Diva
Jean-Jacques Beineix
1981, 118 mins.
Zen and the art of bread and butter
Recently remastered in 4K, this film noir certainly looks better, but can’t hide its flaws no matter what the rendering.
First and foremost of the transgressions is the opening sequences where the Diva (musically portrayed by Wilhelminia Wiggins Hernandez who has an alluring soprano voice even if the “top” is not consistently secure) stands with the maestro, but many, many feet away from the orchestra (this never happens in real voice/orchestra recitals), perhaps rewarding the camera but turning off true opera devotees from the first bar.
Second are the numerous chase sequences (featuring postman Jules—easy-to-look at Frédéric Andréi—who opts to run on the same roads as his pursuers rather than dash into the nearby foliage…but then there’d be nothing more to show…).
Finally, the notion of who’s got the tape, either the damning take down of a police chief or Diva’s secretly recorded performance—which has far better sound reproduction than anyone could expect from a “sitting in the crowd with a hidden microphone”…could expect (and never mind about “I wonder what might be in the newspaper-wrapped package left underneath one of the crook’s curtain rides!”), it’s a fun romp through Paris where the plot points don’t count and their resolution doesn’t matter.
If looking for a change from today’s more usual cinematic fare, Beineix’s film will certainly help an afternoon go by. JWR
Stranger Eyes
Siew Hua Yeo
2025, 124 mins.
Seen but not heard
Some films can be about virtually anything the viewer chooses to take away.
Here, a stolen baby (Little Bo), appears to lead the plot but soon slips off into a darkroom of a different sort. Instead, it’s a study of mostly hidden cameras; their related DVDs that tell a much bigger tale of how most of our lives are readily captured and shared amongst all manner of people—with or, mostly, without our permission.
The overarching line, “Every kindness has an expiry date” speaks volumes about how life is, literally, captured in the 21st century. As family lives built and ruined come under the focus of several lenses, it falls to a seldom-sober mother to tell her flailing son, “I know everything”—with or without visual proof.
While too many plot lines (and the baby?) spoil the narrative broth, the film is well worth a look by anyone whose home life has moved from joyful bliss to being dashed on the familial shoals, one frame at a time. JWR