The Fifth Element (1997) | Sci-Fi Saturdays

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Okay meat popsicles, get your super green Multipass ready for a bizarre trip across the galaxy!

The Fifth Element is a film populated with outrageous characters, bizarre aliens, and an amazing future. So much so that it sometimes forgets about its plot and other storytelling elements by getting distracted and showing off some fun sci-fi elements instead.

First Impressions

The trailer depicts a futuristic action adventure film, heavy on explosions, where the Earth is under threat of being destroyed. Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman must try to stop the end of all life. There’s aliens, flying cars, and weird looking people in this film from Luc Besson. But just what is The Fifth Element?

Presented below is the trailer for the film.

The Fiction of The Film

The film opens in Egypt, 1914 as Professor Pacoli (John Bluthal) attempts to translate a series of hieroglyphics inside a temple as his assistant Billy (Luke Perry) watches. A local temple priest (John Bennett) attempts to kill the two interlopers for discovering the secrets of the “fifth element,” but is interrupted by a Mondoshawan spaceship which lands outside. The aliens tell the priest that the stones are not safe and they will return with them in 300 years when evil once again returns to the galaxy. The priest is given a key and told to pass his knowledge to his predecessors so that the Earth may be kept safe.

Three hundred years later an evil planet forms on the outskirts of the galaxy. President Lindberg (Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister Jr), of the Federated Territories, orders ships to attack it, but it only gets larger with each barrage. The current priest, Vito Cornelius (Ian Holm), advises the president that evil begets evil, and the only way to stop it is being delivered back to the planet shortly. A Mondoshawan ship returning with the stones is attacked by the Mangalores and destroyed. The only surviving part of the crew is a forearm. Scientist Mactilburgh (Christopher Fairbank) uses a cellular reconstruction device to rebuild this “perfect” being, which turns out to be a young woman named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich).

Leeloo escapes the government facility and jumps off a building into the traffic made up of flying cars. She crashes into the taxi cab of Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), who is stunned by the scantily clad woman in his back seat. She asks for his help and he evades the police taking her to Vito Cornelius for assistance. Elsewhere, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman) meets with a cadre of Mangalore’s whom he had hired to collect the stones. Unfortunately the box is empty. Leeloo tells Vito that the stones were not onboard her ship as the Mondoshawan contact the President to tell him that the stones are in the care of opera singer Diva Plavalaguna (Maïwenn Le Besco), aboard the cruise ship on the pleasure planet Fhloston Paradise.

Korben is recruited by General Munro (Brion James), his former commanding officer, to save the world. He has been given two tickets to Fhloston Paradise in a fixed contest since the cruise ship is booked. A comical moment has multiple people pretending to be Korben and his wife, including Vito’s assistant David (Charlie Creed Miles) and two Mangalore mercenaries disguised as humans. Vito manages to sneak aboard the ship via the landing gear as Korben is hijacked by effeminate radio personality Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) for a meet and greet.

A Mr. Shadow (the evil planet) calls Zorg to tell him where to find the stones and he hops aboard his ship, faking a distress call to board the cruise ship with Korben and everyone. The Mangalores show up as well and steal the box containing the stones from the Diva’s room, attempting to double-cross Zorg. He begins shooting them, and one of his bullets pierces a wall and hits the Diva after her performance. She admits to Korben the stones are inside her, and not in the crate. After a big shoot out with the remaining Mangalores, Korben, Leeloo, Vito and Ruby escape on Zorg’s ship just before the cruise ship explodes from a Mangalore bomb.

The evil planet has become a flaming ball and is headed for Earth to wipe out life. At the temple, the group places the injured Leeloo on the central dais and sets the stones in their specific places, representing earth, air, fire, and water. They cannot figure out how to open the stones until David breathes on the air stone. Leeloo does not know if she can go on, until Korben admits he loves her. The stones, in conjunction with Leeloo, form a giant beam that repulses the planet, stopping it 62 miles before impact. Leeloo and Korben are taken to the government lab where they embrace within a recovery chamber while the President waits to congratulate them.

