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| Diva
Year: 1982
Classification: Foreign Film - French
Directed:
- Jean-Jacques Beineix
Actors/Actresses:
- Frédéric Andréi
- Wilhelmenia Fernandez
- Wilhelmina Fernandez
- Frederic Andrej
cult film - no question about it
Diva is very intriguing with it's two parallel plots. The first time I saw this movie I was a bit confused and to this day I wouldn't know how to properly categorize it. It's a bit of a crime story, a bit of a romantic drama and has got lot's of great music.
But even if the movie had no plot and the acting was absolutely terrible (which it isn't), you could still just sit back and enjoy the music and the pictures (the lighthouse scene is absolutely gorgeous). Thuy An Luu is very tantalizing and a joy to watch, especially skating around Gorodish's warehouse / home.
Vladimir Cosma's piano sequences like the "promenade sentimentale" are masterpieces in their own right and I highly recommend the soundtrack.
I've seen this movie many times in the theatre. Owning this DVD is the next best thing to the real experience on the big screen and this was one of the first purchases I made after getting a DVD player.
Beware of cheap imitations
"Diva" is one of my very favorite movies -- I distinguish that term from "film." It has a wonderful combination of a suspenseful plot (based on a detective novel by Delacorta,( who, I believe, has a Lolita complex illustrated by the young Vietnames girl), pop-art imagery, and a thoughtful theme (the increasing mechanization/depersonalization ) of modern classical music. A beautiful mixture of film noir, nouveau vague, and Hollywood thriller, with a self-deprecating sense of humor.
BEWARE OF THE OTHER DVD VERSION (with the gangster portrait on the box). IT HAS HORRIBLE SOUND WHICH IS FATAL FOR A MOVIE CONTAINING OPERATIC AND CLASSICAL MUSIC.
As wonderful now as it was then
When I saw DIVA in the theaters, back in 1982, I knew I had witnessed something incredibly special. And for years it had kept a warm spot in my heart and mind. When I heard the DVD had been released, I was afraid of two things: 1) that the transfer would be a disaster and 2) the film would be terribly dated.
The not-so-good-news first: while superior to the earlier DVD release (which I had never seen, but heard about) the film suffers a little from some muddy sound, and at the worst times: during the operatic performances. Yet, the chase scenes have incredibly crisp sound. But I can't let that spoil the fact that the movie has held up incredibly well after 20 years. While the fashions are of a by-gone era, everything else holds up perfectly. The plot, the direction, the performances are all as engaging as anything that's come out in recent years. Younger viewers may feel that this is a little old-fashioned, but I doubt it. This is a great film that has a little bit of everything: drama, love, comedy--and the strangest villains in cinema history! Give DIVA a chance.
Buy Diva at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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