Jean-Jacques Beineix makes room for romance, music and the pleasure of looking, sometimes at the story’s expense. We rate Diva highly, but wish he would let us enjoy his flourishes without pointing them out.
Fi1m perspective
In Diva (1981), the camera can pause to enjoy Paris and still be ready when the pursuit starts. Jean-Jacques Beineix gives romance and danger room in the same thriller, and the changes of pace are much of its pleasure. We were delighted by the chases, because cinematographer Philippe Rousselot makes being pursued seem briefly exhilarating. The city has been carefully dressed, but remains recognisable enough for all that movement to feel possible.
Beineix became a central figure in cinéma du look, with its stylised images drawing on advertising and pop culture. From the blues of his debut Diva, he moved to the reds of The Moon in the Gutter (1983), then made Betty Blue (1986). Roselyne et les lions (1988) and IP5: The Island of the Pachyderms (1992) followed; later he turned to documentaries, theatre and writing. The useful connection is his preference for heightened settings and lighting: the films do not ask us to mistake their appearance for ordinary life.
French critics often accused Beineix of putting style before substance, but Diva makes that complaint too simple. Its opening aria allows opera into the thriller without treating the music as an inconvenience. Vladimir Cosma’s music is a reason to watch, and Rousselot’s camera gives the surroundings attention that a tidier, less curious thriller might deny them. The pauses for romance and the chance to look around are part of what we enjoy; cutting them would not necessarily produce a better film.
The trouble comes when Beineix insists that we notice how clever it all is. His screenplay with Jean Van Hamme keeps adding complications that occupy us without making us care much more, and the jokes about its own ingenuity interrupt the romance and pursuit. These interruptions make the two strands harder to enjoy together. We forgive most of the contrivances, but the film would be wittier if it trusted us to notice its flourishes. Start with Diva, provided an over-elaborate plot will not spoil the evening.
Biography
Jean-Jacques Beineix was a French film director and screenwriter. He began his career as an assistant director in the 1970s, working with filmmakers including Claude Berri, René Clément, Claude Zidi and Jerry Lewis. His short film Le chien de Monsieur Michel was released in 1977.
Beineix made his feature debut with Diva (1981), which he directed and co-wrote. He also directed The Moon in the Gutter (1983) and Betty Blue (1986). He died in Paris on 13 January 2022.
