6 From rags to riches
-
Susan Hayward
Abstract
Le Dernier combat is 'an imaginary excursion', says Luc Besson. He came to the idea of making this film when he was wandering around in the boulevard Barbes in Paris, and discovered an old film theatre all gutted out, but with cinema seats still hanging off the wall. In Le Cinquieme element, Besson brings together Jean-Paul Gaultier's intellectually transgressive costume design, Moebius-inspired surrealist set designs, and Cinemascope, and digital technology for the computer-generated images of twenty-third-century New York. The challenges around sexuality and gender performativity that Le Cinquieme element puts on display mark the film as contestatory of dominant ideology to a degree, and demarcate it strongly from the earlier Bessonian sci-fi prototype Le Dernier combat. Le Dernier combat is radical through its means of production and its ecological and anti-capitalist positioning.
Abstract
Le Dernier combat is 'an imaginary excursion', says Luc Besson. He came to the idea of making this film when he was wandering around in the boulevard Barbes in Paris, and discovered an old film theatre all gutted out, but with cinema seats still hanging off the wall. In Le Cinquieme element, Besson brings together Jean-Paul Gaultier's intellectually transgressive costume design, Moebius-inspired surrealist set designs, and Cinemascope, and digital technology for the computer-generated images of twenty-third-century New York. The challenges around sexuality and gender performativity that Le Cinquieme element puts on display mark the film as contestatory of dominant ideology to a degree, and demarcate it strongly from the earlier Bessonian sci-fi prototype Le Dernier combat. Le Dernier combat is radical through its means of production and its ecological and anti-capitalist positioning.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of tables and figures vii
- List of contributors viii
- Preface x
- Introduction 1
- 1 Three French neo-baroque directors 11
- 2 Du côté d’Europa, via Asia 23
- 3 Musical narration in the films of Luc Besson 43
- 4 Hearing Besson 57
- 5 Of suits and men in the films of Luc Besson 75
- 6 From rags to riches 91
- 7 The sinking of the self 109
- 8 Imprisoned freedoms 121
- 9 Nikita 135
- 10 Léon and the cloacal labyrinth 147
- 11 Jeanne d’Arc 161
- 12 An unpublished interview with Luc Besson 175
- Filmography 179
- Select bibliography 189
- Index of proper names and film titles 193
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of tables and figures vii
- List of contributors viii
- Preface x
- Introduction 1
- 1 Three French neo-baroque directors 11
- 2 Du côté d’Europa, via Asia 23
- 3 Musical narration in the films of Luc Besson 43
- 4 Hearing Besson 57
- 5 Of suits and men in the films of Luc Besson 75
- 6 From rags to riches 91
- 7 The sinking of the self 109
- 8 Imprisoned freedoms 121
- 9 Nikita 135
- 10 Léon and the cloacal labyrinth 147
- 11 Jeanne d’Arc 161
- 12 An unpublished interview with Luc Besson 175
- Filmography 179
- Select bibliography 189
- Index of proper names and film titles 193
