CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

steveo122 A fun French movie concerning an opera singer who never records her work and a young fan who manages to make a tape of her performing. Another tape, this one implicating a criminal boss, is mixed into the plot and a couple of nefarious types are sent to find it. It's a quirky thriller, a bit dated now (duh) but still quite fun and well done enough to keep your attention. Wilhelmenia Fernandez is/was an 'adequate' actor but she sings beautifully and the film opens with her performance of "Ebben? Ne andrò lontana" from the opera "La Wally". Even though I know it has to have been 'enhanced' somewhat for film purposes, it's not at all far from what she does when she sings it live. In any case, it still exists as one of the best versions.

Syl Wilhelmina Fernandez plays an American opera singer who has never recorded her performances. Jules is a Parisian postal carrier and an opera enthusiast who secretly tapes her but for himself. Then there is a second tape by a woman who gets murdered. She has a secret worth killing for. There is entry of suspense and melodrama here especially between the soprano and Jules, an unlikely romance. This film has plenty of memorable moments whether it is the chase in the Metro or the opera scenes. Paris still looks the same as when I last visited it in 2007. Paris is timeless in this early eighties film. I enjoy seeing the opera house and other locations in Paris.

jotix100 Catalani's opera La Wally has one of the most beautiful arias for a soprano, "Ebben ne andro lontano", which also serves as a theme for this 1981 film we saw when it first came out. The one thing it did was something akin to what happened when Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia" showcased the aria "La mamma morta", because a lot of non operatic music lovers turn to get recordings featuring the immortal music that have delighted music lovers for ages. Not having seen it since its release, we recently took another look at this satisfying picture."Diva" is basically a clever thriller in which an elusive soprano, Cynthia Hawkins, is reluctant to make recordings. Because she is such a rarity in our modern world, Ms. Hawkins' disregard to share her vocal gifts with the public at large, elicit all kinds of illegal recordings because ardent fans will go to whatever extreme necessary to capture her voice for their own pleasure, or perhaps to sell it to unscrupulous merchants for a profit.Jules, the intense young man, is seen going to the recital Cynthia Hawkins is offering. He has a hidden recording device. There are two Chinese men that are also interested in getting their hands in the material; they will stop at nothing to get what they want. When Jules meets Nadia, an adventurous young woman, she brings Jules to meet Gorodish, a strange man she has been living with. The trio go into an adventure that will take them all over Paris trying to protect Jules' treasure from falling in the wrong hands.After gaining Cynthia's friendship, Jules confesses he is the one responsible for stealing her gown from the recital, something that elates her because she finds the young man's attention flattering. What's more, she has never heard her recorded voice, something that only Jules will help remedy.This was Jean-Jacques Beineix's second film. We thought that after "Diva" became such an international hit, he would go to bigger things, but alas, nothing happened. His other films have not done as well. In fact, with the exception of "Betty Blue", we have not seen any of his other films. The director contributed to the adaptation of the film.Frederic Andrei is a personable actor that kept reminding us of Jean-Pierre Leaud, perhaps a comparison to other movie watchers. Evidently, Mr. Andrei decided to go for a television career, something one wouldn't have expected based on his appearance in this movie. Richard Bohringer and Chantal Deruaz make good contributions to the enjoyment of the film. Wilhemina Fernandez Wiggins, a singer in her own right, appears as the gorgeous goddess-like figure of Cynthia Hawkins.

Amit Aishwarya Jogi This film isn't about piracy, prostitution, blackmail or even murder- although it has loads of all that. At its heart, Diva is about music- no, not the loud jarring sort but the kind that occupies the space between silences. And we don't just listen to it; what is more, we actually see this music: in the eerie emptiness of Diva's cinematography; in the uncluttered labyrinth of Parisian urban lofts; on an enchanted castle by the sea; in the surprisingly meaningful relationships between strangers; and in the wild applause of an empty opera house. Beineix's weaves a world that is, for lack of a better word, hypnotic. And we, his viewers, simply drift through it.