Fifth Element (French: Le CinquiÃÆ'¨me ÃÆ' â € ° lÃÆ' Â © ment ) is a 1997 French science fiction action film directed and co-written by Luc Besson. It stars Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich. Set in the 23rd century, the main plot of this film involves the survival of planet Earth, which is the responsibility of Korben Dallas (Willis), taxi driver and former special forces, after a young woman (Jovovich) fell into his cabin. Dallas joins his troops to restore four mystical rocks that are essential to the Earth's defense against an impending attack by an evil cosmic entity.
Besson began writing stories that became The Fifth Element when he was 16; he was 38 years old when the movie opened in theaters. Besson wants to record a movie in France, but the matching location can not be found; filming took place in London and Mauritania. Comic writer Jean "Moebius" Giraud and Jean-Claude MÃÆ'Â Ã… © ziÃÆ'¨res, whose comics provide inspiration for parts of the film, are employed for production design. Costume design by Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Fifth Element received mainly positive reviews, although they tended to polarize criticisms. It has been called the best and worst summer blockbuster of all time. The film was financially successful, generating over $ 263 million at the box office with a budget of $ 90 million. 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.
Video The Fifth Element
Plot
In 1914, an alien known as the Mondoshawans arrived at an ancient Egyptian temple to collect, to be secured from World War I, the only weapon capable of defeating the great evil that emerged every 5,000 years. This weapon consists of four stones, containing the essence of the four classical elements, and a sarcophagus containing the fifth element in human form, combining the power of the other four into a divine light capable of defeating evil. The Mondoshawans promised their human contact, a priest of a secret order, they would return with weapons in time to stop the great evil when returning.
In 2263, a great crime arose in space in the form of a giant black ball of fire, and destroyed Earth's spacecraft that attacked. Current Mondoshawans contact on Earth, the priest Vito Cornelius, informed the President of the Federation of Territories about the history of major crimes and weapons that could stop him. When the Mondoshawans returned to Earth they were ambushed by Mangalores, a race hired by industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, who had been directed by a great crime (sending a message as "Mister Shadow") to acquire elemental stones.
The Mondoshawans spacecraft was destroyed, and the only "survivor" was a broken hand with metal gloves from a Fifth Element sarcophagus that still contained several living cells. Scientists took him to a New York City lab and used it to reconstruct a powerful humanoid woman who took the name Leeloo. Frightened by the unfamiliar surroundings, he comes out of a cage and jumps off a tall ledge, crashing into a Korben Dallas taxi, a former major in a special force.
Dallas gave Leeloo to Cornelius and his disciple, David, where he revealed that he is the Fifth Element. Cornelius learned from him that the elemental stones were not on the Mondoshawans, because they entrusted them to Diva Plavalaguna aliens, an opera singer. Zorg killed many of Mangalores because of their failure to get rocks, but their surviving counterparts decided to seize the artifacts in retaliation. After learning from Mondoshawans that the stones were in possession of Plavalaguna, General Munro, a former Dallas, former Dallas recruiter and ordered him to travel undercover to the Fhloston planet to meet Plavalaguna on a luxury yacht; Dallas took Leeloo with him. Meanwhile, Cornelius instructed David to prepare a temple designed to shade the stones, then away from the spacecraft that hauled Dallas to the cruise ship.
Plavalaguna was killed when Mangalores attacked a yacht, but Dallas managed to pick up stones from the Diva. During his fight with Mangalores, he kills their leader, leaving the remaining Mangalores unwilling to continue fighting. Meanwhile, Zorg arrives, shoots and seriously injures Leeloo before retrieving the bag that he considers to contain the rocks back to his plane, leaving a time bomb that forced the inhabitants of the liner to evacuate. Knowing that the case was empty, Zorg returned to the ship and killed his bomb, but dying Mangalore began installing his own device, destroying the ship and killing Zorg. Dallas, Cornelius, Leeloo, and the talk show host Ruby Rhod escape with rocks on the Zorg spacecraft.
