
She wore a bright-orange wig and an iconic outfit consisting entirely of scant white bandages, and spoke in an alien language Besson invented for the film.

Jovovich, who’d appeared in “Return to the Blue Lagoon” when she was 15, broke through as a star in the role of Leeloo. We got Bruce in his prime - he was very charismatic.” Milla Jovovich Milla Jovovich in a still from the film. I would say, and I mean this as a compliment, Bruce certainly knew who Bruce was. But, said Amicarella, “what I saw was a great respect between Bruce and Luc. Willis, who has recently gone public with a diagnosis of aphasia, came with a reputation for being difficult on sets. I had an old recording of Tibetan monks chanting I slowed that recording down, to make it unrecognizable.” Bruce Willis Bruce Willis and director Luc Besson at the 50th Cannes Film Festival in 1997. “I needed to create the sound of a slow-moving spaceship, and I didn’t want it to sound like a rocket or a jet. “You have this languid shot of a spaceship traveling across the screen, reminiscent of the opening scene of ‘Star Wars,’ ” Mangini said. I said, ‘To work with Luc? Absolutely.’ “ The opening shot “I read it and said, ‘OK, I don’t really get it.’ But this is the guy who had done ‘La Femme Nikita’ and ‘The Professional,’ major landmark films. “I was brought in to read the script in front of Besson’s secretary,” Amicarella recalled. The script Luc Besson in front of a poster for “The Fifth Element” in 1997. “The bottom line is, it’s really unique and in today’s world, it holds up.”īelow, a look at some of the film’s high points (and occasional mishaps). You’ve got these wacky unforgettable characters, and it’s a little baffling at times,” he said. “It’s funny, it’s imaginative, it’s got romance and action, it’s kind of dazzling. Twenty-five years on, Amicarella, who most recently worked on Roland Emmerich’s “Moonfall,” is still impressed with Besson’s work. “He hired the most creative people in every department, and just told them to do what they do, without any micromanagement. “Luc Besson did everything I thought a great artist should do,” sound designer Mark Mangini, who worked on the film (and just won an Oscar for “Dune”), told The Post.
LEELOO FIFTH ELEMENT MILA MOVIE
The sprawling action movie was stuffed with color, music and eccentric humor it made a star of Chris Tucker, who played flamboyant TV personality Ruby Rhod, and enlisted comic-book artists to render a future New York City and designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to engineer cutting-edge costumes.

LEELOO FIFTH ELEMENT MILA DRIVER
Set in 2263, it sees ex-military cab driver Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) team up with a mysterious orange-haired woman named Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) to save the planet from a malevolent alien force, which is being helped by ruthless businessman Zorg (Gary Oldman).

“And,” he said, “you had ‘The Fifth Element.’ “Īmicarella was an associate producer on French auteur Luc Besson’s futuristic sci-fi head trip. Confidential’ and ‘Donnie Brasco,’ ‘Good Will Hunting’ and ‘Titanic,’ and ‘As Good as It Gets,’ ” producer John Amicarella told The Post. The year 1997 was a banner one for movies in every genre. ‘Die Hard’ crew feared Bruce Willis was dead after filming his first big sceneīruce Willis’ daughter shares touching Father’s Day photo: ‘So pure and beautiful’īruce Willis dementia update: ‘He still knows who I am,’ Tallulah saysĪrnold Schwarzenegger gives touching tribute to fellow action star Bruce Willis
