Psycho's Movie Reviews #282: The Fifth Element (1997)

The Fifth Element is a 1997 English-language French science fiction action film directed by Luc Besson and co-written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen from a story by Besson. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich. Primarily set in the 23rd century, the film's central plot involves the survival of planet Earth, which becomes the responsibility of Korben Dallas (Willis), a taxicab driver and former special forces major, after a young woman (Jovovich) falls into his cab. To accomplish this, Dallas joins forces with her to recover four mystical stones essential for the defence of Earth against the impending attack of a malevolent cosmic entity.

Besson started writing the story that became The Fifth Element when he was 16 years old; he was 38 when the film opened in cinemas. Besson wanted to shoot the film in France, but suitable facilities could not be found; filming took place in London and Mauritania instead. Comic artists Jean "Moebius" Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières, whose books provided inspiration for parts of the film, were hired for production design. Costume design was by Jean-Paul Gaultier.

The Fifth Element received mainly positive reviews, although it tended to polarise critics. The film won in categories at the British Academy Film Awards, the César Awards, the Cannes Film Festival, and the Lumières Awards, but also received nominations at the Golden Raspberry and Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. The Fifth Element was a financial success, earning more than $263 million at the box office on a $90 million budget. At the time of its release, it was the most expensive European film ever made, and remained the highest-grossing French film at the international box office until the release of The Intouchables in 2011.

Plot

In 1914, aliens known as Mondoshawans meet their human contact, a priest of a secret order, at an ancient Egyptian temple. They take, for safekeeping, the only weapon capable of defeating a great evil which appears every 5,000 years. They promise to return the weapon before the great evil's re-emergence. The weapon consists of the four classical elements, as four engraved stones, plus a "fifth element" in a sarcophagus.

In 2263,[c] the great evil appears in deep space as a giant living fireball. It destroys an armed Earth spaceship as it heads to Earth. The Mondoshawans' current human contact on Earth, priest Vito Cornelius, informs the President of the Federated Territories of the great evil's history and of the weapon that can stop it.

On their way to Earth, a Mondoshawan spacecraft carrying the weapon is ambushed and destroyed by a crew of Mangalores, alien mercenaries hired by Earth industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, who is working for the great evil. A severed hand in metal armor from the wreckage of the spacecraft is brought to New York City. From this, the government uses biotechnology to recreate the original occupant of the sarcophagus, a humanoid woman named Leeloo who remembers her previous life. Alarmed by the unfamiliar surroundings and high security, she escapes and jumps off a ledge, crashing into the flying taxicab of Korben Dallas, a former major in Earth's Special Forces.

Dallas delivers her to Cornelius and his apprentice, David. They recognize her as the Fifth Element. As Leeloo recuperates, she tells Cornelius that the stones were not onboard the Mondoshawan ship. Simultaneously, the Mondoshawans inform Earth's government the stones were entrusted to an alien opera singer, the diva Plavalaguna. Zorg reneges on his deal with the Mangalores for failing to obtain the stones, resulting in some of their deaths. Earth's military sends Dallas to meet Plavalaguna; a rigged radio contest provides a cover, awarding Dallas a luxury vacation aboard a flying hotel on planet Fhloston, accompanied by flamboyant talk-show host Ruby Rhod. It includes a concert by Plavalaguna. Learning that Leeloo shares his mission, Dallas lets her accompany him. Cornelius instructs David to prepare the temple, then stows away on the luxury spaceship. The Mangalore crew, pursuing the stones for themselves, also illegally board the ship.

During the concert, the Mangalores attack and Plavalaguna dies. Dallas extracts the stones from her body. He kills the Mangalore leader, causing the others to surrender. Zorg arrives, shoots and wounds Leeloo, and activates a time bomb. He flees with a carrying case he presumes contains the stones, but returns when he discovers it is empty. He deactivates his bomb, but a dying Mangalore sets off his own, destroying the hotel and killing Zorg. Meanwhile, Dallas, Cornelius, Leeloo, and Rhod escape with the stones in Zorg's private spaceship.

As the great evil approaches Earth, the four meet David at the temple. They deploy the stones, but Leeloo, having learned of humanity's own terrible history of war, has given up on life. Dallas declares his love for her and kisses her. In response, Leeloo combines the power of the stones, emitting divine light onto the great evil and defeating it. She and Dallas are hailed as heroes and, as dignitaries wait to greet them, the two passionately embrace in a recovery chamber.

