The Styrous® Viewfinder: LaserDisc 14: The Fifth Element ~ Bruce Willis & Plavalaguna

The Fifth Element LaserDisc

Art Direction by Len Peltier

Today is the birthday of actor, Bruce Willis, who is an American actor and film producer. His career began on the off-Broadway stage in the 1970s. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989) and has since appeared in over 70 films, gaining widespread recognition as an action hero after his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise (1988–2013) and other subsequent roles.

My favorite film of his is when he portrayed the character of Korben Dallas in the The Fifth Element, a 1997 French science-fiction movie written and directed by Luc Besson. Besson started writing the story that became the movie when he was 16 years old; he was 38 when the film opened in cinemas.

The Fifth Element

LaserDisc front cover

The story's premise is that every five thousand years, in conjunction with a planetary arrangement, a 'Great Evil' appears whose purpose is to destroy life. It is New York at high noon in the year 2259 complete with thousands of flying cars, Chinese junks floating incongruously among the melee and in one astounding shot a vista of New York after the sea level has dropped with Manhattan perched atop a sheer cliff face. (plot link below).

The Fifth Element

film still

One of the reasons I love this film is because the Diva, Plavalaguna, sings, l dolce suono, an aria from Lucia Di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti in one of the movie's scenes that is a visually and sonically stunning cinematic moment (link below)! The scene may look hokey by today's video standards but back then video was not as sophisticated as it is now; at that time it was a mind blower!

The Fifth Element LaserDisc

back cover detail

detail photo by Styrous®

Comics artists Jean "Moebius" Giraud and Jean-Claude Mézières, whose books provided inspiration for parts of the film, were hired for production design. The costume design was by Jean-Paul Gaultier, including the bandage dress that Leelou wears throughout the first half of the movie.

Milla Jovovich - bandage dress

designer Jean Paul Gaultier

The Fifth Element film still

Gaultier was very much involved with Besson throughout the project in order to create something magical - creating hundreds of costumes in total. The costumes themselves are bright, colorful and fun and incorporate traditional materials as well as looking futuristic (link below).

Bruce Willis & flight attendants

designer Jean Paul Gaultier

photographer unknown

The production was a truly international collaboration. Bruce Willis was born in Germany to a German mother and American father; he was brought to the U.S. by his family when he was two years old.

Bruce Willis - 1997

The Fifth Element film still

The heroine of The Fifth Element, Leeloo, played by Milla Jovovich, is an American actress, model, and musician who was born in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. She emigrated with her parents to London when she was five, and then to Sacramento, California; she finally settled in Los Angeles seven months later.

Milla Jovovich (Leeloo) - 1997

The Fifth Element film still

The Diva, Plavalaguna, is superbly portrayed physically by Maïwenn Le Besco, a French actress and filmmaker who is of mixed Vietnamese, French and Algerian descent.

Maïwenn Le Besco (The Diva, Plavalaguna) - 1997

The Fifth Element

The Diva, Plavalaguna, is vocally represented by Inva Mula who was born to an Albanian father from Gjakova and a Russian mother from Izhevsk.

Inva Mula (the voice of Plavalaguna) - 2019

photo: Marko Dimic/PIXSELL

Every film has to have a villain. For this one, Gary Leonard Oldman fulfilled that role as Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg; Oldman was born in New Cross, London.

Gary Leonard Oldman as Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg

film still

costume designer Jean Paul Gaultier

The comic relief is provided by Chris Tucker, an American actor and stand-up comedian from Atlanta, Georgia, as the flamboyant TV personality, Ruby Rhod.

Chris Tucker (Ruby Rhod)

The Fifth Element

film still

costume designer Jean Paul Gaultier

Luc Paul Maurice Besson is a French film director, screenwriter, and producer; Besson was born in Paris, to parents who both worked as Club Med scuba-diving instructors. Influenced by this milieu, as a child Besson planned to become a marine biologist. He spent much of his youth travelling with his parents to tourist resorts in Italy, Yugoslavia and Greece.