Hidden Movie Gem: “Diva”
October is Hidden Movie Gem month at Go Into The Story. Why? Because we all need to — say it together with me…
WATCH MOVIES!!!
I have asked members of the GITS community to write guest posts about their favorite Hidden Movie Gems and many of you have responded. Today’s guest post is courtesy of John Hörnschemeyer:
Movie Title: Diva
Year: 1981
Writers: Daniel Odier (novel, as Delacorta), Jean-Jacques Beineix & Jean Van Hamme (adaptation), Jean-Jacques Beineix (dialogue)
Lead Actors: Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez … Cynthia Hawkins, Frédéric Andréi … Jules, Richard Bohringer … Gorodish, Thuy An Luu … Alba, Jacques Fabbri … Jean Saporta
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Plot Summary: Against a haunting backdrop of Paris, Opera, and the ultimate in laid-back philosophy, two audio cassette tapes transform the carefree life of a young Parisian postman into a desperate fight for survival. When he illegally tapes the concert of an American opera diva who refuses to be recorded, and unwittingly comes into possession of another tape, implicating Saporta, a high-ranking policeman, as the boss of various rackets, Jules, postman and avid opera fan, becomes the target of killers working for corrupt police officials, and Taiwanese gangsters seeking to obtain the priceless Diva tape. Aided by an enigmatic bohemian philosopher, Gorodish, and his young muse Alba, he seeks to survive, before eventually succeeding in pitting his pursuers against each other, and fortuitously forming a romantic relationship with Cynthia, the Diva.
Why I Think This Movie Is A Hidden Gem: Diva is a breath of fresh air… a thriller that succeeds in combining so many potentially incompatible, and un-thriller-like elements, while proposing a haunting visual masterpiece. Who better than Roger Ebert, who gave it four stars, to encapsulate the quality of the movie…
“The movie is filled with so many small character touches, so many perfectly observed intimacies, so many visual inventions — from the sly to the grand — that the thriller plot is just a bonus. In a way, it doesn’t really matter what this movie is about; Pauline Kael has compared Beineix to Orson Welles and, as Welles so often did, he has made a movie that is a feast to look at, regardless of its subject. […] Here is a director taking audacious chances, doing wild and unpredictable things with his camera and actors, just to celebrate moviemaking.”
Ebert also wrote that the film’s extended motorcycle chase scene, “deserves ranking with the all-time classics.”
My Favorite Moment In The Movie: Dawn. The almost empty streets of a rainy Paris begin to stir, as Jules, Cynthia and an umbrella stroll around the City, accompanied by Vladimir Cosma’s magnificent piano instrumental ‘Promenade Sentimentale’. A feast for both eyes and ears.
This said, Gorodish listening to opera music while lying in his bath in the middle of his loft, comes a close second, without forgetting, of course, the chase through Paris, and the metro.
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: In his vast, almost empty loft, Gorodish, wearing snorkeling headgear (!), butters a ‘baguette’ while Alba roller skates around the floor of the loft. Crazy normality!
Gorodish: Some get high on airplane glue… detergents… fancy gimmicks. My satori is this: Zen in the art of buttering bread!
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: Over and above the visual poetry of the movie, it is interesting to note how Beineix clearly separates the violent brutality of Jules’ fight for survival from the scenes involving his relationship with Cynthia, the diva. Perhaps Beineix wanted Cynthia to represent Jules’ inner need, untarnished by the dramatic goal of survival.
Another interesting point can be seen at the beginning of ACT 3, when Gorodish metamorphoses from Jules’ mentor into the antagonists’ nemesis. Forsaking the need for backstory, Beineix transforms Gorodish, the philosopher, into Gorodish, the Machiavellian manipulator, the man who plots the downfall of the bad guys.
Movie Trailer:
Stroll through Paris at dawn
Thanks, John! To show our gratitude, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
Tomorrow: Another Hidden Movie Gem!
Note: At this point, we have 20 guest posts. We are shooting for 31. If you’d like to submit a post for one of your favorite Hidden Movie Gems, please use the above template and email to me.
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