ANGEL-A

 

My official DVD of Angel-A (© Luc Besson/EuropaCorp – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

After watching, and greatly enjoying, on 20 August 2023 the Luc Besson-directed sci fi movie The Fifth Element (which I have reviewed here), why not watch another Luc Besson-directed movie on the following night, I thought to myself – so I did. This time, on 21 August 2023, it was his French-language romantic fantasy film Angel-A, helpfully provided with English subtitles on my DVD of it.

Not only directed but also produced and written by Luc Besson, and released by EuropaCorp in 2005, Angel-A is set in Paris, and stars Jamel Debbouze as André, a small-time and small-in-stature but hugely-unsuccessful scam artist and general loser all round. Consequently, he now finds himself in serious hock to various big-time Parisian criminals, all of whom are demanding that he pay them back the considerable debts that he has accrued, and quickly, as in 24 hours' time, or he will be dealt with, permanently.

With absolutely no way of being able to do so, André decides to kill himself by jumping off a bridge into the Seine, only to be beaten to it by a very tall and also very beautiful young blonde woman (Rie Rasmussen). Forgetting his own woes, André jumps into the river after this mysterious maiden and rescues her, as a result of which she promises to stay by him and help him deal with all of his troubles.

She says that her name is Angela, and, true to her word, she does indeed stay – and solve André's problems too, albeit via some highly unconventional, and sometimes totally inexplicable, means.

However, inexplicable ultimately becomes explicable, when Angela finally confesses to André that she is actually an angel – i.e. not so much Angela as Angel-A – sent down from Heaven to sort out the mess that his life has become, and reveal to him the decent, kind-hearted, loving man that has become trapped deep inside him by all of his lies, machinations, and self-hatred.

Like I say, this is a romantic fantasy, so inevitably André falls in love with his divine rescuer whom he originally rescued. But how can a mortal and an angel hope to have any kind of lasting relationship, especially when as soon as her task to redeem André is accomplished, Angela's huge but hitherto-hidden swan-like wings materialise, ready to transport her back to Heaven? (Her winged flight, incidentally, is a truly beautiful, quite literally uplifting sight to behold.)

Perhaps it's time for the angel who has taught André the meaning and reality of love to follow her own teachings?

Worth noting, incidentally – though the chances are that you won't, unless you specifically take note after having read this here: at the age of only 14, Debbouze was struck by a passing train travelling at 150 km/hr, the force of the impact causing him to lose the use of his right arm permanently. Yet you would never realise this while watching Angel-A, thanks to some deft camera work and the ostensibly casual way in which Debbouze always keeps his disabled right hand tucked inside his right-side trouser pocket. Moreover, this subtle but significant action has become his trademark throughout his movie and TV serial appearances.

Also worth noting is that Angel-A is Besson's tenth movie, and he had long claimed that he would only make ten. Happily, however, he did not keep to this, and has gone on to make several more.

I should point out that this movie includes a few fairly raunchy scenes and dialogue, hence the 15 rating for my DVD. Nevertheless, shot very atmospherically in b/w (its exquisite cinematography is by Thierry Arbogast), with wonderful background music (by Norwegian singer-songwriter Anja Gabarek), and delightful, but also often extremely potent, emotional turns from both of its leading performers, Angel-A thoroughly entranced me throughout, one of the most moving, funny, and truly captivating films that I've seen in a long time. In short, I absolutely loved every second of its relatively brief 88-minute running time, and I recommend it unreservedly!

So if you'd like to wing your way through an official trailer for Angel-A, be sure to click here to watch one on YouTube.

Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

THE FIFTH ELEMENT

Publicity poster for The Fifth Element (© Luc Besson/Gaumont/Gaumont Buena Vista International – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

My movie watch on 20 August 2023 was, at long last, the 1990s English-language but French-made sci fi classic The Fifth Element (I'd previously viewed on many occasions the famous scene from it featuring a blue opera-singing alien diva – more about which later – but never the full movie before).

Directed, conceived, and co-written by legendary French director Luc Besson, with costume designs by none other than Jean-Paul Gaultier, and released in 1997 by Gaumont Buena Vista International, The Fifth Element is set mostly in the 23rd Century. It stars Bruce Willis as Korben Dallas, formerly a SOF major but now a laconic Humphrey Bogart-like flying taxi-cab driver,, into whose airborne cab falls a strange young woman named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich).

