Callas Forever
|
List Price: Our Price: $9.53 You Save: $5.45 (36%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.47 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of Callas Forever
Movie Review: Forever Callas: Zefferelli Saves Callas
Summary: 5 Stars
Franco Zefferelli, the director of so many lavish films- among them 1968's Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew with Elizabeth Taylor, as well as the designer for sets in big budget operas, and best friend of Maria Callas, has made a movie that "saved" Callas. This is his tribute to her. This is a movie that was released in 2002, in Paris and Rome, but that did not make its way to American audiences until recently. It's soon to be released on DVD. For some Americans, this movie is a foreign film, another Zefferelli egocentric vehicle. To others, the opera fans, this is a gorgeous re-telling of the final days of Maria Callas and a portrait of her as an artist. And finally, there is a large [...] audience that would appreciate this film. Zefferelli himself is a gay man and in the past, when such lifestyle was taboo and controversial, he could not incorporate such themes in his movies. But this, his latest film, uses a gay character (played by Jeremy Irons) who manages a rock band and who launches a project for Maria Callas to make a "comeback" when she had been away from the limelight for years in Paris, 1977, when this film takes place.
Fanny Ardant plays Maria Callas, not an easy role for any actress to undertake. There are moments when Ardant becomes Callas- she imitates the diva's facial expressions (intense ones, angry ones) and her movements accurately. Her artistic integrity is the theme. Eventhough this director offers her to reappear as an actress with vocal dubbing from an old recording of hers of her voice, Callas refuses because she has too much integrity. A lot of the moving scenes are when we get a range of emotions from Ardant- especially the scene in which she hears a recording of Madame Butterfly and she breaks down in tears. That's difficult to watch. But in this movie, Callas is rescued. It was Zefferelli's own personal fantasy that he would save her. He made her come alive again. At the end of the movie, after getting her strength back, and even killing off the memory of Onaissis her ex husband who married Jackie Kennedy- she kills him in her mind when she plays Tosca one last time and stabs Scarpia, Scarpia substituting for Aristotle Onaissis. These subtle things express Zefferelli's wish to have been Callas' savior. This movie will be a treat for Maria Callas fans. I really enjoyed it. It was powerful and moving and very well-written, even humorus and poignant. Callas is back. But then again she never left. Her legacy lives on in recording albums and the few films that captured her dramatic power.
Movie Review: Callas Forever
Summary: 5 Stars
"Callas Forever" is Franco Zeffirelli's cinematic tribute to his long-time friend and business associate, Maria Callas (also known as "LaDivina" ["The Divine One" or "The God"] by Italians, myself included.
This is a "what if" movie and Callas is portrayed by the terrific French actress Fanny Ardant who lip-synchs LaDivina's singing voice at the peak of its intense grandeur.
"Callas Forever" takes place in 1977 (LaDivina died that September, at 53 in her Paris apartment of heart failure), and by then her voice was "a shell of what it had once been." The fictional Larry Kelly (Jeremy Irons) argues that by lip-synching to her old recordings for a film, she will recapture the glory days leave a priceless legacy of a complete dramatic performance.
Callas only starred in one movie in her life, the lead in a non-singing role in Pasolini's "Medea." She is also captured on film in the PRICELESS Act II of "Tosca" on the DVD "Maria Callas at Covent Garden 1962 and 1964."
Zeffirelli does a spectacular job creating the fictional opera "Carmen" for cinematic purposes. In the end, perfectionist Callas asks that he destroy it because lip-synching, "...is not honest."
While portraying Callas, Ardant displays an amazing command of LaDivina's body language: the way her lips would curl, her intense glare, and her expressions.
Gabriel Garko is Marco, the handsome young tenor who plays Don José in "Carmen." The music of Puccini, played throughout the film, along with Bizet's score for "Carmen" is incredible.
In one of the most intense scenes, the "Sunset Boulevard" moment, Larry Kelly is ushered unannounced into Callas' Paris apartment by her housekeeper, Bruna. He observes the life-long insomniac Callas drinking wine with sleeping pills as she is singing along, devastated, to her old recording of "Madame Butterfly."
Thanks to Ardant, "Callas Forever" is a dramatic and compelling movie. I do not believe there is another artist out there who could ever play Maria Callas as brilliantly as she.
I am sincerely thankful to Franco Zeffirelli for introducing a new generation to the immortal Callas. I adore Callas and loved this movie. There are only two types of opera: before Callas and after Callas. Long live "LaDivina." "Callas Forever" is a perfect title as well!
