As always when he begins his biographical projects, Pablo Larraín records and publicizes his muse, already characterized as the biographer of the film they are working on together. It was like that with Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie and Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Spencer. Obviously it wouldn’t be any different with Angelina Jolie as Maria Callas, in the film Maria.

In this trilogy of 20th Century Divas, Pablo has focused on relevant and very intimate days of each one to invite us to have a new look at them. Jackie dealt with the first few days after John Kennedy’s assassination and planning his funeral. Diana was dealing with the last Christmas she spent with the Royal Family, when she realized that her marriage was beyond any hope of being saved and now in Maria, Angelina will live an isolated Callas in her apartment in Paris, sad, lonely and just a few days away from her unexpected death in 1977.

Production was at a standstill due to the strikes, but as it is independent it signed a provisional SAG-AFTRA agreement to begin filming. The plan is to cover everything in just eight weeks, with locations in Paris, Greece, Budapest and Milan. Other names are already confirmed in the cast, although their roles have not yet been defined, such as Kodi Smit-McPhee and Valeria Golino.

Screenwriter Steven Knight, who signed Spencer and is famous for Peaky Blinders, finished the text before the writers’ strike and should bring a darker air to the story, as he did with Diana and her fragile mental health. All the actresses who worked with Pablo, both Natalie and Kristen, were nominated for an Oscar, even without seeing anything one can already imagine that it will be the same path for Angelina (who already has one at home for Best Supporting Actress). The director, of course, is already calling her preparation extraordinary and brilliant.

Like the other divas, Maria Callas was more than just a reference in classical music and a fashion symbol of her time. For this reason, Angelina Jolie‘s costumes in the film will be based on the original clothes worn by the soprano, which will lead to the comparisons that I love to make here at MiscelAna. The only thing is that, unlike at the time when it was accepted, the production consulted with animal rights groups, including PETA, about the use of vintage fur items used in the film, from costume designer Massimo Cantini Parrini‘s archival collection, and they preferred Do not use or acquire any new material.

It will be incredible!

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