The french romantic thriller diva dashes along with a pellmell gracefulness, and it doesnt take long to see that the images and visual gags and homages all fit together and reverberate back and forth. Come back to the movies, jeanjacques beineix, jeanjacques beineix. Jeanjacques beineix an interview interview by paula nechak, 22 june 2001. Jeanjacques beineix created his own production company in 1984, cargo films, in order to keep artistic independence.
Han raknas som en av representanterna for cinema du look. This one is by a new director, jeanjacques beineix. One of the key features of jeanjacques beineixs relationship with the film image is the notion of seduction and the erotic. Sceneggiatura di jeanjacques beineix e jean van hamme. Jean jacques beneixs first feature, and it leaves a wonderful aftertaste. Jeanjacques beineuxs 1980 film diva gives us a voyeuristic view of two contrasting lifestyles.
Jeanjacques beineix interview nitrate online feature. Three decades ago, flush with the success of his first feature film, the 1981 neon noir diva, beineix was courted aggressively by the major hollywood studios. Empty more pusan coverage while he may be known across the globe for his controversial yet successful first feature film diva, french film director jeanjacques beineix is anything but. The 1981 jean jacques beineix film diva is a dizzying cornucopia of delights, with a strong sense of urban cool and a cast of characters whose alternating detachments and obsessions hint at the legacy of pain and loneliness that helped form them. But, like many assistants, beineixs ultimate dream was to direct. Beineix combines unique cinematography, an intelligent script, and a brilliant soundtrack to make diva a stylishly memorable film. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. One is the glamorous lifestyle of the diva, cynthia hopkins, while the other is of a mail courier named jules. Jeanjacques beneixs first feature, and it leaves a wonderful aftertaste. Marvellous amalgam of sadistic thriller and fairytale romance, drawing on a wild diversity of genres from film noir to feuillade serial. More this paper has been submitted by user trey dillon who studied at the university of dayton, usa, with average gpa 3. Diva is a 1981 french thriller film directed by jeanjacques beineix, adapted from the novel diva by daniel odier under the pseudonym delacorta. Jeanjacques beineix is currently considered a single author.
The madmanapparent of french cinema, who reached a pinnacle with his first film, diva, and then hurtled into a morass of critical bashing with his next, moon in the gutter, sports two films on varietys list of best foreign films ever made diva, and. The directors first feature film, he is one of the first french films to leave the aesthetics of the type image advertising or music video in vogue during the 1980s. Sep 16, 2011 jeanjacques beineixs diva september 16, 2011 7. With wilhelmenia fernandez, frederic andrei, richard bohringer, thuy an luu. It is one of the first french films to let go of the realist mood of 1970s french cinema and return to a colourful, melodic style, later described as cinema du look. I remember it at toronto 1981, where it arrived unknown and unsung and won, as i. Jeanjacques beineix is a libra and was born in the year of the dog life. Seeing it again 36 years later reminded how much i love this film, and i hope amazon offers more great foreign flicks like this.
Shocking to many audiences, diva blends violence, wit and punk style in a manner that later would be appropriated by quentin tarantino and other admirers of updated, jazzedup film noir. A stunning debut for director jeanjacques beineix, diva is a pulsating, eccentric slice of postmodernism. Russell, david, two or three things we know about beineix, in sight and sound london, winter 198990. The movie, which has been very well received in paris and elsewhere, is the first feature to be directed by jeanjacques beineix who, possibly. He sneaks a recorder into one of her performances and makes a highquality bootleg tape, which becomes one of the two macguffins driving the plot as taiwanese gangsters try. The film obtains a public success over the months and four awards at the ceremony of caesars, enjoying. The look of the cinema du look refers to the films high investment in nonnaturalistic, selfconscious. Dec 25, 2007 a combo of thriller and fairytale romance, diva draws on a diversity of genres, including mystery and film noir, with beinexs cool approach recalling the early french new wave, in style, subject matteraiand love of pure cinema. Frederic andrei and thuy an luu in diva 1981 frederic andrei and wilhelmenia. He is a fan of american opera diva cynthia hawkins, who has never allowed herself to be recorded. By alex simon the noveulle vague, or french new wave was launched by a group of film critics and cinefiles who began frances legendary cahiers du cinema magazine in the 1950s. Jeanjacques beineix was born in france on tuesday, october 8, 1946 baby boomers generation.
I saw this when it came out back in 81 and was thrilled to find it available on amazon. French director jeanjacques beineix is bestknown for making two of the most provocative films of the 1980s, diva 1982 and 37. Acclaimed french filmmaker jeanjacques beineix betty blue set the. Diva by jean jacques beineix visual 181 editions published between 1980 and 2017 in 9 languages and held by 1,081 worldcat member libraries worldwide. During the seventies, he became an established assistant director, working with claude berri, rene clement, claude zidi and even jerry lewis. Running almost three hours, roselyne and the lions follows fledgling lion tamers thierry gerard sandoz and roselyne isabelle pasco as they encounter a whole host of setbacks before finally earning a spot at an internationallyrenowned circus where, much to thierrys annoyance. Beineix had spent years working as assistant director before he made diva, and it shows.
