“I had to make her a jewelry box because she is a gem.”
For “Maria” production designer Guy Hendricks Diaz, the “jewel” was Angelina Jolie, who embodies the famous opera soprano Maria Callas in “Maria,” now streaming on Netflix. That was the direction Diaz received from director Pablo Larrain when approaching his latest film.
“Maria” follows a crow during the last weeks of its life. Through flashbacks, he highlights her triumphs and moments, including meeting Aristotle Onassis and performing at Teatro alla Scala in Italy. The film also depicts her struggles with her health and mental state under the influence of drugs, and how she is haunted by memories in her final attempt to return to being a singer.
In addition to poring over books, Díaz and Larraín strolled around Paris, visiting Callas’ favorite restaurants and theaters, all of which Díaz had to build.
They decided to visit her former Parisian apartment on Rue Georges Mandel. However, the current owners did not allow photography, so Diaz energetically sketched what he saw.
Maria’s apartment in “Maria”
“From the script, it was clear that the apartment needed to blend the grandeur of her past with the loneliness and isolation of her present, and her life in this apartment with a maid and a butler,” Diaz explains. “We had the opportunity to try to express this in a fluid way through the furniture, colors and design of her apartment.”
Each room flowed from one to the next, whether her private space was “chaotic and untidy” or her dressing room filled with Greek and Roman busts.
maria’s bedroom design
Diaz wanted to show in the dressing room that this was a comfortable place for Callas to receive guests and conduct interviews.
Diaz came up with the idea for her bedroom to look “at first glance like an opera stage.”
Diaz found the color scheme interesting and challenging. He wanted viewers to feel as if they were immersed in the 1970s.
“I felt a responsibility to truly capture the spirit of the ’70s in this film, which spends two-thirds of the story in the grounds of her apartment.
Díaz turned to French fashion houses, particularly their 1975 and 1976 collections. “Through my research, I found out that Maria was friends with people like Yves Saint Laurent, so I looked into his collection and found a lot of beautiful earthy browns, rusty colors, and creamy colors. The collection featured beautiful pops of orange, green, and turquoise as accents. ”
He also looked at Dior and Sonia Rykiel, noting that their collections displayed similar color palettes. “So I literally tried to apply the colors of the clothes to the walls. So all my choices for wallpaper, carpets, curtains, etc. were inspired by the clothes of the time and the great designers.”
Guy Hendrix Diaz used busts to reflect broken women. Pablo Larrain/Netflix
The busts were sourced from Italian or British prop houses. It is frequently played in the dressing room. “We have to spread the idea of this woman who achieved great success and was a lucky human being to live a life like hers. But her personal life and sacrifices must be paid. There was a price,” Diaz added. “I saw these busts as very melancholic artistic expressions that really allowed you to understand the pain, suffering and emotion that would challenge you.”
Some were broken and damaged, with some missing eyes and only half a head. Diaz wanted the damage to be more obvious and obvious in order for this character’s beats to reflect that she is a broken woman.
Guy Hendricks Diaz’s idea for the dressing room was to feature moments from her past.
In terms of art, Karas had a strong taste in painting. She had no interest in landscape painting or modern art. “She loved Renaissance art, and her apartment was filled with Renaissance art,” Diaz said. He adds the Virgin and Baby theme that plays strongly within her art world.
The featured paintings were reproductions, as budget constraints did not allow Díaz to obtain originals.
Provided by Netflix
Diaz was most concerned about the locker room.
This room was a storyline point, and Jolie’s character spent a lot of time there. He worked closely with the film’s costume designer, Massimo Cantini Parrini, on the creation of the room. Diaz knew she didn’t want to cover up the costume with oak panels.
In real life, Callas owned over 10,000 items and over 1,000 pairs of silk gloves. Diaz’s dilemma was how to show it on screen. He eventually built a set in which she would be surrounded by all her clothing, including shoes and handbags.
Additionally, Díaz wanted to present Parini’s hero work that would remind audiences of her operas. Diaz says: “We assembled a huge amount of costumes for the set. There were over 4,850 items of clothing. Hats, shoes, gloves, and dresses were sourced from costume stores and thrift stores.” We continued the fashion color scheme.”