Production

As a teenager, Besson envisioned the world of The Fifth Element in an attempt to alleviate boredom. He began writing the script when he was 16, though the film was not released in cinemas until he was 38. The original storyline was set in the year 2300 and was about a "nobody" named Zaltman Bleros (later renamed Korben Dallas) who wins a trip to the Club Med resort on the planet Fhloston Paradise in the Angel constellation. There, he meets Leeloo, a "sand-girl" who has the "beauty of youth" despite being over 2,000 years old. Besson continued to work on the storyline for years; by the time his documentary film Atlantis was released in 1991, he had a 400-page script. Nicolas Seydoux and Patrice Ledoux from Gaumont were the first people to take on the project. In November 1991, while looking for actors for the film, Besson met French comics creators Jean Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières and recruited them for the film's production design. Giraud and Mézières's comics were a major source of inspiration for Besson's futuristic New York City. Mézières wrote the book The Circles of Power, which contains a character named S'Traks, who drives a flying taxicab through the congested air traffic of the vast metropolis on the planet Rubanis. Mézières showed images of the flying taxi to Besson, who was inspired to change the background of Korben Dallas from a worker in a rocket-ship factory to that of a taxi driver who flies his cab around a Rubanis-inspired futuristic New York City. Five other artists were hired for the project, and Jean-Paul Gaultier was hired to design the costumes. The team spent a year creating over 8,000 drawings, during which time Besson approached both Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson for the lead role. Willis expressed interest, though he was reluctant to take on the role as the film was considered risky after his previous two films, Hudson Hawk and Billy Bathgate, had been received poorly; Gibson eventually turned down the role. While the team impressed film companies with their designs, they struggled to find one willing to take on a budget of almost $100 million. In December 1992, production stopped without any prior warning, and the team disbanded.

Korben's flying taxicab (top), which was inspired by the comic album The Circles of Power

Besson went on to direct the commercially successful film Léon: The Professional, which was released in September 1994. While shooting and releasing Leon, he continued to work on the script for The Fifth Element, shortening it and reducing the film's budget to $90 million before attempting to find a studio willing to produce it. Columbia Pictures, which had a partnership in Leon, agreed to finance the film. By this time, Besson had decided to go with a lesser-known lead actor to save on production costs. Besson was in Barry Josephson's office when Willis called regarding a different film. Besson asked to speak to Willis "just to say hello", and told him that The Fifth Element was finally going ahead, explaining the decision to go with a less-expensive actor. After a short silence, Willis stated, "If I like the film, we can always come to an arrangement"; he agreed to take on the role after reading the script. Production commenced in early August 1995. Besson travelled to various places for casting, including Paris, London and Rome. He hired Gary Oldman (who had starred in Léon) for the role of Zorg, describing Oldman as "one of the top five actors in the world." For the character Leeloo, Besson chose Milla Jovovich from the 200 to 300 applicants he met in person. Elizabeth Berkley states she came close to being cast as Leeloo, and spoke highly of Besson for his support during the audition. The "Divine Language" spoken by Leeloo is a fictional language with only 400 words, invented by Besson. Jovovich and Besson held conversations and wrote letters to each other in the language as practice. Besson was married to Maïwenn Le Besco, who played the role of Diva Plavalaguna when filming commenced; however, he left her for Jovovich during filming. Jovovich and Besson later married but divorced in 1999.

Wishing to shoot the film in France, Besson could not find suitable facilities and "with a heavy heart" filmed in London. It was primarily filmed at Pinewood Studios on seven soundstages including the 007 Stage. Construction of sets began in October 1995. The opera scene was filmed at the Royal Opera House. Scenes depicted as being in Egypt were filmed in Mauritania; the first shoot, a background shot of the desert, occurred there on 5 January 1996. Filming with actors began in late January, and was completed 21 weeks later. Willis finished filming on 16 May, while Oldman only commenced filming the following week; the protagonist (Korben) and antagonist (Zorg) never actually share any screen time. Despite being filmed in London, The Fifth Element was a French production, and went on to become the costliest European film ever made at the time. The buildings in New York were derived from both metabolist-inspired masses of modular apartments from the 1960s and the futuristic designs of architect Antonio Sant'Elia in the 1910s. Besson demanded that most of the action shots take place in broad daylight, as he was reportedly tired of the dark spaceship corridors and dimly lit planets common in science-fiction films, and wanted a brighter, "cheerfully crazy" look as opposed to a gloomy, realistic one. Gaultier designed every one of the 900 costumes worn by extras in the Fhloston Paradise scenes and checked each costume every morning. His designs, described as "intellectually transgressive", were said to challenge sexuality and gender norms. A single jacket he designed for the film cost $5,000.

