U.S. PREMIERE
Director: PHILIPPE KOHLY
Say the name Maria Callas and a multitude of associations come to mind: diva extraordinaire; one of the greatest opera stars the world has ever known; lover of Aristotle Onassis (until devastated by his surprise marriage to Jacqueline Kennedy); fashion icon.
Callas was a larger-than-life personality, still remembered fondly by legions of fans around the world. The lustre of her star has never faded. Immortalized by her recordings, she is renowned for her interpretations of Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi, which set standards that, in the eyes of many, have yet to be matched. And for the public of post-war Europe, she was an outsized celebrity whose image graced fashion magazines and whose antics were written up in gossip columns. And then there was the private Callas, Greek to the core, the woman who weighed 120 kilos in her twenties, married young, became a star who hung around with the glitterati of society — all beautifully captured here in home-movie footage. Callas was a mass of contradictions, ultimately a personality bigger than her art form. A film for devotees and novices alike.
(In French, Italian and Greek w/ Eng. subtitles)
FRANCE/GREECE • 2007 • 97 MINUTES • DIRECTOR: PHILIPPE KOHLY
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