Diva

French director Jean-Jacques Beineix took the film world by storm with this superbly photographed 1981 mystery/thriller about a postal clerk (Frederic Andrei) who illegally records an opera diva (Wilhelminia Wiggins Fernandez), and then, through a series of misadventures, gets the tape mixed up with another cassette containing a damning confession about a high level drug ring. Based on the novel by Delacorta, this whirlwind slice of Parisian high and lowlife combines elements of opera, punk couture, and police procedural (not to mention absolutely contemporary subtext about artists' copyright concerns). Given a reasonably decent video transfer (with some graininess evident in darker scenes), the DVD also includes an interview with the director. Recommended. (R. Pitman) [DVD Review—June 10, 2008—Lionsgate, 117 min., in French w/English subtitles, R, $26.98—Making its third appearance on DVD, 1981's Diva sports a decent transfer and Dolby Digital mono sound. DVD extras on this Meridian Collection edition include 81 minutes of 'Searching for Diva' cast and crew interviews, and 42 minutes of scene specific audio commentary by director Jean-Jacques Beineix. Bottom line: a fine extras package for an influential film.]