Diva (1981)

Two tapes, two Parisian mob killers, one corrupt policeman, an opera fan, a teenage thief, and the coolest philosopher ever filmed all 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 8 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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The producers were looking for an actress who fit the description of Cynthia Hawkins (the Diva) in the original novel - a beautiful black American woman who sings a flawless operatic soprano, and speaks both English and French fluently. They attended a performance of Carmen to familiarize themselves with opera performers. Wilhelmenia Fernandez was playing the title role the night they attended the opera.

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Goofs

When Nadia is just exiting the metro station and runs into Jules, he is wearing his postman's cap. Later, in the police station when Paula is recounting Nadia's death, the same scene is replayed, except this time Jules is not wearing his cap.

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Quotes

[In Cynthia's hotel suite]
Cynthia Hawkins: What's your name, Mr. Postman?
Jules: [Smiles] Jules.
Cynthia Hawkins: Jules! Jules is old for a young man. I thought the French were modern.
Jules: My father was old-fashioned.
Cynthia Hawkins: [Laughs] I'm kidding! Jules fits you so poorly that it fits you very well. Jules...

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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 The Souvenir (2019)

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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

Best movie ever about bootlegging concerts

Diva is a movie that seems just as stunning and unique to me today as it did when I first saw it 20 years ago. One of those movies that you will remember forever.

On the surface, it's an exercise in pure style, combining exciting, "hip" visuals with great music (opera as well as some great atmospheric incidental music). But there are hundreds of movies like that. What makes Diva so memorable to me is the way it combines this stylish cinematic eye candy with a suspenseful plot, good acting, a touch of romance and sex, and even a smattering of philosophy (as the title character explains her reasons for not allowing her voice to be recorded, not to mention the immortal bread-buttering scene).

It sounds like a recipe for a boring, highly stylized "European" movie, but this is a film where the excitement never flags for a minute. One of the true gems of 80s cinema. As a friend said "If you wanted to be hip in the 80s, you had to have seen 'Liquid Sky', 'Repo Man' and 'Diva'". But even today, you should see it just because it's a great movie.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French English Italian

Release Date:

23 April 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Diva

Filming Locations:

Opéra, Paris Métro, Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,672, 4 November 2007

Gross USA:

$110,014

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$110,014

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