, tragic death…

Me gusta.

Some great scenes - JFK, Onassis -

Lindo.

Angelina is on board, so it’s A-List -

Fenomenal.

You get to do lots of fancy tracking shots -

Impecable

Tasteful but popular, highbrow but multiplex -

Bueno, un poco Friedman, pero eso es Hollywood, after all -

Big global narrative but essentially apolitical -

Entiendo.

You’re the go-to man for the tragic Clytemnestra narrative -

Por supuesto.

What do you say?

¿Por que no?


Having said all of which I enjoyed Callas, with its slightly offbeat narrative structure and dialogue beats, with its highlighting of the secondary characters, with its predictability. Like Onassis, I have no real interest in opera, like Onassis I could drive a boat through the gaps in the timeline and the sketchiness of the supposed biographical elements; like her amiable servants, I am happy to look the other way and not see what one imagines were the less regal aspects of her behaviour. Jolie holds the whole thing together with a mannered aplomb, and although it never hits the highest dramatic notes, it’s an intelligent, understated take on a sprawling story. 

No comments: