Film Review, (blog-style)
Cast: Bruce Willis, Mila Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker
Genre: Fantasy.
Director: Luc Besson
Release date: 1997
“Leeloo mool-ti-pass!” 25 years ago French director Luc Besson’s hit film The 5th Element was released and I’ve been repeating lines said by the “Supreme Being” ever since first watching it as a kid. Ahead of its anniversary I took out my collector’s edition DVD and re-watched the whole thing, including the behind the scenes extras.
Set in the 23rd century, we follow Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), an ex-army Major now working as a cab driver. When an unusual fare lands literally into his cab he becomes involved in a race to locate four stones, four of the five elements.
The fifth element is Leeloo, a perfect being created to stop evil. Stunningly beautiful Mila Jovovich is the Ukrainian-born, American, model-turned-actress who plays Leeloo. Leeloo is adorably funny and surprises even those who were awaiting her arrival. She is a sweet, gentle character – who beats the heck out of the bad guys. She also enjoys munching chicken (cue the line “chikaaan guud!”), speed learns, speaks an incredibly beautiful and mysterious language and is the most relatable combination of tough and sweet I’ve seen in a character on film (especially that scene where she reads about war – argh).
The film frames good and evil in a typical way but also asks us to stop and question why we create life when all we do is destroy it? It’s a good question; ponder on that world leaders. (Of course as a Muslim I don’t believe we create life in the sense that we originate life, in actuality we perpetuate it by God’s permission but let’s not be technical, I agree with the semantics).
Other notable moments in the film include the scene where Leeloo puts a gun to Dallas’ head and tells him “senno ecto gammat” (I have that line on a tee – watch the film to find out what it means), and an amazing fight scene running concurrently with an operatic performance by alien Diva Plavalaguna. The song was obviously synthesised but nonetheless the alien diva has the most incredible voice, singing whilst Leeloo beats up the bad guys in a scene that could rival any action hero. Leeloo is an excellent fighter (cue another great line when she matter-of-factly tells Dallas “me protect you”). It’s nice to have a strong female lead and she is easily the co-hero alongside Bruce Willis’ tough guy character. Whilst Dallas lacks gentility (“I only speak two languages, English and bad English”) he’s so likeable and able to play the co-hero role no less as memorably as the eternal hero John McClane in his best ever film Die Hard. He’s also a sweet softie on the inside (he even panders to his cat).
The film isn’t a perfect product – some of the characters are so extremely flamboyant they are farcical. I could have done without the Ruby Rhod character; if you cut out all of the scenes with him the film would have lost 80% of its farce and none of the plotline. As a kid I couldn’t understand any of his scenes and I guess that’s just stuck but credit to Chris Tucker for a tough role. The styling is bold (and at times questionable, but that’s classique Gaultier who designed all of the fits). Gary Oldman was brilliant as usual and yes I’m biased because he’s one of our British film heroes (for good reason). I recall finding Zorg scary when I first watched this film as a child but not too terrifying thanks to his ludicrous costume. The fact that Oldman was able to portray menacing, despite being forced to play the role in such a bizarre headpiece, deserves kudos.
Overall, this is one of my favourite films. It has longevity due to the likeable characters, plotline, and action sequences. It’s a film that has every element a good movie should. Go and watch it and “taank ooo” for reading.
The London Author