There is a point in the film “Maria” when the titular opera legend Maria Callas talks about wanting to go back to one night at the Venice Film Festival in 1949. After the August 29 premiere of the new Pablo Larraín film at that same festival, star Angelina Jolie will have a similar joyful memory to draw upon in the future.
Recently acquired by Netflix for U.S. distribution, meaning an Oscar campaign is in tow, the film about Callas’s final days, as she reflects on her life and strives to reclaim her remarkable voice, concluded with the crowd inside of Sala Grande applauding her and colleagues on the film well past when the credits stopped rolling.
The adoration and echoes of “brava” led to Jolie and several of the filmmakers tearing up and embracing each other, including when the film’s screenwriter, a visibly emotional Steven Knight, struggled through the crowd to hug the lead actress. Co-stars Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher kept Jolie company throughout the applause, until Larraín at one point guided Jolie down the theater stairs to also thank those who were seated in the orchestra seats.
There are still many more films to premiere at the festival, some featuring leads already positioned for a shot at a Best Actress Oscar, like Nicole Kidman in “Babygirl” and Lady Gaga in “Joker: Folie à Deux,” but for now, Jolie has come out as a frontrunner for the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, often a predictor for what star is a shoo-in for an Academy Award nomination.
If the “Maria” actress were to win said coveted award, she would be the first of Larraín’s leading ladies in his trilogy of historical portraits to do so, as “Jackie” only took home the Golden Osella for Best Original Screenplay at the 2016 edition of the festival, and “Spencer” left Venice empty-handed in 2021.
Earlier in the day at the festival press conference for “Maria,” Jolie discussed the film being her first big return to the screen after several years, saying, “I’ve needed to be home more with my family in these last years, and in that time, I’ve become more grateful to just be an artist, and play.” Speaking to the cast and crew on the dais with her, she added that being “among all you in this creative world that we are all fortunate to be part of. I am grateful to be an artist in any way.”
