By subverting almost every known sci-fi cliché and introducing a sense of fun into the genre, Besson created a cult classic that’s often imitated much referenced.Īn exercise in creativity, The Fifth Element refuses to acquiesce to visual tropes.
The Fifth Element was released in 1997, almost 15 years after Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, and whilst there was contention about Besson’s inspiration (French cartoonist Moebius unsuccessfully sued Besson for stealing ideas from one his fantasy comics) it’s a film that had absorbed the director since he was a teenager. That said, if you’re willing to overlook the clunky plot and think of it as a visual spectacle, you won’t be disappointed.Ĭomparisons with Blade Runner are not unfounded, but only in the sense that both have a distinctive look, and draw inspiration from similar sources: namely Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. As Roger Ebert rightly observes, The Fifth Element feels long at 127 minutes: the director obviously resisted temptations to cut his set pieces. The presence of a host of Hollywood stars – including Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman – obviously helped Besson secure a budget of more than $90million and it shows in the visuals. Early on, it’s obvious that the film dispenses with plot to focus on outlandish visuals that take the audience on a wild ride through time and space with each conceit more fantastic than the last. That’s to say, you either like it or you don’t, it’s not a film that encourages sit-on-the-fence neutrality. The Fifth Element, Luc Besson’s futurist sci-fi offering, is Marmite.
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