ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Dear Davidson Film Club Members and Friends,

The Davidson Film Club is pleased to invite you to a discussion on Zoom of the trend-setting postmodern French thriller, Diva, winner of four César awards.
Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer: 96%

Directed by Jean-Jacques Beinex
France (1981, 2h05)
In French with English subtitles

We will discuss Diva on Zoom on Saturday, July 24, at 7:00 p.m.
*This is the final virtual film discussion before the Davidson Film Club’s return to the Armour Street Theatre on Saturday, August 28.

Click on the link below to join the July 24 meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89832530711?pwd=Nm54SzBYRTM5VlQ1TEtmOVFsUHZWQT09
Meeting ID: 898 3253 0711
Passcode: 300345

Discussion will be led by Dr. Alan Singerman, Richardson Professor Emeritus of French at Davidson College, President of the Davidson Film Club, and the author of articles and textbooks on French cinema.

There is no membership fee for this program, only (at most) the modest cost of the on-line film rental that yields no revenue to the Davidson Film Club.

Diva is available by mail from Netflix, if you are a subscriber, or may be rented on Prime Video ($3.80) or AppleTV ($3.99):

Prime Video:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BPO6NLE/ref=pv_ag_gcf?cmp=rt_where_to_watch&tag=rottetomao-20

Apple TV:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/diva/id467983015?cmp=rt_where_to_watch

Film Summary
A young mail carrier, Jules, becomes entranced with the voice of African American diva Cynthia Hawkins. She doesn’t believe in being recorded, but Jules secretly (or at least he thinks so) records her singing at an event in Paris. His recording gets mixed up with another tape that incriminates a police chief, who is working with the mob and its prostitution web. Jules quickly becomes the target of mob gangsters, as well as unscrupulous foreign recording reps, and he must find a way to get himself out of the situation alive.

 Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at BAFTA (British Oscars) Awards; won 4 César Awards: Best First Work, Best Music, Best Cinematography, Best Sound; won the Silver Hugo for Best First Feature Film at the Chicago International Film Festival.

R.T. critics consensus: “Beineix combines unique cinematography, an intelligent script, and a brilliant soundtrack to make Diva a stylishly memorable film.”

“Diva hasn’t dated a moment, stylistically or topically, for the movie is, in many ways, a sublimely entertaining debate on the legality and morality of trying to capture the artistic moment in a bottle.” David Lamble, Bay Area Reporter

“Diva is a cinematic textbook on style. It comments on so many facets of the daily contemporary culture — and of film — that it seems to be an inspired shorthand.” Bruce McCabe, Boston Globe

 “The movie’s a maelstrom of possibilities touching ethnic relations, high art, fashion and modern morality, not to mention cinema.” Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune

“Beineix makes a colorful, rhythmic thriller — the beauty intensifies the suspense… Diva‘s freshness invites you beyond movies for comparisons.” Veronica Geng, The New York Review of Books

“There’s no telling how many audience members this film turned into instant opera fans.” Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Our updated website at www.davidsonfilmclub.com features the whole up-coming series at the Armour Street Theatre (August-November 2021) and film descriptions. Have you Bookmarked it?

We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization run by volunteers that only exists to bring you fine international fiction films and engage in stimulating discussion about them.
Hope to see many of you on Zoom on Saturday, July 24, for the discussion of this stunning, mold-breaking film! Please share the Zoom link with your friends! There is no charge by the Film Club, and there is room for everyone!

 Alan Singerman
President, Davidson Film Club
[email protected]
(704) 231-6736