“I don’t know love. I was built to protect, not to love.” – Leeloo

History in the Making

The Fifth Element was not the first film for director Luc Besson, nor even his breakout film. But it might have been his most popular and most seen film at the time of its release. This French director had been on the scene since the early 1980s, with his previous four films all being notable, both inside France and in the United States. These movies (Subway, The Big Blue, La Femme Nikita, and Leon: The Professional) are categorized as part of the cinéma du look movement, a French film movement, which features style and spectacle over substance and narrative. A similar style was on the rise in America with MTV videos, and an inspiration in television shows, such as Miami Vice, or with directors that came from this movement, like Russell Mulcahy and Tony Scott. Besson did not totally leave that style behind when making The Fifth Element, as the film is padded with lots of fun and entertaining elements, but a little light on story for its 125 minute runtime.

This was another in a long string of action movies for Bruce Willis. The 90s started with not the greatest of choices, following his immense breakout action role in 1988s Die Hard. He worked on films that are considered some of his worst choices including The Bonfire of the Vanities, Hudson Hawk, and Billy Bathgate. Willis would regain much of his credibility shortly after, returning to form in The Last Boy Scout, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Pulp Fiction, before stepping outside his normal oeuvre with his first science-fiction film 12 Monkeys. He brings an earnest, strong, and somewhat comical interpretation to the role of Korben Dallas, who is thrust into an adventure that he is neither ready for, nor wants.

This was an early role for Milla Jovovich which made her a more prominently recognized actress. Her previous work included the sequel Return to the Blue Lagoon and the comedy Dazed and Confused but her quirky role as Leeloo (in very skimpy outfits), in this bigger budget and wider seen film, elevated her recognizability. The film also showcased comedian Chris Tucker, who had garnered praise (and an MTV Movie Award nomination) for his work in the comedy Friday. But many see Ruby Rhod as his breakout role which allowed Tucker to use his quick mouth, and distinctive voice, as the comedic elements during an otherwise intense action scene. He would continue to use these attributes in the three Rush Hour films with Jackie Chan.

Genre-fication

The Fifth Element was a decidedly different sort of sci-fi film than the majority of 90s films. It was a bright and cheery looking film that presented a mostly upbeat future. Unlike Strange Days, Escape From LA, or Johnny Mnemonic, which all had darker, bleaker futures, Besson’s vision was more like a comic book. Bright colors, and inspired designs, coupled with a more positive outcome for future humans, created an upbeat world that was fantastical and interesting. This was no accident as Besson had hired comic artists Jean Giraud (aka Moebius) and Jean-Claude Mézières as designers on the futuristic look of the film. From the designs of the flying traffic in New York City, to the design of the magical stones, the comic-book aesthetic was translated from page to screen to create a unique look for the film.

Viewers might also see similarities to this film and George Lucas’ Star Wars. Both have epic adventures in weirdly alien landscapes, lots of strange aliens and creatures, and the basic theme of good versus evil. Besson hasn’t stated explicitly that he was inspired by the Galaxy Far, Far Away, but it’s hard to create similar epic stories without having the comparison drawn between such a groundbreaking film. Here, instead of The Force, there is a super-being called the fifth element. Leeloo’s origins could also be a slight reference to the Kwisatz Haderach from Dune, which was a genetically manipulated individual that would bring change to the galaxy. She is able to interface with four stones which each represent the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water. This interaction occurs every 5,000 years when great evil returns to the galaxy, which is represented by an alien planet, and manifests for story purposes with its agent, Korg.

Societal Commentary

Korg represents the destructive side of humanity, while Vito Cornelius, and the other priests, represent life and creation. The mission of these priests, who have been taught their directives by the Mondoshawan, is to guard the stones and protect the temple so that when evil returns, the fifth element may fulfill its destiny. Korg is hired by the evil planet to disrupt this process. His motivations are made entirely by money. He sees destruction as the ultimate capitalism. His example to Father Vito is the breaking of a drinking glass on the floor. His little robot sweepers arrive to clean-up. Machines that were built by factory workers who needed to feed their families, and without his destruction of the glass, would serve no purpose and have no job. Vito, on the other hand, is shown to favor all life, even Korg’s. When he has the chance moments later to let the businessman choke on a cherry he has inhaled, Vito takes a moment to make a speech reminding Korg what a jerk he is, but eventually relents and helps him dislodge the obstruction. Saving Korg was the right thing to do morally, but disdainful, even to a priest of this order.