The four join David in the weapon room at the temple as a great evil approach. They set the stones and activate them with the appropriate elements, but after witnessing and learning so much violence, Leeloo became disappointed with humanity and refused to cooperate. Dallas confessed his love for Leeloo and kissed him. In response, Leeloo combines the power of the rock and releases the divine light into a great evil, stopping it and destroying its power, causing it to be declared dead by Earth scientists.
Maps The Fifth Element
Cast
Themes
In a Besson interview declaring The Fifth Element is not a "big theme movie", though the movie's theme is important. She wants viewers to reach the point where Leeloo states "What's the point of saving lives when you see what you do with it?", And agree with her. Jay P. Telotte, who writes in Science Fiction Film , praised the film by exploring the theme of political corruption.
An article by Brian Ott and Eric Aoki in the feminist journal Women's Studies in Communication sees gender as one of the main themes of the film. The authors accuse the film of removing women from the introductory scene, noting that the reconstruction of Leeloo marked only the second appearance of a woman in the first 20 minutes of the film; the other is a presidential aide who is androgynous and mostly without words. When women appear in movies, they do so as passive objects, such as sexual flight and McDonald's officers; or stripped of their femininity, such as the "butch" Major Iceborg. Stefan Brandt, in the book Subverting Masculinity, also said that the film "echoes the stereotypical beliefs about gender" of all women in the film, including Leeloo, who he thinks only left his passive role in the film during his fight with Mangalores. With the exception of Tiny Lister's portrayal of the President, all the men in the film are considered indecent in many ways, such as the excitement of Ruby Rhod, the careless form of Vito Cornelius, and General Munro's stupidity; their goal is to make the Korben's masculinity appear "like a god" by comparison.
In Susan Hayward's The Film of Luc Besson, Susan Hayward considers The Fifth Element as the classic story of a man â € Å"making a break from his tribe, proving his masculinity, m removing evil forces and killing heads , ultimately reaping the benefits of security and marriage. "Korben's journey, however, was under threat not only from Mangalores and Zorg but also from Leeloo, who succumbed and helped him only at the last minute, accepting his love declaration. The Fifth Element is considered one of the main narratives in the film, and it faces a deadline similar to the main storyline.Halward also considers the issue of environmental damage, as far as waste and pollution are seen throughout the film.While science fiction films often show the world in which some new technology or threats transcend or fail humanity, The Film of Luc Besson includes The Fifth Element between the min ority science fiction movie. that "hold the mirror" and show man as responsible. The film is said to be skeptical of capitalist consumerism, as far as gadgets in Zorg's office create an unhealthy obsession with his passion for technology. Tensions between technology and people are treated as problems that require final resolution.
Production
As a teenager, Besson dreams of the Fifth World world in an effort to reduce boredom. She began writing the script when she was 16, though not released in theaters until she was 38 years old. The original storyline was set in 2300, and about "nothing" was named Zaltman Bleros (later renamed Korben Dallas) who won a trip to Club Med resort on the planet Fhloston Paradise. There he meets Leeloo, a "sand girl" who has "youthful beauty" despite being over 2,000 years old. Besson continues to work and modify the storyline for many years; when his documentary Atlantis was released in 1991 it had a 400-page script. Nicolas Seydoux and Patrice Ledoux from Gaumont were the first to work on this project. In November 1991, while searching for actors for the film, Besson met with the creators of French comics Jean Giraud and Jean-Claude MÃÆ'Ã… © ziÃÆ'¨res and recruited them for the design of the film's production. Comics Giraud and MÃÆ'Ã… © ziÃÆ'¨res are a major source of inspiration for the futuristic New York City of Besson. MÃÆ'Â © ziÃÆ'¨res writes the book The Circles of Power, which contains a character named S'Traks, who drives a taxi flying through the dense air traffic of the big city on planet Rubanis. MÃÆ'Ã… © ziÃÆ'¨res shows pictures of a flying taxi to Besson, who was inspired to change the background of Korben Dallas from a rocket plant worker to a taxi driver who taxied around New York City's Rubanis-inspired city.. Five other artists were hired for the project, and Jean-Paul Gaultier was hired to design a movie costume. The team spent a year creating more than 8,000 images, during which time Besson approached Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson for the lead role. Willis expressed interest, although he was reluctant to take on the role because the film was considered risky after two previous films, Hudson Hawk and Billy Bathgate , had been poorly received; Gibson eventually rejected the role. While the team impressed the film companies with their designs, they struggled to find one willing to take a film budget of nearly $ 100 million. In December 1992 film production stopped without warning before, and the team was disbanded.
