Diva (1981)

Two tapes, two Parisian mob killers, one corrupt policeman, an opera fan, a teenage thief, and the coolest philosopher ever filmed. All these characters twist their way through an intricate and stylish French language thriller.

Director:

Jean-Jacques Beineix

Writers:

Daniel Odier (novel) (as Delacorta), Jean-Jacques Beineix (adaptation)

Stars:

Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Frédéric Andréi, Richard Bohringer

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 7 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Wilhelmenia Fernandez	...	Cynthia Hawkins (as Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez)
Frédéric Andréi	...	Jules
Richard Bohringer	...	Gorodish
Thuy An Luu	...	Alba
Jacques Fabbri	...	Commissaire Jean Saporta
Chantal Deruaz	...	Nadia
Anny Romand	...	Paula
Roland Bertin	...	Simon Weinstadt, l'imprésario
Gérard Darmon	...	L' Antillais
Dominique Pinon	...	Le curé
Jean-Jacques Moreau	...	Krantz
Patrick Floersheim	...	Zatopek
Raymond Aquilon	...	Abdullah, le rasta
Eugène Berthier
Gérard Chaillou	...	Mortier

Storyline

A young opera-loving mailman, Jules, becomes inadvertently entangled in murder, when a young woman fleeing two mob hit men drops an incriminating cassette into his mailbag. Jules has just recently recorded opera star Cynthia Hawkins' latest concert, something of a coup as Hawkins refuses to make recordings of any kind. Soon Jules finds himself the target of the hit men, who want the voice recording, and also of another couple of ominous and mysterious agents.

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Plot Keywords:

france | shot to death | concert | murder | moped | 

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Taglines:

A Comedy. A Thriller. A Romance.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English Italian

Release Date:

23 April 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Diva e os Gangsters

Filming Locations:

Opéra, Le Métro, Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,672, 4 November 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$108,372, 30 March 2008

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films Galaxie, Greenwich Film Productions, France 2 (FR2)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first film role for Wilhelmenia Fernandez. She was also featured in a television production of the opera La Bohème (1980).

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Goofs

During the metro chase, close-ups of Jules shows the collar of a white tee-shirt underneath his buttoned-up shirt. However, in both previous and following scenes, he is without the tee-shirt.

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Quotes

Le curé: I don't like elevators.
Zatopek: You don't like anything.

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Crazy Credits

The music continues for a minute and five seconds after the credits end.

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Alternate Versions

Lion's Gate released a DVD (under the "Meridien Collection" banner) with 6' of deleted shots (all extensions of existing scenes) that were intentionally cut in the original by the director before the initial release, with those deleted shots not as bonus material on the DVD but actually edited back into the film, and advertised on the DVD as a "restored version". The resultant timing was 123'. This is not an official version, but an unauthorized re-editing by a DVD company. The correct timing of the film is 117'25".

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Connections

Referenced in Petit Con (1984)

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Soundtracks

L'air de la 'La Wally'
Composed by Alfredo Catalani
Performed by Wilhelmenia Fernandez (as Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez)
© Copyright by Galaxie Musique 1981
Tous droits réservés

User Reviews

Beautiful visuals, sounds, performances. Wow

I saw Diva for the first time as a college student in a film class art theater marathon. I'd just finished the most boring excuse for a movie ever made (no offense to fans of "My Dinner with Andre") and went in to see Diva.

I was floored. The most beautiful example of "disastre deluxe" I've ever seen - everything is so rundown it's gorgeous. The music perfectly matches the whole film. The performances are not "realistic", but they are not meant to be.

This is obviously not a piece of cinema verite and shouldn't be reviewed as such. "Diva" is a 2 hour tour de force of cinema as experience. One of the finest films I've ever seen.