Day 8: He's So Green

THE FIFTH ELEMENT (1997)
Directed by Luc Besson
Starring: Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Ian Holm, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker, Luke Perry

I was hoping something like this would happen.  In fact, you could say that this is one of the reasons I started this project.  A lot of the movies I've watched in the past week have been hit-or-miss.  There have been times when, even before this project began, that I would watch a movie for the first time and would fail to live up to the hype.  Quite a few friends recommended The Fifth Element, and this one lived up to the hype.

Back in 1997, CGI was becoming all the rage in film-making.  Films like Jurassic Park had put it to good use, giving us the most realistic looking dinosaurs audiences had yet seen.  But, like all good things, it was abused, and directors soon became full-fledged CGI junkies.  George Lucas was among the most notable casualties  Not only did he create new Star Wars films that were a triumph of style over substance; but he preceded that by going back and digitally altering his original films. 

I bring up CGI because The Fifth Element uses it rather sparingly.  Of course, it would be impossible to do many of the shots in this film without digital assistance, but Luc Besson does something here that I think is worth noting.  There are actual rubber-latex alien costumes here.  There are actual working sets and props that were done by hand.  He went old-school, creating a world that can be seen and touched by its inhabitants, using CGI only when it is absolutely necessary.  It calls to mind the Sci-Fi epics that came before, when a director had to use all of his imagination and ingenuity to create a world; a talent that is sorely lacking in films today.

I know I usually give a synopsis here, but I would be here all night and the library closes in twenty minutes.  Here's the Cliffs Notes version: Long ago, aliens sought to protect some ancient stones representing the four elements (fire, earth, wind, water), which were to be used as a weapon against evil.  The only thing missing was the Fifth Element (and no, it's not "heart").  Flash forward 250 years and, wouldn't you know it, evil just happens to show up in the form of a giant planet that devours everything like a black hole.  Some aliens try to steal the ancient stones, but they are thwarted by a Supreme Being, who, thanks to science, takes the form of a lovely woman (Jovovich).  A priest (Holm) tries to warn of the danger.  A cab driver (Willis) picks up the Supreme Woman in his cab via the sunroof, after she dives off a building running from authorities.  Only she knows where the stones are, but a profiteering weapons dealer (Oldman) is hot on the trail as well.  Everything culminates on an intergalactic cruise ship, where a flamboyant radio DJ (Tucker) gets caught in the middle of everything.  Eventually, everyone gets to the ancient temple and they activate the weapon and the evil planet is destroyed, but only after the cab driver realizes that the Fifth Element is really love, and he and the Supreme Woman live happily ever after.  So...I guess the Fifth Element was "heart" after all.  Got it?  Good.

Now, to cram all of that into two hours takes a bit of doing.  As such, the pace is absolutely frenetic at times.  But that's not to say the movie doesn't take its time when it needs to.  A scene where a blue alien opera diva gives a recital is a great example of the film slowing down and giving us a chance to take in the strange and yet beautiful ambiance. 

Everything in this movie is about one thing and one thing only: entertainment.  And to be entertaining, you have to work on all of our emotions: humor, sadness, drama, anger, fear, etc.  And not one of these emotions go untouched.  I cheered when I needed to cheer and laughed when I needed to laugh.  But none of it ever felt forced.  It wasn't a Pavlovian response.  It was real.  And when a movie this outrageous makes you feel something, you know it's a movie done right.