'Maria' review: Angelina Jolie sets an opera biopic ablaze

Chilean director Pablo Larraín rounds out his informal trilogy with Maria , another film about a world-famous woman in close proximity to death.

The film is set during the final week of Callas' life, at a time when she lived in isolation, far from the spotlight.

The resulting film is, unfortunately, lesser than the sum of its parts, but its most powerful moments stand head and shoulders above them.

A film like Maria doesn't work without its central performances.

Angelina Jolie plays Callas , Bruna and Feruccio .

The film's more complete flashback scenes play out in pristine black-and-white, as though these moments had been more perfectly preserved.

However, any flaws the film may have are eventually hand-waved away by its central performance.

The further Callas reaches into her soul, the more the curtain slips.

The film as a whole may feel scattered, and might lose its way in the middle, but all the while, Jolie is locked in a constant battle to hold her head high.

The smartest thing in Maria is get out of Jolie 's way at just the right time.