Besson went on to direct the commercially successful film LÃÆ' Â © on: The Professional , released in September 1994. While photographing and releasing Leon , he continued to work on his scripts. to The Fifth Element , shortening it and reducing the film budget to $ 90 million before trying to find a studio willing to produce it. Columbia Pictures, which has a partnership at Leon , agrees to finance the film. At this time Besson has decided to go with a lesser known main actor to save on production costs. Besson was in Barry Josephson's office when Willis called on a different movie. Besson was asked to speak with Willis "just to say hello", and tell him that the Fifth Element will finally come forward, explaining the decision to go with a cheaper actor. After a brief silence, Willis stated "If I like movies, we can always come to the settings"; he agreed to take the role after reading the script. Film production began in early August 1995. Besson traveled to various venues for casting, including Paris, London and Rome. He hired Gary Oldman (who starred in LÃ © Ã… © on ) for Zorg's role, portraying Oldman as "one of the top five actors in the world." For Leeloo characters, Besson chose Milla Jovovich from 200 to 300 applicants whom he met directly. The "Divine Language" spoken in the film by Leeloo is a fictional language with only 400 words, created by Besson. Jovovich and Besson hold conversations and write letters to each other in language as a practice. Besson had a relationship with MaÃÆ'¯wenn Le Besco, who played the Diva Plavalaguna role, for six years when filming began; However, he left it for Jovovich during the filming. Jovovich and Besson later married, but divorced in 1999.
Hoping for a film shoot in France, Besson was unable to find an appropriate facility and "with a heavy heart" filmed in London. It was primarily filmed at Pinewood Studios on seven stages including Stage 007. The construction set began in October 1995. The opera scene was filmed at the Royal Opera House. The scenes described as being in Egypt were filmed in Mauritania; the first filming for the film, the desert background image, took place there on January 5, 1996. Filming with the actor began in late January, and finished 21 weeks later. Willis finished filming on May 16, while Oldman just started filming the following week; the film protagonist (Korben) and the antagonist (Zorg) never really share the screen time. Although filmed in London, The Fifth Element is French production, and then became the most expensive European film ever made at the time. The buildings in New York come from both the metabolist-inspired mass of modular apartments from the 1960s, and the futuristic design of the architect Antonio Sant'Elia in the 1910s. Besson demands that most of the action images in the film take place in broad daylight, as he is reportedly tired of the dark space corridors and dimly lit planets common in science fiction films, and wants a brighter "joyful" look compared to realistic gloomy. Gaultier designed every one of 900 costumes worn by extras in the Fhloston Paradise movie scene, and checked every costume every morning. Its design, described as "transgressive intellectual", is said to challenge sexuality and gender norms. One jacket he designed for the movie cost $ 5,000.
The original name of the Ruby Rhod character is Loc Rhod. This name appears in the original script and in the film novel. Speculation has been suggested that the name change is a game of information in the periodic table. Rubidium is the first of the elements of Period 5, and right in the middle of the line it is a Rhodium element. Taking the first half of each element produces "Rubi Rhod". Others speculate that his name is a game in his gender-bending personality; has a feminine first name and a phallic name. The term "ruby rod" also refers to an important component of the first working laser design.
