Diva

R

1981

2h 5m

Mystery & Thriller

List

96%

Tomatometer

56 Reviews

86%

Audience Score

5,000+ Ratings

A young mail carrier, Jules (Frederic Andrei), becomes entranced with the voice of American diva Cynthia Hawkins (Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez). She doesn't believe in being recorded, but Jules secretly records her singing on a tape. His recording gets mixed up with another tape that incriminates a police chief, who is working with the mob. Jules quickly becomes the target of mob gangsters, and he must find a way to get himself out of the situation alive.

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Critics Consensus

Beineix combines unique cinematography, an intelligent script, and a brilliant soundtrack to make Diva a stylishly memorable film.

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

[Director Jean-Jacques] Beineix may not be interested in what’s underneath, but he has a great feeling for surfaces. A chase through the Métro and an escape to a pinball-machine and video-game arcade are so ravishing that they’re funny, intentionally.

Sep 19, 2023

Full Review

Dwight Brown

Sepia

Yes, this film is a little contrived at times, but it’s still one of the best pictures I've seen all year. Hats off to the French!

Aug 10, 2022

Full Review

Melissa Anderson

4Columns

Beineixs film delights, if not overwhelms, the eye. (And in its obsession with the beauty and power of the human voice, Diva might also be thought of as an illustration of the cinéma du listen). Its bewitchery hasnt dimmed more than forty years later.

Apr 29, 2022

Full Review

Lynden Barber

Limelight

I was no opera fan at the time, indeed had found that musical form somewhat alienating, and yet after being mesmerised by the aria performed by soprano Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez near the start of the film, the barriers began to melt.

Jul 29, 2022

Full Review

Judy Stone

San Francisco Examiner

In his first feature-length film, director Jean-Jacques Beineix shows a fanciful, tongue-in-cheek talent for spoofing old mysteries, creating incongruously beautiful photographic images and mixing it all up with a touch of Zen. Delightfully original.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 11, 2021

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

An art-house flick that should appeal even to people who don't like art-house flicks.

Rated: 3.5/4

Aug 16, 2020

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S R

1001 movies to see before you die (added later). A well made and entertaining dramatic thriller with a soft French feel to its thrills. The villains were threatening, yet simple to me. I enjoyed the diva who was an opera singer who refused to be recorded, but ironically her best fan is the only one who does. I don't plan to see it again, but the streets of Paris and the chase scenes were fun. RUS.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/29/24

Full Review

Paul G

In a film filled with symbolism and circular resonance, a young bike messenger (Frederic Andrei) worships an opera diva's music with near-sexual passion, even as he illegally records her concert. Director Jean-Jacques Beineix's consummately French use of symbols will delight any literature student: for example, the bundle of dirty money tossed disdainfully out the window lands next to a blind accordion player, whose music turns out to be what has been playing all along in the earphone of Priest, the punk assassin (Dominique Pinon). C'est bon! (This film is one of my Paris favorites.)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/18/23

Full Review

william k

Exciting, highly innovative thriller offers a suspenseful plot with a few twists and some spectacular action themes; plus it introduces us with a mesmerizing rendition of the aria "La Wally"."

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

My all time favourite movie!!! Just makes me feel so happy and warm by the end. It really makes me feel wonderful after a bad day. Also fantastic performances from the whole cast, very beautiful cinematography and locations. The music is also simply outstanding (I even have my own vinyl copy. Would recommend this film to anyone who loves French New Wave and fun feel-good movies.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Beautifully photographed as well as having a well-paced, compelling story.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

William L

Like many of Beineix's films, Diva was initially poorly received by French critics before undergoing popular and critical revaluation that saw its profile rise substantially. It's an important film when considering its place in cinematic history, with an emphasis on aesthetic and visual design that would kickstart the movement known as cinéma du look. However, it's that same feature that makes the film kind of difficult to appreciate - there is such a focus on practical design that the story suffers as a result, coming across as fragmentary and stitched-together. The story is designed around a coincidence - a young Parisian postman that comes into possession of two recordings that are confused with one another; one is a unique bootleg of an American opera singer that famously refuses to have her voice recorded, while the other is an incriminating testimony against a dirty local cop. As a result, interested parties converge in their attempts to secure the tapes for themselves, often creating conflict out of misunderstandings. Sounds sort of Guy Ritchie-esque, right? But the plot just sort of rambles around, dedicating a subtantial amount of time to an unlikely romance between the postman (Andréi) and the opera singer (Fernandez) while also giving virtually no explanation behind Bohringer's Gorodish, who arguably serves to unite the subplots more than any other character and who develops a bizarre heist-flick plan to rectify the film's events. However, if you can stomach the narrative, Beineix gives you a visually original and influential shooting style to tide you over, most clearly evident in the extended scene of a chase through the Paris Metro on moped. The film is full of interesting lighting choices and color schemes, and would be cited as a direct inspiration on many French action films of the next decade or more. Unusual and with some high notes, but the story problems just don't settle in the stomach well. (3/5)

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/11/21

Full Review

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Jean-Jacques Beineix

Director

Frederic Andrei

Jules

Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez

Cynthia Hawkins

Richard Bohringer

Gorodish

Thuy An Luu

Alba

Jacques Fabbri

Commissaire Jean Saporta

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Synopsis

A young mail carrier, Jules (Frederic Andrei), becomes entranced with the voice of American diva Cynthia Hawkins (Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez). She doesn't believe in being recorded, but Jules secretly records her singing on a tape. His recording gets mixed up with another tape that incriminates a police chief, who is working with the mob. Jules quickly becomes the target of mob gangsters, and he must find a way to get himself out of the situation alive.

Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix
Production Co: Les Films Galaxie, France 2, Greenwich Film Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 14, 2012
Box Office (Gross USA): $73.4K
Runtime: 2h 5m

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