Angelina Jolietenderly buried her head into the shoulder of her co-star Pierfrancesco Favino. And the actress was clearly moved to tears during the world premiere of her upcomingbiopictitledMaria,which is directed byPablo Larraín(Jackie, Spencer, No).Those attending the screening at the 81st Venice International Film Festival gave the Academy Award-winning actress (Girl, Interrupted) a rapturous eight-minute standing ovation, which brought an unforgettable smile to the thespian’s face. Check out Jolie, who was draped in a stunning custom gown by designer Tamara Ralph and a faux fur stole, react in the video below (viaEntertainment Tonight):
Jolie stars as the famed opera singer Maria Callas in the biopic. And since the psychological drama is a representation of the American-born Greek soprano’s later life, who tragically died at only 53 years of age, Jolie trained for seven months to perfect her singing voice for the role. Jolie said duringMaria’spress conference at the Venice Film Festival:
My first time singing, I remember being so nervous. My sons were there, and they helped to block the door that nobody else was coming in. And I was shaky — I was frightened to live up to her and that I had not sung in public.
While the eight-minute ovation and Jolie’s reaction have stoked the Oscar fires for the actress and the film, the early reviews coming out of the world premiere aren’t quite living up to the crowd’s reaction in Venice.
‘These Actors Are Ordinarily Better Than This’
Angelina Jolie’s anxiety to sing inMariamight not be the biggest problem the actress, and those involved in creating the biopic, faced. While the eight-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival was certainly moving, the reviews for the film aren’t lining up with what happened at the world premiere in Italy. In fact, at the time of this writing,Mariaonly registers 70% on the Tomatometer. Martin Tsai’s critique forColliderreads as follows:
“In most scenes, the characters, even the imaginary ones,barely exhibit any emotionwhen conversing.These actors are ordinarily better than this,which makes one wonderwhy they’ve been directed to deliver their lines in such stilted fashion.”
Richard Lawson ofVanity Fairwrites:
There is something arbitrary, unspecific about the film. With a few details removed, Maria could be about any grand diva, this blurry picture of a woman swanning through the final week of her life.
For those unfamiliar with the higher-echelon film festivals, like in Venice, lengthy standing ovations are quite the norm during screenings. In 2018, director Lars von Trier and the cast of the psychological horror filmThe House That Jack Builtreceived a rousing seven-minute ovation at Cannes. However, the film received zero Oscar recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and did not score well with critics on Rotten Tomatoes (60%). Plus, a large portion of the audience controversially walked out on the screening because of the wanton violence.
On the other hand, Todd Phillips’Jokerreceived an eight-minute ovation during its 2019 appearance at the Venice Film Fest, and the superhero drama also walked away with the highly coveted Golden Lion for best movie.Jokeralso holds an RT score (69%), which is comparable to the biopicMaria.AndJokerreceived 11 Oscar nominations and won two Academy Awards. So, Jolie’s biopic has that in its favor by comparison.
Angelina Jolie Gets Candid About the State of Hollywood: “I Wouldn’t Be an Actress Today.”
Angelina Jolie has spoken out about the state of Hollywood, and how she would not like to be starting out in the industry now.
Now, willMariaend up ranking amongAngelina Jolie’s best movies?Only time will tell, but that eight-minute ovation, and the actress’ reaction, certainly didn’t stymie the Oscar buzz, despite some mixed reviews from the critics.
