Diva returns to the big screen (Rialto Pictures)
Diva
(opening January 11 for a limited engagement at Landmark's Ken Cinema) was a film I reviewed when I first began writing film criticism back in 1982, while I was still in college. I was dazzled by it then and in the passing years it has lost neither its charm nor its luster. Rialto Pictures is presenting a newly restored 35mm print of the film for its re-release.
French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Beineix doesn't direct Diva but rather choreographs its movements. The film dances and glides with exhilarating grace, emphasizing style and form rather than content. Beineix has yet to equal this debut feature although he has delivered such eccentric fare as Moon in the Gutter and Betty Blue . But with Diva , Beineix serves up a romance wrapped in a fresh and witty variation on the film noir/gangster genre.
Terin Smith
January 11, 2008 at 05:03 AM
Yes, truly a special film. One that stays with you in all it's year's since '82.
-----
Beth Accomando
January 11, 2008 at 05:48 PM
Yes indeed, it's still a breath of fresh air.