The original name of the character Ruby Rhod was Loc Rhod. The name appears in both the original script and in the novelisation of the film. Speculation has been raised that the name change was a play on information in the periodic table. Rubidium is the first of the period 5 elements, and exactly halfway along that row is the element rhodium. Taking the first half of each element yields "Rubi Rhod". Others have speculated his name is a play on his gender-bending personality; having a feminine first name and phallic surname. Prince was cast to portray Rhod but could not schedule filming around his touring dates. Chris Tucker and Jamie Foxx were then both considered for the role; Besson liked Foxx but felt that Tucker's smaller body suited the character better.

Effects

Three different teams handled the three different types of special effects used in the film. Nick Allder was placed in charge of mechanical and pyrotechnical effects, Nick Dudman was placed in charge of 'creature' effects and Mark Stetson headed the visual effects team. Visual effects company Digital Domain was hired, and Karen Goulekas was given the role of digital effects supervisor. Alias, Autodesk Softimage, Arete, Side Effect's Prisms, RenderMan, as well as in-house software, were used by Digital Domain to create effects. Some individual shots used a combination of live action, scale models, computer-generated imagery and particle systems.

Among the scale models used for filming were the buildings seen in New York City. Dozens of apartment blocks and 25 skyscrapers, some 20 feet (6.1 m) high, were constructed in 1/24 scale. It took a team of 80 workers five months to build all the models. The windows of the buildings were cited by the team as one of the most time-consuming tasks, along with details behind the windows, such as furniture, blinds, lightboxes, and tiny pieces of flat artwork. Virtual sets built within digital environments were created to enhance the use of miniatures. Motion control cameras moved throughout the scale sets, and the data they collected was exported to track and generate the CG animation and particle systems. Other techniques used included digital matte paintings for backgrounds and the NURBS mathematical model for certain animations, including the sequence in which Leeloo's body is reconstructed.

Soundtrack

The Fifth Element is one of Besson's films, which have been described as "intrinsically musical"; some kind of music is playing during about 90% of the film. The score was composed by Éric Serra. He relies heavily on the use of orchestral textures, such as the oboe and strings heard as the surgeons prepare to regenerate Leeloo, and the pizzicato as she is reconstructed. Serra also used many exotic influences, such as the Stalinist fanfare heard before the spaceport sequence, the reggae piece played in preparation for the flight, and the hula music that greets the passengers as they arrive in Fhloston. More conventional scoring techniques are present in the leitmotif that first appears when professor Pacoli mentions the fifth element, the militaristic snares as the warship prepares to attack the dark planet, and the Mahlerian funereal piece heard when Leeloo learns about war. The music used for the taxicab chase scene, titled "Alech Taadi" by Algerian performer Khaled, is excluded from the film soundtrack but is available on Khaled's album N'ssi N'ssi.

The Diva Dance opera performance used music from Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor: "Il dolce suono", the mad scene of Act III, Scene 2. It is one of the few pieces of music in the film that is diegetic. It was sung by Albanian soprano Inva Mula, while the role of Plavalaguna was played by French actress Maïwenn Le Besco. Part One (titled "Lucia di Lammermoor") and Part Two (titled "The Diva Dance") of this piece are included as separate tracks on The Fifth Element soundtrack but are sequenced to create the effect of the entire performance seen in the film. The end of Part One blends into the beginning of Part Two, creating a smooth transition between the two tracks.

Released as an album under Virgin Records, the soundtrack peaked at number 99 on the Billboard 200. More than 200,000 copies of the lengthy soundtrack were sold in France alone. Rodney Batdorf of AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars, stating it was "diverse and accomplished, and it is just as effective outside of the film as it is within it." A review from Filmtracks.com also awarded the album three out of five stars.

