Review of Jean-Jacques Beineix's Film: Diva

Screenshot from Diva, directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix
(Courtesy: www.servimg.com)

The movie Diva by director Jean-Jacques Beineix, was a mystery and a crime film that told the story of a mail carrier obsessed with an opera singer's voice. His obsession turned into a nightmare when one of his recordings of her becomes mistaken for a cassette that would incriminate the police chief on criminal charges.

I found the movie to be a little cheesy as the characters were doing things that seemed unrealistic or unnecessary. The scene where Nadia gets killed off in public seemed unrealistic as not many people reacted to it despite being in broad daylight, and in front of witnesses, two of whom were detectives.
Another scene that seemed unrealistic was when the detective was chasing Jules by car than on foot. Despite being a "track star" it is highly unlikely that the detective would've been able to keep up with Jules on his moped.

Despite these details, I thought that the movie was decent for a movie produced at its time. Preferably I would have liked more action or a more in depth story following the protagonist. The character of Gorodish was perhaps the best of all of them for his ominous background and witty thinking.

The recording device portrayed in the film was sophisticated technology at the time and was used to capture as well as feature the art of opera. The opera singer Cynthia Hawkins was reluctant to have her voice recorded, however, after the threat of bootlegging and meeting Jules, her stance changed to accommodate it. It was also the fact that she was in her 30's and her voice would not always be as it once swayed the change in decision. At the end it can be seen that the once stubborn "diva", embraced innovation and that her legacy would live on far past her existence without being tainted.

In the film it can be seen that the characters often use pay phones and radio transistors, now with mobile phones being so popular these products are now less commonly used. Overall, I saw a variety of uses for technology at the time and how it impacted many of the characters' decisions much like how our decisions are also influenced by modern technology.