Effects
Three different teams deal with three different types of special effects used in the film. Nick Allder is placed in charge of the mechanical and pyrotechnic effects, Nick Dudman is placed in charge of the 'creature' effect and Mark Stetson leads the visual effects team. Digital visual effects company Domain Digital was hired for the film, and Karen Goulekas was given the role of digital securities watchdog. Alias, Softimage Autodesk, Arete, Side Effect Prism, RenderMan, as well as internal software, are used by Digital Domains to create effects. Multiple individual shots use a combination of direct action, scale models, imagery and computer-generated particle systems. The traffic lane in the scene in New York City is made with a particle system:
We may have 80 city scene photos with CG cars gliding around, and you can not move them all by hand because there are too many of them in every scene... When the car turns round the corner, the speed change is automatic, so the animator no need to worry about that. They just plan the movement in a very difficult way, and math smooths the rest.
Among the scale models used for filming are the buildings seen in New York City. Dozens of apartment blocks and 25 skyscrapers, about 20 feet (6.1 m) tall, are built on a scale of 1/24. It took a team of five five-month workers to build the model used in the film. The windows of the building were cited by the team as one of the most time consuming tasks, along with details behind the windows, such as furniture, curtains, light boxes and small pieces of flat artwork. A virtual set built in a digital environment was created to enhance miniature usage. Motion control cameras move throughout the scales, and the data they collect is exported to track and produce CG animations and particle systems. Other techniques used in the film include matte digital painting for NURBS background and mathematical models for specific animations, including the order in which the Leeloo body is reconstructed.
Soundtrack
The Fifth Element is one Besson film that has been described as "musical intrinsic"; some types of music played for about 90 percent of the film. The movie score is composed by ÃÆ' â € ° ric Serra. He relies heavily on the use of orchestral textures, such as oboe and strings that are heard when the surgeon prepares for Leeloo regeneration, and pizzicato when he is reconstructed. Serra also uses many exotic influences, such as the Stalinist fanfare that sounded before the order of a space harbor, pieces of reggae played in preparation for flight, and hula music that greeted passengers when they arrived in Fhloston. More conventional assessment techniques are present in the primary motif that first emerged when the Pacoli professor mentioned the fifth element, the militaristic trap as the warship prepared to attack the dark planet, and Mahlerian mahler part heard when Leeloo learned about war. The music used for taxi chase scenes, titled "Alech Taadi" by Algerian player Khaled, was excluded from the movie soundtrack, but was available on Khaled N'ssi N'ssi album.
Diva Dance opera performance using music from Gaetano Donizetti Lucia in Lammermoor : "Il dolce suono", the insane scene of Act III, Scene 2. This is one of several pieces of music in a diegetic film. The song is sung by soprano Albanian Inva Mula, while the Plavalaguna role is played by French actress MaÃÆ'¯wenn Le Besco. Part One (titled "Lucia di Lammermoor") and Part Two (titled "The Diva Dance") of this section are included as separate tracks on the The Fifth Element soundtrack, but are sorted to create the effect of all the performances seen in the movie. End of Section One fuses to the beginning of Part Two, creating a smooth transition between two tracks.
Released as an album under Virgin Records, the soundtrack peaked at No. 1. 99 on Billboard 200. More than 200,000 copies of the long soundtrack are sold in France only. Rodney Batdorf of AllMusic gave the album three out of five stars, stating it was "diverse and accomplished, and it's just as effective outside the movie as it is in it." Reviews from Filmtracks.com also reward three of the five stars.
