Maria Callas Movies

Within her lifetime and posthumously, opera diva Maria Callas's astonishing musical and cultural legacy far outstripped the woman herself; Callas transcended the elite appeal of her musical genre and inspired numerous motion pictures, a stage musical, and an opera based on her life - meanwhile obtaining a rare and unique degree of success that enabled her to dramatically expand the audience size (and demographics) of the opera fanbase. Callas also honed and sustained a reputation as one of the earliest harbingers of intense and histrionic dramatic portrayals on the opera stage. The classical compilation Eternal Maria Callas brings into one collection a series of Callas's most memorable and acclaimed performances, from such productions as Il Trovatore, Tosca and Manon, coupled with a documentary segment on her life, a gallery of Callas photographs, and a series of revealing interviews with Callas conducted by Lord Harewood. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Gérald Caillat helms Maria Callas: Passion Callas , a feature-length documentary exploration of the woman who became the most accomplished and gifted operatic diva of the 20th century. Caillat creates a biographical portrait by interweaving archival film footage of legendary Maria Callas performances with interview footage of Callas, her mentor Elvira de Hidalgo; her stage producer Luchino Visconti, and her recording producer Michel Glotz. The film functions as a companion piece, not only to innumerable audio recordings and filmed performances of Callas, but to Franco Zeffirelli's 2004 feature Callas Forever and to the preexistent 1978 documentary Callas: A Documentary directed by John Ardoin. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

This concert and interview documentary features the racy wit of Canada and the U.S.'s most popular female comedians, including Jenny Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Phyllis Diller, Ellen DeGeneres, and Paula Poundstone. In addition to screening their stand-up gigs and providing interviews with these funny ladies, the documentary provides some historical perspective about the origins of present-day feminine humor using clips of performances by Eve Arden, Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This documentary chronicles the life of the most exciting opera singer of her generation. Her soprano voice, with its exceptional expressive powers, enabled Maria Callas to become the first singer in a century to perform in the intricate Romantic style, conveying tremendous emotional range and dramatic intensity. She became the prime force in the late 20th century revival of Bellini, Rossini, and Donizetti. Born in New York of Greek parentage, her family returned to Greece, where she studied voice, and had her debut in Athens in 1941, going on to perform in New York and Italy. The film gives insight into the singer's character, as well as her career. It celebrates her singing and dramatic skills, and explores the woman behind the public persona . The events of her life were always newsworthy, particularly her long relationship with Aristotle Onassis, for whom she gave up her career and left her husband, in expectation of her marriage to the Greek shipping magnate. Instead, Onassis discarded her and chose to marry Jacqueline Kennedy. Callas became a recluse in Paris, where she died in 1977, at the age of 53, her tragic life reading much like one of the operas she so vividly portrayed. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide

Put in the coldest possible terms, Medea is the story of a woman who gets sore at her husband and kills her children to get even. Greek opera diva Maria Callas is certainly in her element as Medea in this 1970 film version of the venerable theatrical piece, with Giuseppe Gentili as her husband Jason and Massimo Girotti as her father, King Creon. When Jason announces that he's prepared to bigamously marry princess Glauce (Margareth Clementi), she exacts her bloody revenge. Despite the excess verbiage and his notoriously loquacious leading lady, director Pier Paolo Pasolini conveys most of Medea's plotline visually. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

French narration is included with this filmed version of Callas's first appearance in Paris. Featured pieces are from Puccini, Verdi, Bellini and Rossini. ~ All Movie Guide