.gif)
Diva (film)
Encyclopedia
Diva is a 1981
film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix
, adapted from a novel of the same name by Daniel Odier (under the pseudonym Delacorta). It is one of the first French
film
s to let go of the realist
, harsh mood of 1970s French cinema
and return to a colourful, melodic style, called cinema du look
. The film made a muted debut in France in 1981 with 2,281,569 admissions, but had success in the United States
the next year grossing $2,678,103. The film became a cult classic
and was internationally acclaimed.
singer who has never consented to have her performances recorded. He attends her performance, secretly and illegally records it, and steals a gown from her dressing room.
Unknowingly, Jules also comes into possession of another important tape: the testimony of a prostitute, exposing Saporta, a high-ranking policeman, as the boss of various rackets. The prostitute drops the recording in the bag of the postman's moped moments before she is murdered.
In danger from Saporta's enforcers as well as from Taiwanese gangsters seeking the Hawkins tape, Jules seeks refuge with his new friends, the mysterious bohemian
Serge Gorodish and his young muse Alba (the central figures of a series of novels, including the one upon which the screenplay was based). Gorodish acts as a deus ex machina
to manipulate Jules's enemies into destroying each other. Meanwhile a romantic relationship between Jules and Cynthia develops, emphasised by the piano instrumental 'Promenade Sentimentale' of Vladimir Cosma as they walk around Paris early one morning.
Jules returns Hawkins' dress out of guilt after stealing it. Although she is initially angry, she then becomes amused and somewhat moved that she has such a fan. The two have breakfast together and Jules is given the privilege of hearing her practice her singing. Their relationship becomes somewhat strained however, when Hawkins hears that a perfect bootleg copy of her performance was made and sent to Taiwan, which insists that she either sign to make recordings of her performances or they will sell copies of the illegal tape. Jules believes that Gorodish and Alba sold the tape to the hitmen after him. He later learns that they still have the tape and that the call was a fake. At the end of the movie however, he plays the bootleg tape for Cynthia. She expresses slight nervousness over hearing it as she "never heard [herself] sing". Jules responds by holding her and the two dance together to the music.
's opera La Wally
, and a pastiche of Erik Satie
's Gnossienne
s composed by Vladimir Cosma
.
1981 in film
-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
film directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Jacques Beineix
-Biography:In 1964, Jean-Jacques Beineix started his career as Jean Becker's assistant director on the famous French TV series, Les saintes chéries until the end of 1967. Then, in 1970 he worked for Claude Berri and in 1971 for Claude Zidi. In 1977, he directed his first short movie Le Chien de M....
, adapted from a novel of the same name by Daniel Odier (under the pseudonym Delacorta). It is one of the first French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s to let go of the realist
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
, harsh mood of 1970s French cinema
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
and return to a colourful, melodic style, called cinema du look
Cinema du look
Cinéma du look was a French film movement of the 1980s, analysed, for the first time, by French critic Raphaël Bassan in La Revue du Cinéma issue n° 448, May 1989, in which Luc Besson was lumped with two other directors who shared "le look." These directors were said to favor style over substance,...
. The film made a muted debut in France in 1981 with 2,281,569 admissions, but had success in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the next year grossing $2,678,103. The film became a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...
and was internationally acclaimed.
Plot
Jules, a young postman, is obsessed with Cynthia Hawkins, a beautiful and celebrated operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer who has never consented to have her performances recorded. He attends her performance, secretly and illegally records it, and steals a gown from her dressing room.
Unknowingly, Jules also comes into possession of another important tape: the testimony of a prostitute, exposing Saporta, a high-ranking policeman, as the boss of various rackets. The prostitute drops the recording in the bag of the postman's moped moments before she is murdered.
In danger from Saporta's enforcers as well as from Taiwanese gangsters seeking the Hawkins tape, Jules seeks refuge with his new friends, the mysterious bohemian
Bohemianism
Bohemianism is the practice of an unconventional lifestyle, often in the company of like-minded people, with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic or literary pursuits...
Serge Gorodish and his young muse Alba (the central figures of a series of novels, including the one upon which the screenplay was based). Gorodish acts as a deus ex machina
Deus ex machina
A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
to manipulate Jules's enemies into destroying each other. Meanwhile a romantic relationship between Jules and Cynthia develops, emphasised by the piano instrumental 'Promenade Sentimentale' of Vladimir Cosma as they walk around Paris early one morning.
Jules returns Hawkins' dress out of guilt after stealing it. Although she is initially angry, she then becomes amused and somewhat moved that she has such a fan. The two have breakfast together and Jules is given the privilege of hearing her practice her singing. Their relationship becomes somewhat strained however, when Hawkins hears that a perfect bootleg copy of her performance was made and sent to Taiwan, which insists that she either sign to make recordings of her performances or they will sell copies of the illegal tape. Jules believes that Gorodish and Alba sold the tape to the hitmen after him. He later learns that they still have the tape and that the call was a fake. At the end of the movie however, he plays the bootleg tape for Cynthia. She expresses slight nervousness over hearing it as she "never heard [herself] sing". Jules responds by holding her and the two dance together to the music.