Release
Initial filter
The film premiered on May 7, 1997 at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, where the film was selected as the opening film. Gaumont built an area for screening over 100,000 square feet (9,300m 2 ). Guests were given the "Element Five" Swatch, which was used as their entrance ticket. This event includes futuristic ballet, 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.
box office
The film debuted at number 1 in the US, earning $ 17 million on its opening weekend. It went on to become a box-office success, grossing over $ 263 million, nearly three times its $ 90 million budget. Seventy-six percent of receipts for the Fifth Element are from markets outside the United States, and it is the highest-grossing film of the year in the world. It was the most successful film at the box office in France in 1997, with more than 7.69 million viewing movies. In Germany the film was awarded Goldene Leinwand, a sales certification award for selling over three million tickets at the box office. The Fifth Element went on to become the highest-grossing French film in overseas box-office, a record he held for 16 years until The Intouchables release in 2011.
Critical response
The Fifth Element holds a 72% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 61 reviews. The consensus of the site reads: "Visually inventive and joyful above, Luc Besson's The Fifth Element is a fantastic sci-fi pop piece that never gets too serious." It has a weighted score of 52/100 in Metacritic, based on 22 professional reviews, indicating "mixed or averaged" reviews. Viewers surveyed by CinemaScore gave this movie an average value of "B" on a scale up to F.
The Fifth Element polarized criticism on release. Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times described this film as a complicated, even worse, complicated sci-fi extravaganza that was almost as difficult to follow as Mission: Impossible last year. "He concluded that The Fifth Element is" warmer, more fun and boasts some of the most sophisticated and intelligent production and costume designs you can expect. "At the Movie review show In Film, both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave the movie "thumbs up"; in his own review for Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert gave the movie 3 stars out of 4, calling it "One of the great silly movies", and concluding , "I will not miss seeing this movie, and I recommend it for image richness. But at 127 minutes, that seemed a reasonable length, it was playing long. "
The film, however, is subject to a number of rough reviews that express disagreement over its style. Todd McCarthy of Variety writes, "The highly failed European effort to create a spectacular American-style sci-fi, The Fifth Element consists of mixed elements that are not united comfortably." David Edelstein of Slate is even more critical, saying, "This may or may not be the worst movie ever made, but it is one of the least pressured."
Chris Tucker's appearance as Ruby Rhod also polarized criticism. She was praised at Los Angeles Times and in Time ; the latter called him "the hotest special effects of summer." Josh Winning of Total Film , however, chose Tucker's performance as the lowest point of the film, ranking it as No. 20 on his 2011 list, "50 Movie Shattering Performances".
The film has been described by CBS News, Rotten Tomatoes, and ComingSoon.com as a classic cult of science fiction. But film critic Mark Kermode reports that The Fifth Element is one of the most divisive films among its readers, regarded as the best and worst film of all time in the world. Kermode recalled his own experience: "I remember very clearly being in Cannes when [Element Fifth] was first played, and it really split the audience." Stephen Cass from Discover rated the third best sci-fi movie on subscription service Hulu, writing, "People seem to like or hate The Fifth Element... Visual luxurious and entertaining performances from Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, and Gary Oldman make this movie worth watching. "In some circles, the film earned the status of" very-bad-fine "; Meredith Woerner of io9 listed The Fifth Element as one of "20 Worst Science Fiction Movies of All Time". In 2007, the Visual Effects Society placed the The Fifth Element in No. 50, tied with Darby O'Gill and the Little People, on the list of 50 most powerful visual effects. movies of all time. In 2014, Time Out made a list of movies in No. 1. 42 on their list of "100 best sci-fi movies".
Willis spoke positively about the film in a 1999 interview, concluding "it is a very fun movie to make." Tucker and Jovovich also talked well about their experience making films and working with Besson in an interview on DVD Ultimate Edition ; Jovovich described Besson as "the first great director I ever worked with". Asked in a 2014 interview if he likes the movie, Gary Oldman states, "Oh no, I can not stand it." He has explained in 2011: "It was me singing for my dinner because Luc had come and partly financed [my movie] Nil by Mouth ."
