I was intrigued on seeing Callas Forever. While there have been times I have not warmed to Maria Callas' voice, I have a lot of respect for her for her interpretations and for her musicianship and dramatic intensity. And I am very fond of Franco Zeffirelli, not only is he a talented opera stage director but his costume and set designs are really inspired. Also I love his opera films, especially La Traviata.
So naturally I was intrigued on seeing Callas Forever. After finally seeing it there were some impressive things about it, but overall it was rather disappointing.
I will get the good things out of the way. The film looks beautiful, the costumes and settings are truly sumptuous and the photography is typical Zeffirelli, very fluid. The music is brilliant, all the arias are a delight to hear and are performed with passion and real panache. The only thing however is that of all the roles Callas was famous for such as Norma and Tosca, the film chose Carmen to focus on Callas. Zeffirelli's direction is solid, and Jeremy Irons is good enough as Larry, but other than the visuals and music Fanny Ardent's wonderful performance makes Callas Forever worth watching.
Some assets did disappoint though. The story never gelled for me, the gay relationship wasn't developed as well as it could've been and despite Irons' good performance Larry(his appearance here is fictional) and the other characters are not as developed well as Callas. The pace is also rather pedestrian and I to be honest did lose interest in some points of the film particularly in the second half. The script is a let down too, it is rather old-fashioned and maudlin.
All in all, disappointing but it does intrigue. 5/10 Bethany Cox
So naturally I was intrigued on seeing Callas Forever. After finally seeing it there were some impressive things about it, but overall it was rather disappointing.
I will get the good things out of the way. The film looks beautiful, the costumes and settings are truly sumptuous and the photography is typical Zeffirelli, very fluid. The music is brilliant, all the arias are a delight to hear and are performed with passion and real panache. The only thing however is that of all the roles Callas was famous for such as Norma and Tosca, the film chose Carmen to focus on Callas. Zeffirelli's direction is solid, and Jeremy Irons is good enough as Larry, but other than the visuals and music Fanny Ardent's wonderful performance makes Callas Forever worth watching.
Some assets did disappoint though. The story never gelled for me, the gay relationship wasn't developed as well as it could've been and despite Irons' good performance Larry(his appearance here is fictional) and the other characters are not as developed well as Callas. The pace is also rather pedestrian and I to be honest did lose interest in some points of the film particularly in the second half. The script is a let down too, it is rather old-fashioned and maudlin.
All in all, disappointing but it does intrigue. 5/10 Bethany Cox