Historical Dictionary of French Cinema

DIVA

Diva: translation

(1981)
Film. Based on novel of the same name by Delacorta (the pseudonym of Swiss writer Daniel Odier),Jean-Jacques Beineix's debut feature film,Diva, at first appears to be a crime drama. The protagonist, Jules (Frédéric Andréi), clandestinely records the concert of the diva Cynthia Hawkins (the American opera singer Wilhelmenia Fernandez), who has refused all reproductions of her voice. Jules becomes the target of a corrupt police chief, Jean Saporta (Jacques Fabbri), whose mistress makes a tape exposing his connections to a prostitution and drug ring and then places this tape in Jules's carrying case. Jules is then chased by Saporta and by Taiwanese bootleggers, who want his opera recording in order to force Hawkins into a contract. Jules is aided by Serge Gorodish (Richard Bohringer) and a young shoplifter named Alba (An Lu Thuuy).
At once a parody of the popular Frenchpolicierand a playful mixture of images and sounds from "high" art and popular culture,Divahas been regarded as the first film from thecinéma du look. Beineix's emphasis on visual beauty prompted some critics to compare his films to commercial advertising and even to the experience of window shopping, comparisons that point to the elements of postmodernism in the film. However,Divahas since been viewed as a clever artistic engagement with the reproduction of images and sounds. The film is structured around the idea of theft, and multiple thefts punctuate the narrative: the pirating of music for pleasure and profit, the theft of the diva's dress, and the shoplifting of records. These thefts contrast, for example, with the idea of the legitimate recording of music and with Hawkins's own reproductions of older musical works. As a backdrop to the narrative, there is Beineix's filmmaking, which relies heavily on borrowings (or reproductions) from other films. These numerous examples of borrowing and reproduction point to the fact that all of art is rooted in such borrowing and that sometimes it is legitimate, sometimes illegitimate.Since it is specifically the marketing of art, and not its reproduction for enjoyment, that Hawkins resists, the film seems to suggest that borrowing and reproduction for "art's sake" is sanctioned, while borrowing or reproduction for purely commercial purposes is problematic.
Divaalso abounds in visual and auditory manipulation. Saporta manipulates his mistress's recording to efface blame. Gorodish uses optical illusion to lure Saporta into an elevator shaft, and the film itself records the sound and image of the opera singer Fernandez, despite the fact that it encodes this recording as taboo. There is also Beineix's own manipulation, whereby he borrows images fromLouis Feuillade'sFantômas(1913),Marcel Carné'sLes Enfants du Paradis(1945), and various other films. Film is also referenced in the stereotyped images of thugs in dark sunglasses, characters who mirror those often found in film noir or crime films. Through his own borrowings, Beineix draws attention to filmic images that are reproduced over and over again in popular cinema, and he blurs the lines between cinematic reproduction and invention, between marketing and art.
Divahas been said to have heralded a number of film movements, some of which overlap. These include thecinéma du look, postmodern French cinema, the new baroque,le visuel, and the "new New Wave." Some superficial comparisons can also be made betweenDivaandJean-Luc Godard's landmarkNouvelle Vagueor New Wave film,À bout de souffle(1960). Similarities between the two films include the protagonist's obsession with an American woman, the presence of slick cars, the dominance of music, and the preoccupation with youth. Additionally, both works make overt references to other films. Yet one might also see a stark divergence from the New Wave withDiva'sreturn to the vivid color and gorgeous imagery of thetradition de qualité, yet without any pretensions toward stable meaning. It is interesting that the film that marks this "new" cinema is a clever play of reproduced images and sounds. Its foregrounding of the visual suggests a rejection of the search for narrative truths and a concentration on the cinema as a purely visual form, a move similar to postmodernism's renunciation of grand narratives and its constant play with signs.

  1. diva—diva translation noun Divastrong is used after these nouns pop...Collocations dictionary
  2. diva—Diva translation Film. Based on novel of the same name by Delacorta the pseudonym of Swiss writer Daniel Odier JeanJacques Beineixstrongs debut feature film Divaem at fir...Guide to cinema
  3. diva—diva translationSynonyms and related wordsHeldentenor Meistersinger alto aria singer baritenor baritone bass basso basso buffo basso cantante basso profundo blues singer ...Moby Thesaurus
  4. diva—avid vida...Английские анаграммы
  5. diva—[div]примадонна...Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь
  6. diva—примадонна...Англо-русский дополнительный словарь
  7. diva—примадонна...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  8. diva—примадонна...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  9. diva—n дива примадонна...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  10. diva—итал. сущ. примадонна Syn prima donna звезда эстрады супермодель pop diva попдива...Англо-русский словарь общей лексики
  11. diva—n. примадонна дива...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  12. diva—. data input voice answerback система ввода данных с речевым автоответчиком. digital inquiryvoice answerback запрос в цифровой форме ответ в речевой форме...Англо-русский словарь технических аббревиатур
  13. diva—тал. n...Англо-украинский словарь
  14. diva—примадонна...Англо-український словник
  15. diva—n тал. примадонна дива....Англо-український словник Балла М.І.
  16. diva—f поэт.em богиня дива примадонна...Большой испанско-русский словарь
  17. diva—f поэт. богиня звезда популярная актриса darsi arie da diva строить из себя звезду Итальянорусский словарь....Большой итальяно-русский и русско-итальянский словарь
  18. diva—лат. f s и .ven божественная титул жены римского императора дива примадонна...Большой немецко-русский и русско-немецкий словарь
  19. diva—Divastrong va f s и редко .ven устарев. диstrongва примадоstrongнна об артисткеem тж. перен....Большой немецко-русский словарь
  20. diva—f уст.дива знаменитая певица...Большой французско-русский и русско-французский словарь
  21. díva—[\dvat \dvaja \dvak] sznh.u rg.u дива...Венгерско-русский словарь
  22. diva—дива...Голландско-русский словарь
  23. diva—зрка...Дансько-український словник
  24. diva—Зрка...Датсько-український словник
  25. diva—divaae fiбогиня...Латинский словарь
  26. diva—divadiva ae fбогиня...Латинско-русский словарь
  27. diva—dva ae f.em [ divus ]богиня L Ctl V etc. перен. возлюбленная mea d. Ctl...Латинско-русский словарь
  28. diva—[div] nпримадонна дива...Новый большой англо-русский словарь
  29. diva—diva [div] ni примадонна дива...Новый большой англо-русский словарь II
  30. diva—div n примадонна дива...Новый большой англо-русский словарь под общим руководством акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна
  31. diva—f уст. дива знаменитая певица...Новый французско-русский словарь
  32. diva—en erзнаменитость звезда о певице актрисе художнице балерине и т.п. дива...Норвежско-русский словарь
  33. diva—Зрка...Норвезько-український словник
  34. divã—mдиван кушетка...Португальско-русский словарь
  35. diva—f богиня дива звезда...Португальско-русский словарь
  36. diva—diva.strong примадонна...Шведско-русский словарь
  37. diva—Зрка...Шведсько-український словник