21 Years Later, The Fifth Element is Still One Hell of a Sci-Fi Spectacle

21 Years Later, The Fifth Element is Still One Hell of a Sci-Fi Spectacle

When director Luc Besson set The Fifth Element upon the world in 1997, it was the most expensive European film ever made, at $90 million. Bruce Willis (who plays one of the leads in the movie, Korben Dallas) took a pay cut to appear in the film, but this paid off for him, as he opted for a percentage of the movie’s profits. Twenty-one years and a global box office haul of over $263 million later, and Mr. Willis probably has no regrets about taking the role. Nor should he. The Fifth Element is a movie that has stood the test of time and has entered the annals of sci-fi movie history.

While after 21 years, The Fifth Element is a cult classic, the film met mixed reviews on release and to this day seems to be a film you either love or hate. It opened at number one at the box office but still had people leaving in the middle of it. Even now, it’s considered one of the best and one of the worst sci-fi movies ever made, depending on who you ask. Besson had to work hard for it to see the light of day. To secure financial backing, since he only had five features to his name at the time, Besson had to put The Fifth Element aside and prove himself a reasonable risk, which he did with the release of Leon: The Professional. Even after making the movie, Besson lamented that if he had waited a bit longer, he could have taken advantage of the newer special effects.  The movie is old school blue screens and non-CGI effects (the flying city cars scenes are CG, though). At one point in the film, there is an explosion onboard a cruise liner, and this one scene, at the time, was the most massive indoor explosion ever filmed. The stunt could have gone terribly wrong, but instead, it adds to the visual extravaganza that is The Fifth Element. Laud it or lambaste it, it's hard to deny that the film has serious production and cinematographic prowess (thanks to Dan Weil and Thierry Arbogast), having been nominated for numerous awards in these areas.

The plot of The Fifth Element is straight forward: its classic good versus evil, set in the 23^rd-century. However, it takes this simple concept and weaves it into a ripping good yarn, complete with some loose threads and gaping holes that simply don’t matter once you are engaged in the lavish visual feast that is the movie. Based on an idea that a teenaged, comic-fan Luc Besson came up with, the film is everything that you might expect of a hormone-laden teenaged boy’s fantasy.  It has aliens good and evil, space ships, more guns than you can keep count of, chases, and fight scenes as choreographed as any Asian martial arts flick. The film is full of stereotype ladies: the near-identical curvy ladies at the fast food place and serving aboard the cruise liner, and the constant nagging mother of Korben. Apart from the female lead, Leeloo (played perfectly by Milla Jovovich), there are no strong females in the entire movie. By today’s standards, the film would even be termed sexist and possibly offensive. However, it's not fair to judge the movie by current expectations on gender representation, and in one character, the film was ahead of its time for acceptance. Radio personality Ruby Rhod (played to delightful excess by Chris Tucker, after Prince turned down the role as “too effeminate”) dresses outlandishly and struts about like a peacock in clothing that would be almost too much on most women, but on a man, its up there with the best of the glam rockers of the 70’s. Despite, or because, of his appearance and innuendo, Ruby is a sex symbol to the ladies. The interplay between Willis’ Korben and Tucker’s Ruby provide some of the best comic moments in the movie.

On the subject of costumes, one of the eras foremost fashion designers designed not just the gender-bending garb of Ruby Rhod, but over 1000 futuristic costumes for the movie. Jean Paul Gaultier, a fan of Besson’s earlier films, reportedly personally inspected, and adjusted as needed, every costume worn by the five hundred extras in one scene. His avant-garde design helps make the 23^rd-century of the film vibrant and distinct. From the minimalist outfits worn by Leeloo (at one point she is outfitted in what is meant to be a series of bandage strips, strategically placed to please the censors, and nothing else), to the functional yet still minimal garb of taxi-driver Korben, the armor of the alien Mangalore warriors, the more ornately elaborate couture of the patrons attending the operatic concert of the Diva Plavalaguna, and even the robe worn by the Diva herself (played by Besson’s wife at the time, Maïwenn Le Besco, after the actress cast dropped out at the last minute), Gautier stamps his mark on the scenes, while still allowing the film’s exuberant nature to shine through. The sets, designed by French comic book artists Jean Girard and Jean-Claude Mézières who had so inspired the young Besson, range from utilitarian (Korben’s tiny apartment), archeological (the ancient temple central to the titular Fifth Element), a trash-filled spaceport, and the lavishness of the cruise liner Fhloston Paradise. The way that Gautier’s costumes work so well with the various sets is pure artistry.

Speaking of artistry, the Diva Plavalaguna’s aria was written to contain parts unsingable by human voice, to foster an alien sound. Composer Eric Serra “purposely wrote unsingable things, some too low, some too high, sentences that were too fast,” into his composition. The actual voice of the Diva is Albanian opera singer Inva Mula. While Serra expected only about 60% of the song to be singable, Mula managed to perform 85% of it. The remaining, technically impossible, bits were made possible via sampling. The result is nothing short of amazing, and well worth watching the movie for all by itself. Besides this aria, the rest of Serra’s score perfectly complements the movie’s nature, encompassing orchestral elements, along with reggae, and even hula music.

Clearly, I am in the camp that believes The Fifth Element is pure fun. Jovovich and Willis deliver strong performances, even if you think that the roles themselves don’t require a lot of depth; they are believable as the characters they portray. Gary Oldman, as the evil corporate head Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg, just oozes sociopath amped to comical excess. Tucker, as the most outrageous character, serves to tie everything together with a wacky bow. Even after 21 years, it's hard to come up with another movie, since its 1997 release, that is as much unashamed, quixotic, sci-fi, action fun as The Fifth Element. It’s is a film that doesn’t take itself seriously and doesn’t expect the audience to either. What it's here for is to entertain and delight your eyes and ears with an over-the-top spectacle.