Venice Film Festival: Angelina Jolie discusses portraying famed opera singer in 'Maria'

The Manila Times

Venice Film Festival: Angelina Jolie discusses portraying famed opera singer in 'Maria'  During a press conference on the sidelines of the Venice film festival, actor Angelina Jolie talks about the film 'Maria' directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain in which she portrays famed opera singer Maria Callas. 'I really came to care for her (Maria). So, I felt I was, I didn't want to do a disservice to this woman,' she says. 'Maria' is one of the most eagerly awaited films in competition for the Golden Lion.  AFP VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes  #worldnews  #angelinajolie #venicefilmfestival

Transcript

00:00Honestly, for me, the bar in this that I would know if I did good enough are the Maria Callas fans and those who love opera.

00:11And my fear would be to disappoint them.

00:15So, of course, all other things in my own business, if there's a response to the work, I'm very grateful.

00:24But in my heart to disappoint the people who love her and she means a lot to.

00:30It's her legacy and I really came to care for her.

00:34So I felt I didn't want to do a disservice to this woman.

00:39I think when your life is full, when you've felt a certain level of despair, of pain, of love,

00:49at a certain point there is only certain sounds that can match that feeling.

00:53And to me the immensity of the feeling encapsulated within the sounds of opera, there is nothing like it.

01:05And that feeling that would move all of us if we were to hear it would be the only sound that would explain that pain.

01:13I think the approach to her, I listened to her, she actually taught and so there are audio recordings of her teaching.

01:20So I got very lucky because the best way in was I got to be taught by Maria,

01:26who said when she approaches her work, she said the first thing you do and she calls it straightjacketing.

01:33So the first thing you do is you don't think about how you feel or what you want,

01:38you just try to understand the music and the intention of the composer and you are disciplined

01:42and you do the work exactly as intended and you practice and practice.

01:50And so I did that and I think in approaching that way, then she said,

01:57and then the final thing you let your personal and your emotion come in.

02:01I'm an opera fan since I grew up, of course a big Maria Callas fan,

02:07but always very intrigued by the fact that there's almost no movies about operas and opera singers.

02:16The opera world that is so interesting as a form of art has been largely ignored by cinema.

02:23So I thought about making a movie about probably the greatest voice of history

02:31who had a very beautiful and difficult life.

02:36And by thinking about it, we had the luck to find Steve Knight who wrote the beautiful script

02:46and of course this movie wouldn't exist without Angelina.

02:50I think that if you meet somebody as Maria Callas,

02:55it's one of those encounters that gives you the possibility of getting a little beam of that light

03:03and to make it become yours.

03:05My feeling is that their identity became what it is or what it was because they had the chance to meet her

03:13and she was a queen.

03:24Thank you very much.

Category

Transcript

Recommended