Soundtrack
Highlights of the soundtrack include the aria Ebben? Ne andrò lontana from Alfredo CatalaniAlfredo Catalani
Alfredo Catalani was an Italian operatic composer. He is best remembered for his operas Loreley and La Wally...
's opera La Wally
La Wally
La Wally is a four-act opera by Alfredo Catalani, composed on a libretto by Luigi Illica, and first performed at La Scala, Milan on 20 January 1892....
, and a pastiche of Erik Satie
Erik Satie
Éric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
's Gnossienne
Gnossienne
"Gnossienne" is the name given to several piano pieces by the French composer Erik Satie in the late 19th century.-Characteristics:Satie's coining of the word "gnossienne" was one of the rare occasions when a composer used a new term to indicate a new "type" of composition. Satie had and would use...
s composed by Vladimir Cosma
Vladimir Cosma
Vladimir Cosma was born April 13, 1940 in Bucharest, Romania, into a family of musicians.His father, Teodor Cosma, was a pianist and conductor, his mother a writer-composer, his uncle, Edgar Cosma, composer and conductor, and one of his grandmothers, pianist, a student of the renowned Ferrucio...
.
Cast
- Frédéric AndréiFrédéric AndréiFrédéric Andréi is a French actor. In 1980 he starred in Le Voyage en douce under director Michel Deville. The next year he played the lead in Jean-Jacques Beineix's Diva, as Jules, a moped-riding postman, obsessed with an American opera singer.-References:...
: Jules - Wilhelmenia Wiggins FernandezWilhelmenia FernandezWilhelmenia Fernandez, sometimes billed as Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez, is an American soprano, born in Philadelphia in 1949, who became famous as the star of the film Diva by French director Jean-Jacques Beineix....
: Cynthia Hawkins - Roland BertinRoland BertinRoland Bertin is a French actor. He has appeared in 100 films and television shows since 1970.-Selected filmography:* Le Petit théâtre de Jean Renoir English title: The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir...
: Weinstadt - Richard BohringerRichard BohringerRichard Bohringer is a French actor.-Personal life:Bohringer was born in Moulins, Allier. He is the father of actress Romane Bohringer, and has two other children, Richard and Lou.-Career:...
: Gorodish - Gérard DarmonGérard DarmonGérard Darmon is a French movie actor and singer.Second husband to Mathilda May.He has three children: Virginie and the last two by Mathilda May, daughter Sarah and son Jules...
: L' Antillais - Chantal Deruaz: Nadia
- Jacques Fabbri: Jean Saporta
- Patrick Floersheim: Zatopek
- Thuy An Luu: Alba
- Dominique PinonDominique PinonDominique Pinon is a French actor whose most famous roles have been in the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Jean-Jacques Beineix. In the theatre, he has appeared in the plays of Gildas Bourdet, Jorge Lavelli and Valère Novarina...
: Le Curé
Awards
- César AwardCésar AwardThe César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
s:- Best DebutCésar Award for Best DebutThe César Award for Best Debut was an award given out at the annual César Awards between 1982 and 1999...
: Jean-Jacques BeineixJean-Jacques Beineix-Biography:In 1964, Jean-Jacques Beineix started his career as Jean Becker's assistant director on the famous French TV series, Les saintes chéries until the end of 1967. Then, in 1970 he worked for Claude Berri and in 1971 for Claude Zidi. In 1977, he directed his first short movie Le Chien de M.... - MusicCésar Award for Best Music Written for a FilmThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Music Written for a Film . Before 2000, the award was called "César Award for Best Music".-1970s:...
: Vladimir CosmaVladimir CosmaVladimir Cosma was born April 13, 1940 in Bucharest, Romania, into a family of musicians.His father, Teodor Cosma, was a pianist and conductor, his mother a writer-composer, his uncle, Edgar Cosma, composer and conductor, and one of his grandmothers, pianist, a student of the renowned Ferrucio... - CinematographyCésar Award for Best CinematographyThe following are the winners of the annual César Award for Best Cinematography .-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
: Philippe RousselotPhilippe RousselotPhilippe Rousselot is a French director of photography.Rousselot was born in Briey, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France. After having studied cinema at l'École Louis Lumière, he graduated in 1966 with, among others, François About, Eduardo Serra, Noël Very, and Jean-François Robin... - SoundCésar Award for Best SoundThis is the list of winners and nominees of the César Award for Best Sound .-Winners and nominees:*1976 : Nara Kollery *1977 : Jean-Pierre Ruh *1978 : Jacques Maumont...
: Jean-Pierre Ruh
- Best Debut