The diva of the title is a famous black opera singer (Wilhelmina Wiggins-Fernandez) who steadfastly refuses to be recorded. The singer is idolized by young French mail-carrier Jules (Frederic Andrei), who sneaks a tape recorder into the theater and records her performance. This is witnessed by a pair of Taiwanese criminals, who unlike Andrei wish to profit from the bootlegged recording. They begin to pursue the boy, as do a couple of home-grown hooligans who believe that Jules is in possession
of some murder evidence. The serpentine plot leads to a warm friendship between Jules and the reclusive diva - and to a brilliantly photographed (by Philipe Rousselot) motorcycle chase through the subway tunnels of Paris. Diva marked the directorial debut of Jean-Jacques Beineix, whose obvious fondness for the more esoteric techniques of the Nouvelle Vague never impedes his willingness to simply entertain his audiences. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
A light-headed, fleet-footed French caper, Jean-Jacques Beineix's ultra-stylish Diva stormed the art houses when it was released in 1982, and it's still a lot of fun now -- though its hip patina feels more quaint these days than cool.
Director Jean Jacques-Beineix's pop art pastiche is a glittering mix of artifice and genuine cool with its intricate yet effortless thriller plot enacted by some of the screen's most individual and eccentric characters; its combination of playful sexiness
Beineix choreographs the actors and the camera into a stunning and stylish cinematic dance... This is not a musical in the strict sense of the word but it certainly feels like one in the way it moves.
My dad LOVED this. And it was fairly interesting. The last bit was well shot, very pretty and slightly existential.
September 14, 2009
Jennifer D
Super Reviewer
You won't know what hit you when, halfway through it, the feeling settles in your mind that this movie is really, really good. It's a mad French movie that slowly creeps into your bones as it begins to build insane subplot after subplot on the para-dimensional atmosphere of the Parisian underworld: surrealistic garages
vibrating with operatic soundwaves, blue lofts for taking hot baths and doing puzzles, and long walks in the park under the rain... followed by the best chase scene ever. Oh, and the plot involves Taiwanese pirates and an International prostitution network. It is this bizarreness what makes it absolutely classic.
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