Pablo Larraín’s Angelina Jolie-starring Maria, was met with a 10-minute ovation following its Venice Film Festival world premiere Thursday night.
The biopic of legendary opera singer Maria Callas, which is playing in Competition here in Venice, is a story about a woman who burned her voice and her life by doing what she loved. The film takes place near the end of her life.
On Wednesday, Netflix acquired U.S. rights to the Steven Knight-penned film.
This evening, Larraín and Jolie were in attendance alongside cast members Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher. After the screening, the crowd inside the Sala Grande was emotional and was even chanting Jolie’s name. The two-time Oscar nominee also got emotional, shedding a tear as she walked down from the gallery to wave at the audience.
The team had all attended a press conference earlier in the day, during which Larraín said Callas was “the greatest voice in history who had a very beautiful and difficult life.” He added, “Of course, this movie wouldn’t exist without Angelina.”
Jolie, who said she’d never sang in public before Maria, trained for seven months and was “terribly nervous.” Asked how she related to Callas’ beautiful, but tragic journey, Jolie responded, “I think the way I related to her was probably the part of her that is extremely soft and doesn’t have room in the world to be as soft as she was, as emotionally open as she truly was… I share her vulnerability more than anything.”
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This is the third portrait of a famous woman as seen through Larraín’s lens, following 2016’s Jackie and 2021’s Spencer, both of which also premiered in Venice.
Oscar nominee Knight (Spencer) wrote the script, with Juan de Dios Larraín, Lorenzo Mieli and Jonas Dornbach producing. The project hails from The Apartment as well as Fabula, Komplizen and Fremantle. Others in the cast include Oscar nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee and Valeria Golino.
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Following its Venice premiere, Maria will go on to screen at the New York Film Festival.