The Fifth Element also makes use of one of the largest themes there is: love. Korben is presented as a man who is unhappy with his life. He doesn’t find fulfillment in his job and has no one else in his life, except his mother who calls to harangue him. That is, until one day a woman literally falls into his lap (through the roof of his taxi cab). She’s a perfectly engineered super-being, destined to save the world, who knows nothing about human experience and life, even though she was made to look human. Throughout the film she uses computers to speed-read the encyclopedias (online) about everything in human experience. Leeloo becomes depressed when she gets to the section on war. She sees how humans treat others, and their planet. She begins to question her role in the process, wondering, “what’s the use of saving life when you see what you do with it.” Korben lets her know that love makes it worthwhile, but she doesn’t understand that concept, until Korben expresses the love he feels for her. It becomes their love that saves the galaxy, as it helps Leeloo tap into the power to stop the dark planet.

The Science in The Fiction

This is the future we were promised, for the most part. Like Back to the Future Part II, this future has hover cars as humans now live higher up in the atmosphere. The chaotic ballet of traffic patterns has a lot in common visually with the city-planet of Coruscant, which shows up later in the decade in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and its sequels. This futuristic hover car, and some other design enhancements in Korben’s apartment are not the shiny future often dreamed of. They are more like an extension of the same bureaucracy that inhabits late 20th Century Earth. Advancements in single room living are interesting, with the bed, the shower and the freezer all on rails so they slide into various walls (or ceilings) to make room for other devices needed later in the day. But society still has a number of issues that are faced today. One of the airport stewardesses apologizes for the mountains of garbage that serves as a wall. Literally stories high, and extending into infinity. The police force also has a bureaucratic element to it with characters “doing their job” but without any energy, forethought, or real interest.

And even though there is a Federation of Territories, which has a President, there must still be some kind of war going on somewhere. Maybe not on Earth, but definitely in space. Zorg has a giant factory that builds weapons, but he’s also the owner of the taxicab service as well (perhaps a slight jab at the multinational corporations that grew during the late 20th Century). His crowning achievement is the new ZF-1 gun, which features bullets, homing missiles, net gun, and a freeze beam, along with (for some weird reason) a self-destruct button. This is one of the most memorable scenes in the film, with a great piece of sci-fi technology. Its compact destructive ability has the ability to turn one soldier into a walking battalion. Even in this future, the war-like instinct is still alive and well within society. As a side note, if you haven’t seen the video of maker Adam Savage building a working replica of the ZF-1, you should check it out!

The Final Frontier

Discussion about The Fifth Element would be incomplete without mentioning Gary Oldman’s role in the film. He makes for an excellent bad guy, having portrayed a similar, darker antagonist in Besson’s Leon. Between his characterization, and the absurd hairstyle/head covering that he uses, his portrayal of Zorg makes watching the film that more enjoyable. So too are the alien character designs of Nick Dudman. He apprenticed with Yoda creator Stuart Freeborn, and worked on such films as Legend, Labyrinth, and Willow, before going on to work on the Star Wars prequels. His work on this film won him a BAFTA Award for Visual Effects. The alien beings, from the robotic looking Mondoshawan, the certainly evil Mangalore, and the bluer than blue Plavalaguna, all help to create a larger world of diversity not seen in recent years.

The Fifth Element ends up a fun action adventure film, obviously making good use of its budget. It’s a well padded film with lots of interesting world building moments which make a 90 minute film over two hours. And all of that is okay. The film is not a dark, intellectual piece about socio-economic issues, or how humanity is failing. There are themes about what it means to be human, and other lofty issues, but the film is designed primarily as a fun romp in a strange and fantastical world. There are certainly worse things that can be done with two hours of time.

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