عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

Venice Film Festival Prepares to Greet Angelina Jolie and 'Maria,' Her Film About Famed Opera Singer

FILE - Angelina Jolie appears at the 77th Tony Awards in New York on June 16, 2024. Jolie brings opera singer Maria Callas to life in “Maria.” (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Angelina Jolie appears at the 77th Tony Awards in New York on June 16, 2024. Jolie brings opera singer Maria Callas to life in “Maria.” (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
TT
TT

Venice Film Festival Prepares to Greet Angelina Jolie and 'Maria,' Her Film About Famed Opera Singer

FILE - Angelina Jolie appears at the 77th Tony Awards in New York on June 16, 2024. Jolie brings opera singer Maria Callas to life in “Maria.” (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Angelina Jolie appears at the 77th Tony Awards in New York on June 16, 2024. Jolie brings opera singer Maria Callas to life in “Maria.” (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Angelina Jolie has played an evil queen, a war correspondent, a hacker, an international spy and a sociopath and is now adding opera singer to her resume.
It’s not just any opera singer either: Jolie stars as the legendary soprano Maria Callas in a new film from Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín. “Maria” will have its world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival Thursday night, The Associated Press said.
Larraín, a Venice regular, continues his to explore the lives of very famous women with tragic narratives attached to them. In 2016, he came to the festival with his Jackie Kennedy portrait, “Jackie,” starring Natalie Portman as the first lady in the aftermath of her husband’s assassination. In 2021, he returned with Kristen Stewart playing Princess Diana as she considered divorce over the Christmas holiday in “Spencer.” Both films earned their leads best actress Oscar nominations.
“Maria” is the so-called conclusion to this trilogy of historical women, though Callas may be a bit less known to younger generations who weren’t around for the headlines and scandals. Born Maria Kalogeropoulos, to Greek parents in New York and made her professional debut in Athens as a 17-year-old.
During her brief life she became one of the greatest opera singers of all time with her unparalleled voice and stage presence; but the accolades also came with the intense scrutiny of her life in the public eye, whether it was her exacting demands and “diva” behavior, her weight or her romantic life. Callas famously had a relationship with shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis who left her for Jackie Kennedy.
She died in Paris at age 53 after a heart attack.
Larraín told Vanity Fair that Jolie trained for six months to prepare for the role. The singing in the film, which reportedly focuses on the final week of her life in 1977, is a blend of actor and the real thing.
Jolie has twice been nominated for acting Oscars. She won for her supporting role in “Girl, Interrupted," and was last nominated for her leading role in Clint Eastwood's “Changeling."
“Maria” was recently acquired by Netflix for distribution.
Jolie is expected to depart Venice before her ex-husband Brad Pitt arrives for the premiere of his film “Wolfs” on Sunday. Though legally single since 2019, they are still fighting over issues like custody, finances and a winery in France.
“Maria” is among the 21 features competing for the festival’s awards which will be announced on Sept. 7.

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

‘Dirty Dancing,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ ‘Up in Smoke’ among Movies Entering the National Film Registry

This image released by the Library of Congress shows James Cagney, right, in a scene from the 1938 film "Angels with Dirty Faces." (Warner Bros/Discovery/Library of Congress via AP)
This image released by the Library of Congress shows James Cagney, right, in a scene from the 1938 film "Angels with Dirty Faces." (Warner Bros/Discovery/Library of Congress via AP)
TT
TT

‘Dirty Dancing,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’ ‘Up in Smoke’ among Movies Entering the National Film Registry

This image released by the Library of Congress shows James Cagney, right, in a scene from the 1938 film "Angels with Dirty Faces." (Warner Bros/Discovery/Library of Congress via AP)
This image released by the Library of Congress shows James Cagney, right, in a scene from the 1938 film "Angels with Dirty Faces." (Warner Bros/Discovery/Library of Congress via AP)

Nobody puts baby in a corner, but they're putting her in the National Film Registry.

“Dirty Dancing,” along with another 1980s culture-changer, “Beverly Hills Cop,” are entering the Library of Congress' registry, part of an annual group of 25 announced Wednesday that spans 115 years of filmmaking.

“Dirty Dancing” from 1987 used the physicality and chemistry of Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle and Jennifer Grey as Frances “Baby” Houseman to charm generations of moviegoers, while also taking on issues like abortion, classism and antisemitism. In the climactic moment, Swayze defiantly declares, “Nobody puts baby in a corner” before taking Grey to dance to “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”

1984's “Beverly Hills Cop,” the first Eddie Murphy film in the registry, arguably made him the world's biggest movie star at the time and made action comedies a blockbuster staple for a decade.

Since 1988, the Librarian of Congress has annually selected movies for preservation that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant. The current picks bring the registry to 900 films. Turner Classic Movies will host a TV special on Wednesday, screening a selection of the class of 2024.

The oldest film is from 1895 and brought its own form of dirty dancing: “Annabelle Serpentine Dance” is a minute-long short of a shimmying Annabelle Moore that was decried by many as a public indecency for the suggestiveness of her moves. The newest is David Fincher's “The Social Network" from 2010.

A look at some of the films entering the registry “Pride of the Yankees” (1942): The film became the model for the modern sports tear-jerker, with Gary Cooper playing Lou Gehrig and delivering the classic real-life line: “Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.”

“The Miracle Worker” (1962): Anne Bancroft won an Oscar for best actress for playing title character Anne Sullivan and 16-year-old Patty Duke won best supporting actress for playing her deaf and blind protege Helen Keller in director Arthur Penn's film.

“Up in Smoke” (1978): The first feature to star the duo of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong established a template for the stoner genre and brought weed culture to the mainstream. Marin, who also appears in the inductee “Spy Kids” from 2001, is one of many Latinos with prominent roles in this year's crop of films.

“Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan” (1982): The second movie in the “Star Trek” franchise featured one of filmdom's great villains in Ricardo Montalban's Khan, and showed that the world of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock could bring vital thrills to the cinema.

“Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt” (1989): The Oscar-winning documentary on the NAMES Project Aids Memorial Quilt was a landmark telling of the devastation wrought by the disease.

“My Own Private Idaho” (1991): Director Gus Van Sant's film featured perhaps the greatest performance of River Phoenix, a year before the actor's death at age 23.

“American Me” (1992): Edward James Olmos starred and made his film directorial debut in this tale of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles and the brutal prison experience of its main character.

“No Country for Old Men” (2007): Joel and Ethan Coen broke through at the Oscars with their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, winning best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay, while Javier Bardem won best supporting actor for playing a relentless killer with an unforgettable haircut.