Maria by Callas

Tom Volf's 2017 documentary attempts to tell Maria Callas's story only in her own voice: television interviews, letters, unpublished memoirs and home recordings. There are no outside experts; the account is left entirely to the soprano's own sentences. This method is both the film's strength and its limit. Its strength is hearing directly how Callas drew the line between the public figure and the private person; the stage, her marriage, her relationship with Onassis and the early wearing of her voice all come from her. The limit is control: a life told from a single source leaves its contradictions outside. The restored performance footage is extraordinary. Who it's for: opera enthusiasts and viewers interested in twentieth-century stage history. Who it's not for: anyone wanting critical distance and outside sources, or who will find the performance recordings long.