SLIFF 2017 Review-DALIDA

DALIDA screens as part of the 26th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival ON Saturday, November 4 at 9:30 PM at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinemas. Click HERE for ticket information. It screens again at the same venue on Sunday, November 5 at 2:30 PM. Click HERE for ticket information

We in the states have enjoyed biographies since the start of cinema, particularly those focusing in on popular stars. And of the show-biz bios, those of singers seem to attract film goers. In the late 1940’s Larry Parks was a sensation in THE JOLSON STORY, so much so that he stepped in for Al in a sequel JOLSON SINGS AGAIN. In more recent years Bobby Darrin’s life inspired BEYOND THE SEA and Jamie Foxx nabbed an Oscar as Mr. Charles in RAY. Surely this same genre has been done in other countries, say…France. Just 10 years ago Marion Cotillard snagged an Oscar as Edith Piaf in LE VIE EN ROSE. Well, now comes a “bio-pic” concerning a singer that many considered her successor, the songbird adored by millions as DALIDA. She become, perhaps, more of an international star since she not only crooned in French, but also in English, Italian, German, Spanish, Arabic, and Hebrew. The film bounces around her life beginning in 1967 and a failed suicide attempt. Through her friends and family we then see her as a young girl of six or seven in 1940 when her violinist father is hauled off to a prison camp in Cairo. Jump 17 years later and she wins a singing competition and becomes a recording star with her renditions of sentimental songs of desire and despair. Over the next thirty years she endures enough heartbreak and drama to fill three films. There are multiple marriages, illicit affairs, back alley medical procedures, eating disorders, boozing, and the ultimate horror, a descent into disco.

Director and co-screenwriter Liza Azuelos steers the story away from tear-jerking soap-opera territory and provides an engrossing overview of the quickly changing entertainment industry. Actress Sveva Alvti convincing captures the title character’s charismatic stage presence, appearing to devote every once of energy to each emotional lyric. Plus she dazzles in the vintage hairstyles and fashions, in all the eras (of course the camera simply adores her). She gets great support from Riccardo Scamarcio as her protective, sometimes jealous, brother/manager. The movie’s a tune-filled time trip. including a couple of songs very familiar to US audiences. Some elements of the tale nearly veer into cliché (she’s got fame and fortune, but only wants to start a family), but Azuelos keeps the story dancing at a quick pace. DALIDA may not be a household name here, but her story is as riveting as any of her performances.