Alejandro Jodorowsky and Jean Giraud sued Besson after the movie was released, claiming The Fifth Element had plagiarized their comic The Incal . Giraud sued 13.1 million euros for unhealthy competition, 9 million euros in damages and interest and two to five per cent of the net operating income of the film. Jodorowsky sued 700,000 euros. The case was dismissed in 2004 on the grounds that only "small fragments" of the comic had been used and also because Giraud had been hired by Besson to work on the film before the allegations were made.
A novel adaptation of The Fifth Element, written by Terry Bisson, was published by HarperPrism in 1997. There were rumors after the release of the movie to be followed by the sequel, while titled Mr. Shadows . In 2011, Besson stated that the sequel was never planned, and that he had no desire to make it.
The Fifth Element video game adaptation was created by Activision for the PlayStation and PC game consoles in 1998. The PlayStation version is generally filled with negative reviews, even if the PC version is better received. Lauren Fielder of GameSpot called the PlayStation version "quite possibly the worst game I've ever played." Doug Perry from IGN commented: "Take Tomb Raider , add a Leeloo Multipass and boring puzzle, and you have The Fifth Element ." A movie-based racing game, New York Race , was released in 2001. Eurogamer gives game 6 out of 10, concludes: " New York Race is fun little arcade racer that oozes style, but it is something that will make you tired very quickly and thus remain pleasant only in short bursts. "
Accolades
The Fifth Element was nominated for Best Sound Editing at the 70th Academy Awards, and for Best Sound Editing at the 1998 Golden Reel Awards, but lost to Titanic in both cases. She won the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects, and LumiÃÆ'¨res Award for Best Director. It was nominated for seven Caesar awards, winning three: Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Production Design. It was nominated for Film of the Year at the 1997 European Film Awards, as well as the Hugo Award for Best Drama Presentation, and Satellite Award for Best Visual Effects. Thierry Arbogast was awarded the Technical Grand Prize at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for his work on both The Fifth Element and She's So Lovely. The film received four Saturn Award nominations: Best Science Fiction Film, Best Costume, Best Special Effect, and Best Supporting Actress for Milla Jovovich. Jovovich's fight against Mangalores was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Fight, and the actress was also nominated for Best Actress - Newcomer at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.
In contrast, Jovovich received a Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Supporting Actress, and Chris Tucker was nominated for Worst New Star for his performances on both The Fifth Element and Money Talks .
Home media
The original home video release of The Fifth Element took place in North America on December 10, 1997, in VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD. The original DVD presents the movie in its original 2.39: 1 anamorphic widescreen format even though it has no special features. The film was released in Sony Superbit format in October 2001. In his review, Conrad Jeremy of IGN provided image quality from the original DVD release of 9 out of 10, despite being awarded the Superbit version of a perfect score for image quality. Overall, Superbit versions are awarded 8 out of 10; the final score is lowered by the lack of a full version specific feature.
A set of "Ultimate Edition" of two DVDs was released on January 11, 2005. The only difference between the Superbit version and the Ultimate Edition disc is the addition of the "fact track", which when turned on shows trivia about the movie, and the crew when the movie is playing. The second disc provides a variety of special features, focusing on visual production, special effects, fashion in movies, featurettes and interviews with Willis, Jovovich, and Tucker, as well as featurettes on four different alien races in the movie and Diva Plavalaguna. Ian Jane from DVD Talk praised Ultimate Edition for its special features.
The release of the first Blu-ray movie on June 20, 2006 was criticized for having poor image quality by Blu-ray standards, and due to the lack of special features. In what is called a "very rare step", Sony responded to complaints by making an available version of Blu-ray remaster, released on July 17, 2007, and also offering a replacement exchange program for customers unhappy with the original Blu-ray release. Ben Williams of Blu-ray.com stated that an "absolute" remastered version was made for a lackluster initial release and praised the high quality of video and audio; However, he criticized the lack of special features.
4K Birthday Celebration was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on July 11, 2017.
Note
References
Bibliography
External links
- Official website
- The Fifth Element in IMDb
- The Fifth Element in the TCM Movie Database
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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