Great beginning--first twenty minutes. Clever ending--last five minutes. But not worth it unless you want to fast forward and make it a 25 minute mini TV show. Some reviewers must have seen a different movie. Diva is needlessly complex and meandering in a sloppy, undisciplined way. The plot makes no sense whatsoever and you won't be curious enough to sort it out afterwords, only wondering why you wasted the time.
1981. Dynasty was hot. Rubiks Cube hit the market. Juice Newton was cool, so were Kool and the Gang and Eddit Rabbit. But for intellectuals--people who go to films, not movies--it was Diva that had everybody in the chattering classes chattering. While many reviewers talk about the films stylishness, they neglect to add that most of what passes for "stylish" in any particular moment ends up looking silly and dated very quickly. This is proof. Unfortunately, there is a great concept trapped inside--a passionate and quirky young opera lover who lugs along and manages to surreptitiously tape a beautiful opera recital using a semi-portable top-of-the-line old Nagra (the best tech available in its day.) But that's all lost in the mish-mash of global prostitution ring, silly sunglass wearing bad guys with bad bad guy dialog ("I've got a bad feeling about this") and endless shots of a "profound" "wave machine" from Sharper Image or somewhere which is the meditation device for a character who is utterly incomprehensible.
Don't say you weren't warned. This is not a classic...it's a washed up period piece.
1981. Dynasty was hot. Rubiks Cube hit the market. Juice Newton was cool, so were Kool and the Gang and Eddit Rabbit. But for intellectuals--people who go to films, not movies--it was Diva that had everybody in the chattering classes chattering. While many reviewers talk about the films stylishness, they neglect to add that most of what passes for "stylish" in any particular moment ends up looking silly and dated very quickly. This is proof. Unfortunately, there is a great concept trapped inside--a passionate and quirky young opera lover who lugs along and manages to surreptitiously tape a beautiful opera recital using a semi-portable top-of-the-line old Nagra (the best tech available in its day.) But that's all lost in the mish-mash of global prostitution ring, silly sunglass wearing bad guys with bad bad guy dialog ("I've got a bad feeling about this") and endless shots of a "profound" "wave machine" from Sharper Image or somewhere which is the meditation device for a character who is utterly incomprehensible.
Don't say you weren't warned. This is not a classic...it's a washed up period piece.
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