Callas Forever
- Fanny Ardant: Maria Callas
- Jeremy Irons: Larry Kelly
- Joan Plowright: Sarah Keller
- Jay Rodan: Michael
- Gabriel Garko: Marco / Don Jose
- Manuel de Blas: Esteban Gomez
- Justino Díaz: Scarpia
- Jean Dalric: Gerard
- Stephen Billington: Brendan
- Anna Lelio: Bruna
- Alessandro Bertolucci: Marcello
- Olivier Galfione: Thierry
- Roberto Sanchez: Escamillo
- Achille Brugnini: Ferruccio
- Eugene Kohn: Eugene
Callas Forever is an internationally produced drama film from 2002, which traces the last years of opera singer Maria Callas. Starring Fanny Ardant is seen. Directed by Franco Zeffirelli, who was friends with Maria Callas and had worked with her for opera performances of Norma, La Traviata and Tosca.
Action
Opera diva Maria Callas lived in retirement in 1977 in her Paris apartment. Melancholic she revels again in memories of their glorious past on the great opera stages of the world. Even her lost love to Aristotle Onassis she does not let go. No longer able to sing their arias, she hears incessantly to her old recordings. Only with the help of sleeping pills then it is possible to find rest. From time to time she is visited by her warm spokeswoman Sarah Keller.
Your old agent and longtime friend Larry Kelly, who is now staged rock concerts, has one day the idea of working with them again Mary. He wants to stick with a canvas staging of Bizet's Carmen, Maria will take over the title role, film footage of the greatest opera singer of the 20th century for future generations. He also hopes to tear this way Mary from her depression. They should not sing in front of the camera, but only move their lips to their old recordings.
Maria is all about the project other than enthusiastic, but nevertheless agrees to play the Carmen, for which they had before, but never sung only in the recording studio on stage. The shooting they meet again with life and creativity. Without singing must she goes on in her acting and explains the other actors and young talent that matters. After the film is completed, Larry wants to make more movies with Maria. However, they rejected his offer with thanks. It further requires that it prevents the release of Carmen and destroyed the film because she wants to remain faithful to their principles of perfection and sincerity in their presentations. To move only his lips she perceives as "fake ", they can not represent a true artist. Larry accepts her decision and causes the destruction of the footage.
Background
Director Franco Zeffirelli was a friend of Maria Callas and had staged some of her opera performances, before she retired in her Paris apartment and died on 16 September 1977. With Callas Forever he wanted to send her a cinematic monument, which recounts her last years with largely fictitious events. Actress Fanny Ardant had played Maria Callas in Terrence McNally's in 1997 play Master Class in a production directed by Roman Polanski on stage in Paris. Cinematographer Ennio Guarnieri in 1969, stood for Pier Paolo Pasolini's Medea, in which Callas played her only film role behind the camera. The shooting of Callas Forever took place in Bucharest, Córdoba and Paris.
The film premiered on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the death of Maria Callas on 16 September 2002 in France its premiere, has been shown almost exclusively at film festivals in other countries. In Germany the film has not been published.
Reviews
Was Stephen Holden of The New York Times that Fanny Ardant " as a dramatic Callas on a film set or thoughtful at home alone, the body language of the Diva eerily " dominant. Although Callas Forever was " played captivating ", if it were but to " a cheaply produced film". Deborah Young of Variety attested to the film as the most preferred " the outstanding presentation of French actress Fanny Ardant ." This brings Maria Callas " with breathtaking passion and fire to life." Franco Zeffirelli's staging of Carmen sequences, " which account for a large part of the film and by far the best scenes are " WOULD "graceful and flowing ."
Awards
The costume design was nominated for both the Spanish Goya Film Awards as well as for the Italian Nastro d' Argento. Callas Forever, however, went away empty-handed.
Soundtrack
- Maria Callas, Alessio Vlad: Callas Forever. EMI 2002 19 recordings with excerpts from operas with Maria Callas and film music by Alessio Vlad.