This very Parisian suspense comedy-drama was a sensation on the American art house scene during the early 1980s and helped launch a wave of more stylish, genre-oriented, French directors, action-meister Luc Besson included. (It also earned its own palindrome: “Avid was I, ere I saw Diva.”) It’s still fun, and very sexy in a demure, PG-13 way, if also kind of silly and lackadaisical.
Based on a novel by the pseudonymous Delacorta, writer-director Jean-Jacque Beiniex’s feature debut tells the story of a twentyish, scooter-driving postman (Frédéric Andréi) obsessed with a beautiful African-American opera singer (real opera star Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez) who, for artistic and philosophical reasons, refuses to allow herself to be recorded. The young man sneaks a high-end recorder into a performance and, after meeting his idol, steals her dress. He soon finds himself pursued by Asian audio pirates, but also by local assassins seeking an incriminating cassette. At the same time, he pursues a light flirtation/friendship with a larcenous Vietnamese teen orphan (Thuy An Luu) – and, shyly, but a lot more earnestly, romances the diva. He’s definitely one lucky celebrity stalker. Among other bits of good fortune, his less famous, underage gal-pal is under the possibly fatherly, possibly not-so fatherly, protection of a mysterious former Special Forces type (Richard Bohringer), who proves to be helpful in his tight spot.
“Diva” is really not about story but primarily about style, music (lots of opera, so be warned), and only then about its characters. While it doesn’t impress me today the way it did when I was the same age as its young postman, it’s still a nifty bauble with one really great foot/scooter chase through the Paris metro and lots of beauty — though buyers should be aware that the Lionsgate/Meridian Collection DVD has taken some hits for its technical quality. The print could probably be better.