Themes

In an interview, Besson stated The Fifth Element was not a "big theme movie", although the film's theme was an important one. He wanted viewers to reach the point where Leeloo states, "What's the use of saving life when you see what you do with it?", and agree with her. Jay P. Telotte, writing in the book Science Fiction Film, credited the film with exploring the theme of political corruption.

An article by Brian Ott and Eric Aoki in the feminist journal Women's Studies in Communication considered gender to be one of the film's central themes. The authors accused the film of erasing women from the introductory scenes, noting that Leeloo's reconstruction marked only the second appearance of a female in the film's first 20 minutes; the other is an androgynous, mostly speechless presidential aide. When females appear in the film, they do so as passive objects, such as the sexualised flight and McDonald's attendants; or stripped of their femininity, such as the "butch" Major Iceborg. Stefan Brandt, in the book Subverting Masculinity, also said that the film "echoes stereotypical beliefs about gender" of all females in the film, including Leeloo, who he thought only left her passive role in the film during her fight with the Mangalores. Except for Tiny Lister's portrayal of the President, all males in the film were considered to be as unmanly as possible in various ways, such as Ruby Rhod's effeminacy, Vito Cornelius's clumsy form of speech, and General Munro's stupidity; their purpose was to make Korben's masculinity appear "god-like" by comparison.

In the book The Films of Luc Besson, Susan Hayward considered The Fifth Element to be a classic story of a man "making his break from the tribe, proving his manhood, overthrowing the malevolent forces, and killing the chief, finally to reap the rewards of security and marriage". Korben's journey, however, is under threat not only from the Mangalores and Zorg, but also from Leeloo, who relents and helps him only at the last minute, accepting his declaration of love. The love story within The Fifth Element was considered to be one of the main narratives in the film, and it faces the same deadline as the main storyline. Hayward also considered the issue of environmental damage, in so far as waste and pollution are visible throughout the film. Whereas science-fiction films often show a world wherein some new technology or threat either surpasses or fails humanity, The Films of Luc Besson included The Fifth Element among the minority of science-fiction films that "hold up a mirror" and show humankind as responsible. The film was said to be sceptical of capitalist consumerism, in so far as the gadgets in Zorg's office make an unhealthy obsession of his lust for technology. The tension between technology and man is treated as a problem requiring a final resolution.

Soundtrack

The Fifth Element is one of Besson's films, which have been described as "intrinsically musical"; some kind of music is playing during about 90% of the film. The score was composed by Éric Serra. He relies heavily on the use of orchestral textures, such as the oboe and strings heard as the surgeons prepare to regenerate Leeloo, and the pizzicato as she is reconstructed. Serra also used many exotic influences, such as the Stalinist fanfare heard before the spaceport sequence, the reggae piece played in preparation for the flight, and the hula music that greets the passengers as they arrive in Fhloston. More conventional scoring techniques are present in the leitmotif that first appears when professor Pacoli mentions the fifth element, the militaristic snares as the warship prepares to attack the dark planet, and the Mahlerian funereal piece heard when Leeloo learns about war. The music used for the taxicab chase scene, titled "Alech Taadi" by Algerian performer Khaled, is excluded from the film soundtrack but is available on Khaled's album N'ssi N'ssi.

{My god is Ruby Rod the most annoying thing in this movie! I mean I think he's supposed to be... What is Ruby Rod?}

Release/Reception/Box Office

The film premiered on 7 May at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, where it was selected as the opening film. Gaumont built an area for the screening that was over 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2). Guests were given a "Fifth Element" Swatch, which was used as their ticket for entry. The event included a futuristic ballet, a fashion show by Jean-Paul Gaultier, and fireworks. Gaumont spent between US $1 million and $3 million on the event, a record at the time. The film's North American release was handled by Sony Pictures Releasing via its Columbia Pictures label.

The Fifth Element polarised critics on release. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times described the film as an "elaborate, even campy sci-fi extravaganza, which is nearly as hard to follow as last year's Mission: Impossible." He concluded that The Fifth Element was "a lot warmer, more fun, and boasts some of the most sophisticated, witty production and costume design you could ever hope to see." On film review show At the Movies, both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave the film a "thumbs up"; in his own review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of 4, calling it "One of the great goofy movies", and concluding, "I would not have missed seeing this film, and I recommend it for its richness of imagery. But at 127 minutes, which seems a reasonable length, it plays long."

