Dalida

Her early life in Egypt was totally dropped from the movie although she lived in Cairo for almost 21 years.

And HOW COULD THEY MISS ONE OF HER MOST ICONIC SONGS FOR THE EGYPTIANS AND ARABS "Helwa Ya Baldi".

This movie would have been much better.

For so many people around the world Dalida was an amazing, life- changing icon, a woman with a powerful voice who brought joy to so many people even while her own life was mired in tragedy. Dalida's life was the stuff movies are made of. What a disappointment then that this movies makes her seem so lifeless.

Perhaps the problem here is that the filmmakers had so much to work with. Dalida had a 31 year career as a superstar, constantly remaking herself to stay on top of trends and to give new material to her fans. However instead of focusing on her career this biopic chooses to examine her through the lens of her romantic relationships many of which ended in tragedy (three of her lovers would commit suicide). As an entry way into the private life of Dalida it's not a bad start, but the script is frankly a mess. Men enter and exit Dalida's life quickly, with all the juicy material usually glossed over in montage backed by one of Dalida's songs. And after awhile these affairs start to drain the life force out of the movie. If you only had the film to go on Dalida is just a simple woman who only wants to get married and have children but keeps picking the wrong men. Her singing career seems almost incidental. At one point, Dalida tells a spiritual adviser that she feels whole when she's singing but we never see that. Instead the film treats Dalida as passive in her own career, a woman who doesn't really care for the work and instead has been built up by two men: her husband Lucien Morrise and her brother Orlando.

Sveva Alviti has a beautiful face, but is missing that star quality that made Dalida someone you couldn't take your eyes off of. Everyone else is passable. The costumes and techs are glossy and it's fun to watch them and count the passing years through the background scenery (little attempts are made to age Alviti up with makeup). The best part of the movie though are Dalida's own songs which are used generously within the film and make it almost like a longform music video.

Beautifully written and portrayed journey through Dalida's success- filled career and through her rather melancholic personal life.

Sveva shines as Dalida - she does her justice, and with all the right emotions at that. The picture offers a beautifully written and directed insight into the life of the legend that is Dalida. The transition between different phases of her life is light and allows you to dig deeper into what drove her success and ultimately her fall.

While the film could've done better with Sveva's lip-syncing, the music is carefully selected, introduced, and fills the theater with Dalida's warm and unique voice.

Probably will not be as commercially successful as the contextually similar La Vie en Rose with Marion Cottilard but insightful and beautiful nonetheless. Highly recommended.

Great Movie i went to see the movie in Egypt Cairo last week..and guess what i watched it Twice..same day two times back to back ( the cinema was packed with Dalida fans from older and younger generation) it was worth the time and money spent... those who are find of the great singer ..her music her songs her voice or those who lived that era would defiantly like the film..i wont repeat what was written in previous reviews..ill just add that one the film strength elements is that places it was shot in...they reflected her reality places..Although her childhood part was Filmed in Morocco which is not the case..not in Egypt Shobra Neighbor Hood where she was born and Raised..Nor Alexandria city when she lived as well...therefore even the Arabic Language in this part of the film is with a strange accent that is Moroccan not Egyptian..i wished they filmed in in her original places. i give the actress a high mark for the effort in Imitating every single gesture hair and makeup,,perfect... one of the Goofs is that they missed adding the most important Egyptian Song ( Kela Helwa W Kelmetain- a nice word or two) which she sang right before her suicide and was a major Hit worldwide.i was disappointed they omitted that song in the film. recommend to be watched and i w'd defiantly watch it again for a third time

I went to see this with my wife (I'm American, she is French) primarily in order to please her and thinking that this would be a weepy, melodramatic biopic of interest only to hard-core fans of the late Dalida.

Guess what? I actually found it to be a quite enjoyable film, of obvious particular interest to those who know about the portrayed singer's huge professional success (she is relatively unknown in the US and the UK but was a tremendous star throughout Europe, the Middle East and Japan) shadowed by an enormous amount of personal tragedy in her life, but pretty damn good all on its own as well.

The actress who portrays Dalida is a dead ringer for her and even though it is obvious that she is lip-syncing the songs, her ability to imitate Dalida's gestures, both on and off stage, is stunning. The supporting case also does a very good job and the director carefully stays within the boundaries of what could have otherwise been a Hollywood tear-jerker type film, never descending into pure melodrama.

If you don't know about Dalida, this film is worth a look -- if you do know about her, you should definitely see it.