Movie Review: Stunning Tribute to the Immortal Callas
Summary: 5 Stars
As one critic put it, the soprano Maria Callas was in a special class, probably one of the greatest opera singers who ever lived with a fiery dramatic quality and equally dramatic looks; she was a goddess in her prime and now a legend; a Greek, her life also had all the makings of Greek tragedy. If anyone warrants a film to be made about her, it is she. And "Callas Forever" delivers. It is a stunning film and beautiful valentine that goes beyond a love for Callas into an exploration of artistic integrity with gorgeous performances, rich music, scenery, emotion and drama. It was created by Franco Zeffirelli who knew and loved the woman, and this respect shows.
The story takes place in 1977, several months before Callas died of a heart attack at age 53, when she was living as a recluse in her Paris apartment, her voice a shadow of its former glory and her career ended. Friends are unable to reach her, but her old manager, Larry Kelly (the superb Jeremy Irons), a gay promoter of rock bands, succeeds in gaining a moment with her where he springs his idea of launching a comeback for her. He wants to make a film, using her original recordings for the soundtrack, which she can lip synch to. It wouldn't matter, he reasons, if the recordings are from years before; it is still her voice. Kelly desperately wants to rescue Callas from the tragic depression into which she has fallen; he knows the great artist is there, longing for the expression that was her life.
Fanny Ardent is an extraordinary Maria Callas, capturing the look, the excitement, the class, the temperament and power -- and the vulnerability. Thrillingly, Jeremy Irons is Ardent's match. There are times when the two of them express so much without words that it gave me chills; it is a privilege to see actors and performances of this caliber captured on film. Callas refuses Kelly's offer, having too much integrity, but he finally succeeds in getting her to play "Tosca" live one last time -- as another reviewer mentioned, Zeffirelli brings Callas to life again! It is grand, moving and heartbreaking, and rich on a scale few movies are, unfortunately, nowadays. To hear that exquisite voice again is alone sublime.
A great tribute to a legend; a wonderful piece of culture; a moving fantasy for fans, appropriately larger than life and sympathetic. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Divine Diva to the End
Summary: 5 Stars
I am not a professional movie critic who must judge a movie for its Oscar capabilities or its position in the world of cinema. I am not an opera "expert" who feels that tampering with a classical masterpiece (such as Carmen) is an abomination. Nor am I seeking revenge against any of the following: Franco Zefferelli, Jeremy Irons, Fanny Ardant, or Maria Callas.
I am one who loves movies, all kinds of movies, with my favorites being manner comedies in sumptuous settings. CALLAS FOREVER is part bio-picture, part comedy of manner, and part masterpiece. All I ever expect a movie to do is to entertain me. I dabble in Opera. I have the 1962 Callas Carmen CD with Nicolai Gedda as Don Jose and the Orchestre du Theatre National de L'Opera de Paris conducted by Georges Pretre, which is the music in the movie. Although not an opera snob, I find this CD particularly enjoyable as it is Callas at her peak. The way Zefferelli used this opera version illuminates the opera book, the characters, and THE music, for those who may want to purchase a copy of the recording. There are many versions of Carmen for sale on CD, but this must be the best.
Zefferelli set out as a business associate and close personal friend of Callas to show her the way that she was in her final days. He completely accomplished this by the film CALLAS FOREVER. Although, the plot is part fictional, it is a suitable vehicle to accomplish its task. It is Fanny Ardant that brings the entire production to fruition. He says repeatedly during interviews that "she is more Callas than was Callas." That is reason enough for me to accept this film from both an intellectual/artistic one and an emotional one, as Fanny Ardant made me feel that I have known Callas way more personally that by just merely listening to her sing on record or reading something. Ardant is absolutely amazing in this role.
Moreover, the gay subplot and the drama centered around artistic integrity are what makes this film real to me and not just a bio-pic.
I will continue to read the other critics, but I will always follow my heart.
Movie Review: Ardant gives a "Master Class"
Summary: 5 Stars
Fanny Ardant said that she wanted to do this role because the script gave her the opportunity to have every emotion, and then on top of that, she would be playinig Maria Callas (apparently she had played Callas onstage in "Master Class" before doing this film). She was right. The words "tour de force performance" are tossed around a lot, but this is what the phrase is about. Fanny Ardant proves herself to be one of the best film actresses around in this film. Ardant is simply magnificent.
Fellini's direction is at it's finest and tightest here. His love of the theatrical gets its rightful venting in the scenes of rehearsal, and of the film within the film; but there are no extraneous flights of fancy. To me, Jeremy Irons and Joan Plowright are usually very much the same in every film, but they are greats, and they provide a perfect platform for Ardant to dive off of.
I recently saw the disappointing "Being Julia" in which Jeremy Irons also appears. Everything that film lacks, is here in this perfect, truly loving (warts and all) tribute to an immortal great. You do not have to like Opera to appreciate this film, and if you don't it is handled here in a way that will keep you engaged. If you do have an appreciation for Opera, and for great acting...you will have moments- as I did- of chills, and tears. Much more than being a tribute to Opera, this is an excellent tribute to the arts and to artists. Brava