Dark, haunting, and filled with substantial helpings of violence andor sex, both films were great successes in france, winning a number of awards and a degree of cinematic immortality. With diva and 372 le matin, he directed two seminal french films of the eighties that engaged a worldwide audience. This book shows beineixs films form a coherent body of work and sketches out a psychodrama formed by beineixs feature films. Diva is a 1981 film directed by jeanjacques beineix, based on a novel by delacorta the films hero, jules, is a postman. Jeanjacques beineixs diva, cinema du look and films that. As stylish as ever diva remains a pivotal film that helped launched. Critic ginette vincendeau defined the films made by beineix and others as youthoriented films with high production values. Jean jacques beineix set the ball rolling with his startling debut feature diva, a strong reaction against the increasingly violent realist thrillers of the 1970s, but equally impressive examples are to be found in the oeuvre of luc besson subway 1985, nikita 1990 and leos carax mauvais sang 1986, les amants du pontneuf 1991. Find movie and film cast and crew information for diva 1981 jeanjacques beineix on allmovie. Renamed betty blue for its american release, this was to become a hugely popular cult film on both sides of the atlantic, although critics were divided, some citing it as a. Jean jacques beineix is a libra and was born in the year of the dog life.
After a long apprenticeship as assistant to directors as diverse as jerry lewis, on the unreleased the day the clown cried, and claude berri on le male du siecle, jeanjacques beineix emerged as a director in his own right with the intelligent thriller, diva. Jeanjacques beineixs diva, cinema du look and films that get the legacy they deserve barry hertz published february 21, 2019 updated february 24, 2019. Jean jacques beineix is a french film director and generally seen as the best example of what came to be called the cinema du look. Oct 07, 2009 empty more pusan coverage while he may be known across the globe for his controversial yet successful first feature film diva, french film director jean jacques beineix is anything but. Hans mest uppmarksammade film ar annars 372 le matin fran 1986 med beatrice dalle och jeanhugues anglade. The present sixdvd jeanjacques beineix collection is a pared down version of the twelvedvd set available in france, which offers at least one additional film and a lot more extras. Here is an exhilarating film made for no better purpose than to surprise and fascinate.
The film manages successfully to combine the glossy production values of beineixs first film, diva 1981, with the naive poetry he sought to evoke in his second. French director jean jacques beineix is bestknown for making two of the most provocative films of the 1980s, diva 1982 and 37. Dark, haunting, and filled with substantial helpings of violence andor sex, both films were great successes in france, winning a number of awards and a degree of cinematic immortality for their director. Beineix started his career as a assistant director on fifteen adverts before releasing his first feature in 1981 diva, which attracted the attention of key postmodernism theorist frederic jameson, who identified it as the first french postmodern film. Diva 1981 jeanjacques beineix cast and crew allmovie. Jeanjacques beineix set the ball rolling with his startling debut feature diva, a strong reaction against the increasingly violent realist thrillers of the 1970s, but equally impressive examples are to be found in the oeuvre of luc besson subway 1985, nikita 1990 and leos carax mauvais sang 1986, les amants du pontneuf 1991. Jeanjacques beineixs diva, cinema du look and films. Auteur scenariste realisateur producteur distributeur peintre. It is directed by jeanjacques beineix, a credited architecture of the french film movement of the 80s and 90s which is known as cinema du look, and is an explosive spouting of concepts and implications that create a playground for burlesqued conflicts of pretension and transgression by critically defective protagonists and extraordinary. France, 1981, 1h 57min, 35mm, in french with english subtitles. Jean jacques beineix was born in france on tuesday, october 8, 1946 baby boomers generation.
The 1981 jeanjacques beineix film diva is a dizzying cornucopia of delights, with a strong sense of urban cool and a cast of characters whose alternating detachments and obsessions hint at the legacy of pain and loneliness that helped form them. When it was released 25 years agoand for some time afterwards, on home videojeanjacques beineixs diva must have seemed like the coolest french movie aroundhip, stylish, colorful, full of great music, and hewed closely enough to hollywood convention as to not be inaccessible. Diva is a french film directed by jeanjacques beineix, released in 1981. In crafting an arty genre film, he has also made it his own, adding. A rabid movie fan when he was young, jeanjacques beineix first studied medicine before entering the movie business. Two tapes, two parisian mob killers, one corrupt policeman, an opera fan, a teenage thief, and the coolest philosopher ever filmed all twist their way through an intricate and stylish frenchlanguage thriller.
Find movie and film cast and crew information for diva 1981 jean jacques beineix on allmovie. Diva by jeanjacques beineix was written and submitted by your fellow student. Diva is a 1981 film directed by jeanjacques beineix, based on a novel by delacorta. Peering into obscure corners of paris, jeanjacques beineix emerged with an assembly of unlikely, even impossible, characters to populate his diva 1981, a thriller that is more about how it looks than what happens in it. Diva is a french film directed by jean jacques beineix, released in 1981. Most importantly, however, the french set offers what appears to be a new transfer of diva, a film tragically missing from the american collection. The plot concerns a black parisian soprano, some recording pirates who want to profit from her voice. A stunning debut for director jean jacques beineix, diva is a pulsating, eccentric slice of postmodernism. Peering into obscure corners of paris, jeanjacques beineix emerged with an assembly of unlikely, even impossible, characters to populate.
Jan 10, 2008 peering into obscure corners of paris, jean jacques beineix emerged with an assembly of unlikely, even impossible, characters to populate his diva 1981, a thriller that is more about how it looks than what happens in it. Jeanjacques beineix, fodd 8 oktober 1946 i paris, ar en fransk filmregissor. Diva by jeanjacques beineix visual 181 editions published between 1980 and 2017 in 9 languages and held by 1,081 worldcat member libraries worldwide. Digitally mastered transfer approved by director jeanjacques beineix. Jeanjacques beineix is a french film director and generally seen as the best example of what came to be called the cinema du look.