A beautiful pair of spectacles is usually enough to make me fall for a film—this one has two, though I doubt it will endure the passage of time as have the iconic frames whose stories it tells. If it will continue to be seen, it will likely be within the shadow of the oeuvre of one of the brightest directors of our time—an in-between title.
Yet, I don’t think that Pablo Larraín’s metaphysical tragedy is quite as bad as Mark Kermode described it in his scathing review1. While the script often feels contrived and affected, the aphoristic wit of its dialogues comes across more as a deliberate if questionable mannerism than a vain artifice—a literary gravity that somehow evokes Paolo Sorrentino’s criticised lyricism, whose influence on the Chilean director might perhaps extend beyond the writing.
Although Angelina Jolie’s rigorous preparation to sync with Maria Callas’s voice led to hardly believable results, her portrayal conveys a sense of aristocratic stoicism that I personally enjoyed. Rather than her performance, the real issue may lie in the casting—as it does for the entire leading ensemble.
What remains a moment of personal fascination in any of Larraín’s films, is his raw and instinctive directing method, apparent even in less convincing projects like this might ultimately be—no readings or rehearsals, no storyboards or shot lists, just a few takes per shot, and utter creative freedom on set. All this relying, of course, on the irreplaceable collaboration with a cinematographer of Ed Lachman’s uncommon stature.
In conclusion, flares of cinematic and thespian beauty do arise throughout the film, but, partly sharing Kermode’s disappointment, without giving the same exaltation and intoxication the stage used to give to Maria Callas (‘Sometimes I thought the stage itself would burn,’ makes her continue Steven Knight)—a feeling I kept on longing for, until the end credits ungracefully dashed my hopes.
It is hard a life, surrounded
by people who constantly
worry about you when
everything you need, is—
something
silence
help.
