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'Diva' (12)



****

DVD Release

When young postman Jules makes a bootleg recording of his favourite opera singer, he has no idea of the dangerous world he is about to enter. Set in Paris, Diva depicts two intertwining stories involving cassette tapes, dotted with a variety of complex characters.

It is hard to discuss Diva without giving too much away because it is a thriller and has a few twists along the way. Firstly, then, we shall tackle the appearance of the film; all the colours are very vivid, particularly blue which is used throughout the movie and seems to depict high art. The director, Beineix, started out in advertising and that is very evident here – there are lots of elongated shots of elaborate objects with emotive music placed over the top, making them kinds of ‘designer’ pieces that the audience will desire. The interior set-pieces are also interesting – we see inside several different flats, a lighthouse and one industrial space wherein the character Gorodish demonstrates his artistic powers. Each internal space mirrors the character who inhabits it, making the film feel more of a visual experience than others may do. Music is also used cleverly – at the start of the film we hear the full version of the song that Cynthia Hawkins, the eponymous ‘Diva’, sings and Jules records, and this song is then repeated throughout, although in a fractured form. This repetition of the track throughout the film helps fill the gaps where there is little speech and Jules’ analysis of the song helps us to understand the film overall.

There are a large number of characters in Diva and yet I felt as though I knew all of them well enough to engage with their story and plight. FrĆ©dĆ©ric AndrĆ©i is excellent as the naĆÆve Jules, and carries the first section of the film very well, with the camera lingering on his face for long periods. Richard Bohringer is similarly good as the artist Gorodish – he says relatively little for the first few scenes, but he is still an engaging presence. These two actors lead the field, with Wilhelmina Fernandez and Thuy An Luu providing supporting female roles as Cynthia Hawkins and Alba respectively.

There are some moments that feel a little out of place, such as two moments of rather extreme violence, and for the first twenty minutes or so I found myself struggling to be immersed in the film. Similarly, I felt that the director didn’t know which genre to lean towards at times, but overall this is a pretty enjoyable and visually interesting movie.

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