Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Opera Thrills

By happenstance, THE FUTURIST! came across this updated trailer for DIVA, the French thriller directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix. Having seen this film on the big screen, THE FUTURIST! recalls it totally enveloping him in the comforting folds of utter suspended disbelief which is only found in a darkened theater focused on the dream world of a movie maker. DIVA mixes the world of opera, gangsters, honest and corrupt police, a saucy Vietnamese shoplifter, a strange French monosyllabic noir cowboy, Asian audio bootleggers, a shaved head assassin wearing sunglasses with earphones and the befuddlement of a plain Buster Keatonesque mail messenger pushed head over heels into a Hitchcockian vortex of romance, passionate arias and possible death; let's not forget the moped chases in the streets and subways of Paris. It is so original, so alive. Recently, THE FUTURIST! upgraded his DVD copy of DIVA from an old washed out print from Fox Lorber. DIVA is all about listening and sound presented in colorful dream-like images. The characters desire and wish to capture different types of audio. The quest for sound is captured with our eyes; both senses enraptured. This trailer made THE FUTURIST! want to re-experience the visceral thrills he felt and found love with, some years ago, when DIVA first danced its waltz of wonder in front of his eyes. He may find himself in the dark and smiling once again. He'd like to invite you.

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