Diva

Sunday, May 25, 2008

I was pretty sick and exhausted on Saturday, and mostly I just layed around in bed, and thought I could use the day as an excuse to cram in a bunch of movies, really just kommit my sick ass to klassiks. I watched The Assassination of Etc Etc and then I watched about half of Fellini's Amarcord, which I was greatly enjoying but stopped halfway through so I could take a nap. I had meant to finish it later on, but then Andy had to return it to the video store. I'll have to get it again soon, but it's a shame that I didn't just stick it out and watch the whole thing. Unfortunately it seems being sick and sleepy > my kommitment to klassiks.

I was happy to have Diva in from Netflix, because I thought it would make up for failing to complete Amarcord. It's been on my radar because of Roger Ebert's inclusion in his Great Movies column, and it sounded right up my alley. It's sorta like an arty French character movie crossed with an action-thriller.

There are a number of things I did like about Diva, but mostly I was disappointed. It wasn't as energetic or as visually intense as I had been expecting, and really meandered too much for my liking. It's got some interesting characters, but I wasn't nearly as interested in them as the director must have been. I kept waiting for the plot to take off, but instead was treated more scenes of the characters not doing anything. The much ballyhooed chase sequence was OK, but not really the all-time great that I had heard it was.

This movie is strange and memorable, but I just didn't think it worked.