The Venice Film Festival loves its movie stars, and Angelina Jolie was the darling of Italy on Thursday night. The actress wept during an eight-minute ovation at the Sala Grande Theater for the world premiere of “Maria,” Pablo Larraín’s biographical drama about Greek opera singer Maria Callas.
The outpouring of love and emotion recalls another standing ovation in Venice that launched the Oscar campaign for Brendan Fraser in “The Whale,” as he sobbed under the applause that sealed his career’s comeback in 2022.
Jolie was also touched by the crowd’s enthusiasm, wiping away tears and sometimes turning her face away from the cheers, overcome with emotion. She hugged Larraín and the cast of the film, which is a sure Oscar contender, putting Jolie in the running for best actress for the first time in 15 years. (She was nominated in 2009 for her role in Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling,” and won best supporting actress in 2000 for “Girl, Interrupted.”)
Netflix will release “Maria” later this year.
In Venice, the passion for Angelina Jolie began 24 hours before the screening of Maria. A group of Italians camped out all night Wednesday with tents and umbrellas, enduring temperatures of 32 degrees for a front-row interaction with their idol on the red carpet.
As she arrived at the theater, Jolie signed autographs and took selfies. She even met a fan with brittle bone disease who had been carried down the red carpet on a bed, kneeling next to him as she greeted him amid the flashing lights of the paparazzi.
“Maria” reunites Larraín with writer Steven Knight, whose last project “Spencer” premiered in Venice in 2021, and tells “the tumultuous, beautiful and tragic story of the life of the world’s greatest opera singer, relived and reimagined during her final days in 1970s Paris.”
“Maria” is the third installment in Larraín’s trilogy of films about iconic women, following “Spencer” and 2016’s “Jackie,” about Jacqueline Kennedy after her husband JFK’s assassination. But “Maria” sometimes plays like the end of “Judy,” the 2019 biopic that earned Renee Zellweger an Oscar for her portrayal of a troubled Judy Garland grappling with the pitfalls of fame.
At a press conference earlier today, Jolie spoke about her preparation to play the famous soprano Callas, marking her first appearance in the role.
“Everyone here knows I was terribly nervous,” she said of learning to sing opera. “I spent almost seven months training because when you work with Pablo, you can’t do anything halfway. He demands, in the most wonderful way, that you really work, that you really learn and that you really practice.”
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