This story fictionalizes what *could* have happened in the last year of the life of the great soprano Maria Callas. By 1977, the time of this movie, Callas' voice had realized its best days and she is seen sitting around listening to some of her early recordings and pining over her lost glory. Her former manager and friend, Larry Kelly (Jeremy Irons) is concerned about Maria and wants to bring her out of hiding by having her lip-sync a performance of "Carmen" to a recording she had made, but never performed. In fact, one of the few facts in this film as far as I can tell, Callas did record a complete "Carmen" but never performed it. At first Callas demurs, but then takes a fancy to Kelly's idea.
The highlights of "Callas Forever" are the enactments of scenes from "Carmen" with Fanny Ardant lip-syncing to Callas' recording. These are lavishly done and, rather than make this movie, I wish that director Zeffirelli had done a complete "Carmen" in the style of the enactments. I think that would have been a lasting tribute to Callas and provided us with what a Callas performance might have been like. It was hard for me to understand the fictional Callas' final abandonment of the project, after it had been completed, on the basis that it would have been dishonest. Some famous operas with top-notch performers, like the 1975 film production of "The Marriage of Figaro," (with Kiri Te Kanawa no less) had performers lip-syncing (often poorly so) to a recording they had made. Maybe the idea was that Callas would think it a fraud to perform to a recording she had made over a decade earlier? Or was she afraid she might be too old to play the part at the age of 53? They can do great things with makeup, yes?. But then I am speculating on a speculation.
The story never gelled for me. The side story that has Larry involved in a gay relationship with a young man seemed like just a diversion. Or was it inserted to indicate that Larry had no romantic interest in Callas?
I think that loosely basing a fictionalized story on a real person is a bit dangerous. We are left with not knowing quite what is real and what is fantasy. What are we going to have next, a computerized Marlon Brando losing 200 pounds to come back in his latter years to play "King Lear?"
Anyway, on the positive side there is an ample sampling of Callas' recordings for us to appreciate why she is considered one of the best sopranos of the twentieth century.
The highlights of "Callas Forever" are the enactments of scenes from "Carmen" with Fanny Ardant lip-syncing to Callas' recording. These are lavishly done and, rather than make this movie, I wish that director Zeffirelli had done a complete "Carmen" in the style of the enactments. I think that would have been a lasting tribute to Callas and provided us with what a Callas performance might have been like. It was hard for me to understand the fictional Callas' final abandonment of the project, after it had been completed, on the basis that it would have been dishonest. Some famous operas with top-notch performers, like the 1975 film production of "The Marriage of Figaro," (with Kiri Te Kanawa no less) had performers lip-syncing (often poorly so) to a recording they had made. Maybe the idea was that Callas would think it a fraud to perform to a recording she had made over a decade earlier? Or was she afraid she might be too old to play the part at the age of 53? They can do great things with makeup, yes?. But then I am speculating on a speculation.
The story never gelled for me. The side story that has Larry involved in a gay relationship with a young man seemed like just a diversion. Or was it inserted to indicate that Larry had no romantic interest in Callas?
I think that loosely basing a fictionalized story on a real person is a bit dangerous. We are left with not knowing quite what is real and what is fantasy. What are we going to have next, a computerized Marlon Brando losing 200 pounds to come back in his latter years to play "King Lear?"
Anyway, on the positive side there is an ample sampling of Callas' recordings for us to appreciate why she is considered one of the best sopranos of the twentieth century.