Martin Davidson 1998AmericaDocumentarycolor50minEnglish
"First I lost weight, then I lost my voise, then I lost Onassis." Maria Callas was the greatest, most glamorous voise of the century-but also the most volatile. Her singing was unique but controversial. For every cheer, there was someone who jeered. But you couldn' + ignore Callas.She magnetised her audience. She was rarely out of the headlines-her feuds, walkouts and prima donna tantrums were legendery. And, at the very peak of her career, she appeared to throw it all away. Born in New York to Greek parents, she was pushed into musicby an ambitious mother and quickly established herself as a major, but unorthodox, young talent. She became grossly overweight but, after a cash diet, changed into a slim and elegant figure which remained for the rest of her life. As Callas enjoyed the notoriety unique to the closed, elite world of opera, she became infatuated with Greek shipping tycoon, Aristotle Onassis, with whom she started a passionate affair. She left her husband, but Onassis became cold and distant and finally dumped her for the recently widowed Jacqueline Kennedy. She was destroyed. Apart from a couple of abortive come-back attempts her last years were lonely and embittered in a Paris flat. The world was shocked at her early death at the age of 53 from a mixture of anti-depressants and tranquillisers.To this day, Maria Callas inspires both love and loathing. This portrait paints a picture of this unique and enigmatic diva.
