Monday, 23 April 2012

           So...I recently watched a film called The Fifth Element, made in 1997, by Luc Besson.  After  watching it, I have come to the conclusion that the plot and just about ever other element included in the drama was, shall we say, a bit confused.  Not only were there comically exaggerated elements from Star Wars, but there was also not a clear antagonist.  In the movie, 23rd century Earth is in danger because a giant molten mass of lava is traveling precariously close-by.  What we learn about this giant molten mass of lava is that it consists of evil in its purest form and any sort of light, life or general goodness that it comes in contact with is destroyed.  In keeping with this concept, anything evil that it comes in contact with only strengthens it.  The mass of lava could therefore be considered the antagonist of the movie, but, alas, there is also Mr. Zorg, who could be seen as a twisted and warped version of an altruist.  He believes that by killing people and causing turmoil throughout the universe, he is helping people to keep their jobs and continue the chain of events which is time.  So there we have two separate sources of negativity against the protagonists, which creates an unclear direction for the movie to pursue.
            I will, however, pay due credit to the costume design of the film, which, I found out after the fact, was actually done by the world renowned designer, Jean Paul Gaultier.  Because of this, a great many of the extras in the cast were actually fashion models, which had an interesting effect on the general atmosphere of the movie, as though somehow people in the future were depicted as 'more beautiful'.  Something that I absolutely loathed about this film was the music.  Eric Serra was the composer and, talented as he might have been, I did not care for the scores written for the movie.  They made light of parts which seemed too intense to be fitting and vice versa.  With Bruce Willis and Milla Jojovich co-starring in this drama, I felt a sort of neutrality towards the two of them.  Milla was meant to represent the 'Fifth Element', which was human love.  Although her character was meant to be representative of the 'perfect woman', the makeup crew, for whatever reason, decided to give her scraggly fluorescent orange hair - and Milla is beautiful.  Even she couldn't pull that off.  What were they thinking?? Anyways.  I'm not biased towards Bruce Willis one way or another.  At the time the movie was made, he was fit and could get a laugh out of the audience; he did his job. 
            All in all, I would say that this was the type of movie a person might enjoy if they were looking for some sort of combination between bad pop culture, a lot of blunt sexual innuendos and a good laugh.  Just my opinion! Take it with a grain of salt.



 


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