Leeloo turns out to be the titular fifth element, aka the Supreme Being, who, when in the presence of four activated mystical stones representing the four classical elements of fire, air, earth, and water, can emit divine light that will destroy an immense ball of fire constituting ultimate evil that is heading towards Earth in order to annihilate every living organism on the planet.

Assisting this sinister sphere is an Earth industrialist named Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman in best OTT comic-book villain mode), who engages the assistance of a group of decidedly ugly, vicious aliens named Mangalores to help him locate these stones. But also seeking them are Korben and Leeloo, assisted by venerable priest Vito Cornelius (Ian Holm), who has acquired some ancient, arcane knowledge concerning the crucial significance of the five elements in saving Earth.

But where are these vital stones hidden? Not where I was expecting them to be, that's for sure! Speaking of which: don't miss – not that anyone possibly could – the outrageous interstellar TV compère Ruby Rhod (played gloriously by Chris Tucker in a very restrained, understated manner – NOT!!!), who propels high camp to a whole new dimension, in every sense!

Based upon what was presented in various trailers for it that I'd watched in the past, I'd anticipated that this movie would be very serious, heavy-going viewing (which is probably why I never got around to viewing it in its entirety before). So I was pleasantly surprised by its tongue-in-cheek, relatively light-hearted delivery, with some great sight gags and plenty of pithy one-liners (not to mention the phenomenal extravaganza that is the afore-mentioned Ruby Rhod!), as well as some awesome action scenes – and, above all, that fantastically exotic alien diva, Plavalaguna (played by French actress Maiwenn Le Besco) with her incredible voice. Click here to view, and listen to, the full version of Diva Plavalaguna's sublime vocal performance of her truly sensational song, 'Diva Dance' – a stupendous fusion of soaring operatic arpeggios and insistent electronic backbeats).

 

Diva Plavalaguna, played by Maiwenn Le Besco (© Luc Besson/Gaumont/Gaumont Buena Vista International – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Although Diva Plavalaguna is played by Maiwenn (at that time in a civil relationship with director Besson), her extraordinary vocals are supplied in part by Albanian opera singer Inva Mula (and lip-synched by Maiwenn), because the operatic portion of 'Diva Dance' is in fact the aria 'Il Dolce Suono' from Italian classical composer Gaetano Donizetti's famous opera Lucia de Lammermoor, written by him in 1835. However, the reason why I note that Diva Plavalaguna's vocals are supplied in part by Mula is that this alien's full singing range transcends Mula's and, indeed, every other human's – or so everyone believed back then.

For it had been created by incorporating into Mula's performance some additional, synthetic vocals that had been generated using a computer. Amazingly, however, in subsequent years a number of real-life female performers have successfully emulated Diva Plavalaguna's supposedly unattainable vocals when performing 'Diva Dance' – and so too, astonishingly, has at least one male singer, the incredible Dimash Kudaibergen (click here for a stupendous performance of 'Diva Dance' by him in 2017).

During its long production history, The Fifth Element saw some interesting star names considered at one time or another for various of the main roles. Of particular note is that the flamboyant singer Prince was the original first choice for the role of the unequivocally unconventional Ruby Rhod, but he was unable to accept due to schedule clashes (Michael Jackson was also considered at one point, as was Jamie Foxx). Moreover, Mel Gibson and Jean Reno were both considered for Korben, plus Julia Roberts for Leeloo, before the roles went to Willis and Jovovich respectively.

The Fifth Element is a highly entertaining, fast-paced, visually sumptuous space-themed adventure of the traditional Boy's Own variety –  or, to put it another way, if Indiana Jones had ever ventured forth into the vastness of Outer Space instead of penetrating the archaeological inner spaces of terrestrial ancient history, this movie might well have been the result!

So if you'd like to take a brief, virtual flying taxi ride through the fast, furious, and fantastical world of The Fifth Element and sample for yourself just a smidgen of the drama and delights that it has to offer, be sure to click here to view an official trailer for it on YouTube.

Finally: to view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

My Ultimate Edition DVD of The Fifth Element (© Luc Besson/Gaumont/Gaumont Buena Vista International – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)