Divine (1935)
Directed by Max Ophüls

Film Review

Divine (1935) was one of the first films that Max Ophüls made after his move to France in the early 1930s.  In common with most of his films of this period, it is a generally lacklustre affair punctuated by moments of artistic brilliance that vaguely foreshadow the director's subsequent masterpieces - La Ronde (1950) and Madame de... (1953).  The most notable thing about the film is that it is the only one for which the celebrated writer Colette (the author of Gigi) supplied an original screenplay.  Colette did work as a screenwriter on a few other films, most notably Marc Allégret's Lac aux dames (1934), but these were adaptations of novels.  Despite the pedigree of its writer, Divine has little to commend it on the narrative front.  It is poorly constructed, lacking in both depth and direction.  The characters are bland archetypes (despite some spirited performances from the likes of Jeanne Fusier-Gir) and the plot is hopelessly pedestrian, even by the standards of the 1930s.

Whatever failings the film has, it at least allowed Ophüls to develop his technique and his penchant for virtuoso camera motion is evident throughout.  The most visually striking sequence is a slow 360 degree circular shot that takes in an entire musical hall set, showing all the activity on and off stage.  In another scene, there is a memorable long tracking shot in which the camera is pressed up right against the actors and follows them as they move back and forth across the set, creating a sense of panic and oppression.  This latter sequence has a strikingly modern feel to it and looks as if it was shot with a handheld camera - of course, it wasn't: the camera was mounted on tracks, but it moves so freely you would hardly think so.  In every other respect, Divine is entirely forgettable - an airless melodrama whose only real virtue is the light it sheds on French musical hall of the 1930s, a sultry haven of iniquity and debauched pleasures if we are to believe what Ophüls shows us.

Film Synopsis

Living with her old mother after her father's death, Ludivine Jarisse leads a modest but contented existence in the country.  The prospect of a career in show-business would never have occurred to her if it hadn't been dangled in front of her by her good friend Roberte.  Ludivine is inwardly envious of the colourful life that her friend leads as a performer at the Empyrée, a popular music hall in Paris.  So when Roberte asks her to take her place whilst she makes a tour of Egypt the naive country girl jumps at the chance.

Ludivine has all she needs to become a stage diva - beauty, elegance, enthusiasm and a natural inclination to please - so, under her adopted name Divine, it isn't long before she has made her mark on the Parisian stage.  Audiences love her.  She is a sensation.  The demands of Ludivine's new profession soon begin to take their toll, however.  Appearing on stage in next to nothing is not something the country girl had bargained for, but to satisfy her public and keep her job she has no choice but to comply and she is soon baring far more than she intended.

Eventually, the glamour of Ludivine's new life wears thin and she has second thoughts about stardom once she has seen through the glitz and glitter of fame to the hollow sordidness that lies beneath.  The final straw comes when Lutuf-Allah, an actor popular for his fakir act, tries to force his attentions on the young woman.  When she resists the man's lustful overtures, he becomes infuriated and takes his revenge by implicating her in a drugs trafficking operation.  All of these attempts to corrupt Ludivine fail miserably.  In the end, she is rescued by an honest milkman, Antonin, who steals her heart and returns her to her former life of bucolic innocence, far from the tawdry vice-ridden world of the Parisian music hall...