The film was, however, subject to some harsh reviews that expressed disapproval of its overblown style. Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote, "A largely misfired European attempt to make an American-style sci-fi spectacular, The Fifth Element consists of a hodgepodge of elements that don't comfortably coalesce." David Edelstein of Slate was even more critical, saying, "It may or may not be the worst movie ever made, but it is one of the most unhinged."

Chris Tucker's performance as Ruby Rhod also polarised critics. He was praised in the Los Angeles Times and Time; the latter called him "the summer's most outrageous special effect." Josh Winning of Total Film, however, singled out Tucker's performance as the low point of the film, ranking it as number 20 on his 2011 list, "50 Performances That Ruined Movies". The Fifth Element holds a 71% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 68 reviews, with an average score of 6.40/10. The site's consensus reads: "Visually inventive and gleefully over the top, Luc Besson's The Fifth Element is a fantastic piece of pop sci-fi that never takes itself too seriously." It has a weighted score of 52 out of 100 at Metacritic, based on 22 professional reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

The film debuted at number one in the US, earning $17 million on its opening weekend. It went on to become a box-office success, grossing over $263 million, almost three times its budget of $90 million. About 75% of the receipts for The Fifth Element were from markets outside the United States, and it was the ninth-highest-grossing film of the year worldwide. It was the most successful film at the box office in France in 1997, with more than 7.69 million seeing the film. In Germany, the film was awarded the Goldene Leinwand, a sales certification award for selling more than three million tickets at the box office. The Fifth Element went on to become the highest-grossing French film at the foreign box-office, a record it held for 16 years until the release of The Intouchables in 2011.

Budget $90 million

Box office $263.9 million

{Gary Oldman was good, I just wish he was in it more than he was}

My Review

Okay, I must first point out that Chris Tucker in this film was like a walking and talking migraine. I know to some extent that is EXACTLY what the producers and director wanted, but he was so whiny and nasal I wanted to see him hit by a laser! That's out of my system, so I can go on with my review. This is perhaps the strangest sci-fi movie to come out of Hollywood and starring a first-tier American actor (though the director is French). I might have expected something this strange and risky to come from an independent producer, but for the "big boys" to finance such an odd film is quite "odd" in itself.

Aside from Bruce Willis, whose character seems like just a guy taken out of the 20th century, all other actors in the film seemed strange and other-worldly. This was true for the female lead, Milla Jovovich, who looks a lot like an 80s punk rocker but who speaks a strange foreign language no one other than Willis can understand. But, this strangeness was even more apparent by all the odd creatures that inhabit the film--ranging from a blue-skinned woman with a very odd-shaped head who sings in a sort of alien operatic style to Gary Oldman's thugs who look a lot like.... nothing I have even dreamed of before! The worlds, too, are very very strange and look nothing like the Star Trek or Star Wars worlds--having their own unique look and charm that shows that the film must have cost a ton to make and had a strong commitment by the studio for its completion as the writers had envisioned it.

The plot is too difficult to adequately describe in the space I have here. In fact, it would probably be best to just leave that all up to you. Watch it if you are a lover of sci-fi or you are willing to see something VERY unconventional. Otherwise, I doubt if you'll get a lot out of this film, since it is certainly NOT derivative or like anything you've ever seen before (unless you are psychotic or have done some MASSIVELY powerful drugs).

This sci-fi fantasy had a lot of ingredients to be great, a wonderful concept, Luc Besson who directed the brilliant Leon: The Professional and Gary Oldman who is one of the best underrated actors working today being just a few.

The Fifth Element is a hugely imaginative and enjoyable film, with only Chris Tucker's annoying character and performance and the occasional lack of flow in the plot being its sole drawbacks. I adored the concept and the story even with the lack of flow never failed to intrigue.

The script and satire are fun and slick, the visuals are breath-taking and unusual especially the amazing Big Apple effects with honourable mention to the camp trip to the resort planet Fhoston Paradise and there are plenty of thrills and imagination in the atmosphere to be had.

Besson's direction is excellent, Eric Serra's music is atmospheric and jaunty and the characters are fun. As is the acting, Bruce Willis is charismatic, Milla Jovovich is beautiful and Gary Oldman is the personification of haute-couture corruption. In conclusion, a great sci-fi fantasy. 9/10

{The Diva Dance is the one thing that introduced me/beckoned me to watch the film... it peaked my interest}