Released in 1997, “The Fifth Element” by Luc Besson has become one of the classics of French science fiction and a huge success abroad.
The fifth element is a science fiction film French by Luc Besson, composed of a mainly American cast (Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary OldmanIan Holm…). Released in cinemas on May 7, 1997, it became a big success for a French film abroad ($263 million worldwide, 7.7 million admissions in France) and a classic of the genre which allowed him to win three Césars. Despite this popular success, one of its actors “can’t stand” the film.
This is what Gary Oldman declared in the columns of Playboy in 2014. The actor who plays the big bad of Fifth elementJean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg, will not further explain the reasons for his disdain for the feature film. In another interview for Yahoo in 2016, when the journalist explained to him that The Fifth Element has become a cult film, the actor added: “I know! We live in a crazy world…”
However, he explained to Yahoo that he had accepted the role of the villain of Fifth element only to return the favor Luc Bessonwho helped him finance his feature film, Do not swallow : “I was directing a film, and Luc Besson was one of the producers and helped me find the financing [….] I didn’t read the script, it was a favor.” Since then, the British actor who had already played in Léon has no longer played under the direction of the French director. This is not the first time Gary Oldman expresses reservations about a film in which he starred. Usually, it is his own performance that the actor soars, as for. Sid & Nancy Or Ludwig van B.
No offense to Gary Oldman, The Fifth Element remains one of the big successes of a French film abroad. Luc Besson in fact ensured that the film was recognized as having French nationality, despite the fact that the majority of the actors were American. Thus, it is French people who have been appointed to head key technical positions, such as editing, photography, music, etc.
Synopsis – Egypt, 1914. As the First World War prepares, a group of benevolent extraterrestrials, the Mondo-Shawans, arrive on earth to recover four stones symbolizing the four elements. They then promise to bring back the stones in 300 years, when evil returns to the planet. Three centuries later, as the Mondo-Shawans return to Earth with the stones, their ship is shot down and the stones are lost. However, from a hand recovered from the wreckage of the crash, scientists manage to reconstruct Leeloo, a female entity representing the fifth element. Frightened, Leeloo runs away and accidentally falls into Korben Dallas’ taxi…