Thuy An Luu in Diva (1981)

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Review

French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Beineix electrified arthouse audiences worldwide with the ultra-stylized romantic thriller Diva (1981). Frederic Andrei stars as postman Jules, who secretly tapes a performance by opera superstar Cynthia Hawkins (Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez), who is famous for having never been recorded. Taiwanese bootleggers learn that Jules owns the only existing tape of the diva, and the chase is on. Further complicating matters is that, as a murdered prostitute is dying, she slips another tape—this one incriminating the chief of police—into Jules’s delivery bag. This now makes our hero the object of even more harried pursuit. Complications pile up from there, all shot throughout Paris through Beineix’s sumptuous, one-of-a-kind director’s eye. Thuy An Luu adds to the delectable mix by going topless. Talk about a couple of high notes!