Diva (film)

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Movie
German title diva
Original title diva
Country of production France
original language French
Publishing year 1981
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Jean-Jacques Brilleix
script Jean-Jacques Brilleix ,
Jean van Hamme
production Irène Silberman ,
Serge Silberman
music Vladimir Cosma ,
Alfredo Catalani ,
Charles Gounod
camera Philippe Rousselot
cut Monique Prim ,
Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte
occupation

Diva is a French film directed by Jean-Jacques Brilleix in 1981 and based on the crime novel of the same name by the Swiss writer Daniel Odier . Beinix's directorial debut became a cult film in the early 80s .

action

The film is about Jules, a young Parisian postman on a moped, who secretly records a concert by the opera singer Cynthia Hawkins, who he admires, because she does not allow her singing to be recorded. Two Taiwanese gangsters sit behind him. After the recording, Jules steals the dress from the singer she performed in.

The next day, Jules runs into the prostitute Nadja, who is being followed by the pimps Cure and the Antillans and who is apparently being watched by the police. Before the woman is killed by one of the killers with a thorn, she slips an audio cassette with incriminating material into Jules' mailbag on the moped. The police, under the direction of Chief Inspector Jean Saporta, who had received information about the woman killed by an informant, also learned this. The informant is also murdered with a thorn by the killers the next day.

On the same day, Jules met the Vietnamese Alba. He lets Alba hear his recording of Cynthia Hawkins in his apartment, which in turn plays it for her friend Serge Gorodish. Gorodish recognizes what is unique about this recording. When Jules spends the night with a prostitute who is supposed to wear the diva's dress, the Taiwanese ravage his apartment in search of the opera recording.

The next morning Jules comes to his devastated apartment and suspects the police to be the originator. She later searches the devastated apartment while Jules brings flowers and her dress back to the diva. Jules tries a shy approach to the diva he admires.

In a parking garage, Saporta hands over Jules' files to Cure and the Antillans, who then pursue him. In the evening Jules meets the diva in a restaurant and they stroll through the streets of Paris. Then he spends the night with her on the sofa in her hotel room. In the morning the Taiwanese call the diva and ask for Jules and his admission. They want to make a blackmail and blackmail the singer with it, whereupon her manager recommends an official recording.

When Jules is being chased through Paris at night by the police, he escapes her with the moped through the metro. The Taiwanese are already waiting for him at home. When Jules spends another night at the prostitute's, he listens for the first time to the tape that was put in his mailbag. It contains harmful material against Saporta. The prostitute betrays Jules, and this time he has to flee from the killers. He was shot and barely survived. He telephones with Gorodish, who takes him to safety. In the end, Gorodish pits the Taiwanese and Saporta off against each other, but Jules falls into the hands of Saporta's killers. They take him to his apartment, where the police wait for him, overwhelm the killers and kill one of them. Then Saporta appears and shoots the Antillian to cover up all traces, but is himself killed by Gorodish's actions. Last but not least, Jules plays his recording to the diva in the empty Théâtre du Châtelet . She had never heard herself sing.

background

The aria Ebben, n'andrò lontana from the opera La Wally by Alfredo Catalani is of central importance in the film plot . It will be performed by the soprano Wilhelmenia Fernandez herself.

criticism

The film was well received in the international press, with Rotten Tomatoes 98% of the 49 reviews are positive, the average rating is 8/10.

The industry journal Variety described Diva as an “extraordinary thriller, complex, elegant and fast-paced”, and stated that the “novel-like design, the adventurous chases and twists, the breathtaking camera work by Philippe Rousselot and the exciting editing technique” made the film a “superior one Piece of entertainment ”. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote that Diva was "one of the best thrillers of the last few years", as well as a "brilliant film" and a "visual spectacle". The chases, which were on a par with those of the “all-time classics, Raiders of the Lost Ark , French Connection and Bullitt ”, were particularly emphasized .

The New Yorker magazine summed up that every shot in Diva was designed to "inspire the audience". In 2009, Arte attested Diva “radical aesthetics” and took up the term “blue film” due to the often “nocturnal atmosphere”, the “graphic decor and the artistically placed lighting effects”. Unusual film details of "chaotic [m] and sometimes pennäler-like [m] surrealism" would give Diva additional "spice". "In terms of the subject [...] visionary" and therefore "highly topical", the film is "in terms of copyrights, pirated copies and relationships between stars and fans".

The New York Times criticized, however, that beinix in Diva is nothing as important as "stylization", but that has its limits when it becomes "too beautiful and mechanical". This “anthology of allure” is an “empty, albeit terribly beautiful French film”.

The magazine film-dienst wrote that Diva was a “crime film” made with “fairytale features”. The concentration of classic genre elements "with mythical-surreal motifs" makes it a "funny and imaginative parody of the extravagance of consumer society and the aesthetics of its advertising". Die Zeit praised the fact that Diva was turning into a “dazzlingly beautiful synthetic cinema puzzle” through the virtuoso shifting of the “genre patterns of cinema” and the “deliberately absurdly” assembled “fragments of the audio-visual media world”.

Awards

The film was awarded four Césars for the best first work, the best film music, the best camera and the best sound. Was nominated Diva also in the category Best Art Direction .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Diva. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 12, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ↑ Tony Reeves: Filming Locations for Jean-Jacques Seeleix's Diva (1981), in Paris. In: The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations . ( movie-locations.com [accessed July 25, 2017]).
  3. ↑ Diva trailer. In: YouTube . Umbrella Entertainment, August 22, 2011, accessed November 5, 2015 .
  4. ^ Diva (1981). Rotten Tomatoes , accessed February 12, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Review: 'Diva'. Variety , December 31, 1980, accessed on February 8, 2015 (English): “Diva is an extraordinary thriller and first film from Jean-Jacques Seeleix, complex, stylish and fast-moving. [...]. The novel touches, bizarre chases and plot twists, breathtaking camerawork by Philippe Rousselot and tension-filled editing, make Diva a superior piece of entertainment. "
  6. ↑ Roger Ebert : Diva. Chicago Sun-Times , January 1, 1982, accessed on February 8, 2015 : “It is one of the best thrillers of recent years but, more than that, it is a brilliant film, […]. DIVA's chase scene deserves ranking with the all-time classics, "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "The French Connection", and "Bullitt". "
  7. ↑ Pauline Kael : PAULINE KAEL ON DIVA. (No longer available online.) The New Yorker , April 19, 1982, archived from the original on September 24, 2015 ; accessed on February 8, 2015 (English): "Every shot seems designed to delight the audience."
  8. ↑ Delphine Valloire: Diva. (No longer available online.) Arte , August 17, 2009, archived from the original on February 2, 2014 ; accessed on January 30, 2014 .
  9. ↑ Vincent Canby : Diva (1981). French “Diva” Opens At The Plaza. New York Times , April 16, 1982, accessed February 8, 2015 : “ DIVA is an empty though frightfully chic-looking film from France. [...] Diva is an anthology of affectations. [...], but none of it is as important to Mr.übenix as style, and style as content has its limits when it's so pretty and mechanical. "
  10. ↑ Diva. In: www.filmdienst.de. film-dienst , July 1983, accessed June 4, 2004 .
  11. ↑ Lina Schneider: In the cinema. In: www.zeit.de. Die Zeit , April 15, 1983, accessed on June 4, 2004 (from time no. 16/1983).