Callas Forever
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Movie Reviews of Callas Forever
Movie Review: Should Have Been a Biopic!
Summary: 3 Stars
Understandably, Franco Zeffirelli loved this woman, and wanted to show this affection on the screen. But the picture doesn't match the person.
Maria Callas was a drawn, bitter woman at the end of her life, with a severe addiction to medications that would have made the premise of the film impossible. She is shown as a beautiful woman, and a caring woman, with a strong accent when she spoke English . . . Maria Callas was born in America and had no such accent, which took away from the fealty of the character.
I would rather remember Callas as I saw her and heard her and read about her during her lifetime . . that is satisfaction enough for my memory of her. This picture would have been better as a biopic than as the practically complete fiction that it is.
Movie Review: Missed Opportunity
Summary: 3 Stars
This is a curious film for Zeffirelli to make about his beloved Maria. Obvioulsy wanting to avoid the sensationalism of her life, he has a made a quasi fantasy about her last years. This fantasy is only slightly more up beat that the reality. Holding the film together is a completely believable performance by Fanny Ardant. She doesn't chew the scenary, or plays her camply. She conveys Callas's strength of character, and at the same time her vulnerability. Less successful in the "Zeffirelli" role is Jeremy Irons. He is miscast and appears uncomforatble in the film. And what is Joan Plowright doing there? She slurs most of her dialogue, suggesting she has been on the turps (off screen). An enjoyable enough exercise, but it is a pity that Zeffirelli hasn't made a more lasting tribute to his dear friend.Movie Review: fantasy
Summary: 3 Stars
I like Maria Callas and find her life to be fascinating. The music in this film is good, after all, they used her voice. The actress who plays Callas gives a good impression of her. That's the good part.
The story is fantasy. We don't know how much of it actually happened. The story is not compelling and an extraneous affair between one of Callas' business acquaintances and his young male companion add nothing to the story of Callas. Rent it if you want to hear Callas. Better yet, buy a CD of hers, that way you won't have the music interrupted by junk.
Movie Review: Lana
Summary: 3 Stars
When I watched the movie in the movie theater originally few years ago, the sound was so perfect. The movie itself moved me so mainly because of the powerful sound. So, I purchased the DVD few years later because I could not forget the emotional effect this movie had on me. I was shocked to learn that the DVD sound track was awful. Somebody has to have absolutely no sense of music to make a DVD for production without checking the quality of the sound. For this movie it was a killer. I am so disappointed; I want to return this DVD.Movie Review: Let La Divina retain her mystique
Summary: 2 Stars
A big reason why Callas is so revered, more than a quarter-century after her death, is her mystique. Sure, she lived in the public eye, and left a vast legacy on record, but she wasn't visually documented much during her brief prime, and her status of the greatest singing-actress of the 20th century rests largely upon the credibility of those old enough to have seen her onstage.
This movie has some howlingly-awful character types. You have the boorish, egocentric rock producer; the dowdy British journalist (where the hell did they dig up that ugly hat?); and the twinky gay artist.
Some situations are so hackneyed, it's hard not to roll your eyes. The boy-toy artist, who brings La Callas up to his studio, presents her with a painting supposedly inspired by her Casta Diva. The painting itself looks like a sophomore-level art project, yet Callas is so taken with it that she hangs it in her dressing room during the filming of Carmen. What?
Curiously enough, this film, which would best appeal to opera fans, and fans of Callas specifically, insults its audience. What about that tacky dig at Renata Tebaldi? Or that tired scene that serves to teach us about how much of a workaholic Callas was in rehersal?
Then there's the occasional bit of dialogue that can give you indigestion, like when Callas claims that being outside is "overrated".
One feels bad for Zeffirelli, who concocted this film as a tribute to a friend and legend. He would have fared better by giving us a film epic about her life, instead of this incredulous bit of fiction about the end of it.