Diva

Released 1981
Stars Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Frédéric Andréi, Richard Bohringer, Thuy An Luu, Jacques Fabbri, Chantal Deruaz
Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix

Music-loving mailman bootleg-tapes the concert of a superstar diva who's never made a recording, finds himself in even hotter water when his possession is mixed up with a second tape that will incriminate gangsters. High-tech melodrama occasionally rubs your nose in its technique, but still makes for whale of a directorial debut by Beineix. Subway motorcycle chase is an action classic.

Summary by Leonard Maltin

This is a stylish flick that's a little difficult to confine to a single genre, but I guess it would best fit in the thriller category. "Diva" takes several movie cliches and mixes them into a nice package, and Jean-Jacques Beineix has a lot of fun behind the camera. I most enjoyed the characters of Gorodish and Alba. They help add a sense of unpredictability to the plot, but more than that, they're a groovy couple that injects tranquility into the tension. --Bill Alward, December 10, 2001