What impressed me most about 'Diva' was the fact that it defined the style of French cinema of the 1980s but appeared very early in the decade. It has a complex plot that is followed and achieved by quirky, sometimes inexplicable characters, but most importantly, it has 'the look'. Because of this, it is difficult to see this film as what it is today: a dated, once-shiny, now-worn toy that provided memorable hours of challenge and amusement many years ago. The visual aesthetic of 'Diva' is flawlessly crafted and smooth, yet perfectly self-conscious. And it provides a curiously interesting background for a slightly bizarre plot that maintains its strange allure on subsequent viewings. The film that is composed of these elements, then, is one that is well-remembered, and for good reasons. There are few films that I have seen that have such a sleek appearance yet manage to interest beyond the superficial, and even fewer that manage to maintain this interest.
