Diva Details

A disappointment 2nd time around

Saw this at the cinema when it first came out and thought it was wonderful. Twenty something years later and a lot of the gloss has worn off. I guess we were all dazzled by the then ultra cool attitude and stylish visual pop-culture flourishes. It has all been done so many times since then, with so much more panache, flair and technical excellence, that what was once beguiling now seems rather pedestrian. There are still some delightful moments of wit (the onion chopping scene, the Gitane-Bleu pad, the goon who doesn't like anything, Ayatollah the cat), Wilhemenia Fernandez's opera singer is wonderful and that voice is out of this world. But the pace is often plodding, the editing somewhat clunky, the colour is garish, the characters seem desperately pretentious rather than effortlessly cool, the 'stupid' french cops are about as funny as Cannon and Ball and what was once chic tongue in cheek irony now comes across as a lack of realism which takes all the tension out of what was meant to be a slick little thriller. One for the film studies course rather than an entertaining evening.

[Highly rated reviewer]

A Must. This film has to be experienced

Here is a film with a delightfully spurious plot that allows us to wallow in glorious sets that are decaying, the agents in the film are all free and step beyond the normal behaviours and ethics, to exist in a passionate and obsessive way that is remarkably well acted and a pleasure to witness.

Other luxuries include: Wilhelmina Wiggins Fernandez, a real-life opera singer in her only film role, playing a wonderful Cynthia Hawkins, an outstanding motorcycle sequence through the heart of Paris and the resolution of the film which is something special.

A great part of this film, renowned as cool and essential viewing in the ‘80’s, is the director’s ability to engage his audience in his remarkably joyous visual depth. A film that’s hard to be unaffected by.

My only gripe is the subtitling is a little hard to read at times.