PART I: PLOT
Sequence 1: Movie opens in an undisclosed ancient Egyptian temple in 1914 where we are introduced to the story of the Fifth Element where if it is combined with the natural four elements of the Earth (fire, water, earth air), it can be used to defeat Evil.
Sequence 2: The Mondoshawan aliens, protectors of the human race, arrive to retrieve the four stone elements and the Fifth Element from the temple. They promise the Priest that they will bring them back to Earth when Evil returns.
Sequence 3: 300 years later, in outer space, Earth is discovered to be in danger by a gigantic ball of fire, referred to as the great Evil. The current Priest, Cornelius, warns the President not to initiate on attack on Evil, but the President orders the military space unit to do so anyway. The attack ends with Evil succumbing and destroying the military space unit.
Sequence 4: Cut to South Brooklyn, New York. We meet Korben Dallas who is a former military space fighter and currently a horrible cab driver who is prone to car accidents. Dallas’ friend, Finger, asks for his help on a mission but he declines it.
Sequence 5: Back to the U.S. spaceship, Cornelius explains to the President that the Mondoshawan aliens have the only weapon to defeat Evil, the Fifth Element a.k.a. the “Supreme Being.” Unfortunately, after the Mondoshawan cross into Earth space territory, they are attacked and killed by Mangalores.
Sequence 6: Out in Nucleoc Lab in NYC, scientists transform the fracture of the Fifth Element, found from the Mangalores’attack, into a female human. Feeling trapped within the unfamiliar lab, she escapes. Running from the police, the Fifth Element falls into Dallas’ cab. She then convinces Dallas to help her hide from the police.
Sequence 7: Dallas brings the Fifth Element to Cornelius. After attempting to kiss her, Dallas finds out that her name is Leeloo. He also realizes that he is infatuated with her.
Sequence 8: Back to the Cornelius’s home, Leeloo updates herself with all of the world’s history. Leeloo tells Cornelius that a case that originally held the stones have been stolen, but that the stones themselves are with someone at Fhloston paradise.
Sequence 9: The Mangalores report to Zorg, who works for Evil, to provide him with the case in exchange for weapons. However, the case is empty. Zorg then sends his minion to go undercover to the Earth’s spaceship where the minion overhears that the stones are with a diva named Plavalaguna who will be performing at Fhloston.
Sequence 10: Dallas’s home; Dallas finds out that he won a trip to Fhloston Paradise, which was orchestrated by the military general who asks Dallas to go on a mission to retrieve the stones. Leeloo later arrives with Cornelius, who steals Dallas’ Fhloston tickets.
Sequence 11: At the airport, Cornelius’s apprentice attempts to go on the Fhloston trip as Dallas but is confronted by Dallas himself. While Dallas and Leeloo are in the middle of boarding, Dallas is pulled away to be featured on a radio show led by the famous entertainer Ruby Rhod. During that time, Cornelius, the Managlores, and Zorg’s minion try to find a way to get on the flight to Fhloston paradise.
Sequence 12: Dallas and Leeloo arrive at Hotel Fholoston. Diva Plavalaguna, who feels Leeloo’s presence, sends a messenger to inform her that she will give her the stones after her performance.
Sequence 13: Dallas enters the performance hall with Ruby as he does his radio show. Soon Diva Plavalaguna begins to perform. Meanwhile, Leeloo fights against the Managlores who were raiding the Diva’s hotel room, looking for the stones that they wanted to keep for themselves.
Sequence 14: Zorg attacks Leeloo to steal a box that he believes contains the stones. The Mangalores, in anger over losing the fight to Leeloo, take over the ship, shooting everyone in their reach, including the Diva. Zorg sets a bomb in the hotel for 20 minutes before escaping. Once he leaves the ship, he checks the case and realizes that it doesn’t have the stones.
Sequence 15: Dallas tries to save the Diva, but she informs him that the stones are within her, and that Dallas must help Leeloo save the world. After taking out the stones from inside her, Dallas gives Ruby the stones to hold so that he can fight off the Mangalores.
Sequence 16: Dallas, Cornelius, and Ruby find Leeloo who is wounded and in pain from her fight with Zorg. The ship’s bomb alert goes off, causing everyone on the ship to evacuate. Dallas, Cornelius, Ruby, and Leeloo escape and are headed off to the Egyptian temple. Zorg returns to the ship to turn off the boob and look for the stones. However, the leader of the Mangalores sets on a 5 second bomb, causing the ship to burst into flames.
Sequence 17: On the way to the Egyptian temple, Leeloo becomes discouraged and confused about saving the human race because of the fact that humans have done such foul and horrible things to each other.
Sequence 18: Dallas, Cornelius, Ruby, and Leeloo arrive at the temple. Dallas places Leeloo in the center of the temple while the others arrange the stones in their respective areas. They soon realize they do not know how to ignite the stones.
Sequence 19: Cornelius’ apprentice breathes on one of the stones that represent the wind element. As a result, a part of the stone to move. Dallas then understands Leeloo’s explanation of how to activate the stones. (“the wind blows, rain falls, fire burns…”)
Sequence 20: Dallas convinces Leeloo to save the world by telling her that he needs and loves her. Dallas and Leeloo are then struck by the combined powers of the stones which destroy Evil. They have saved the world.
PART II: FRAME SELECTION
Frame Time: 1:28:53
Word Count: 381 words
The medium shot above features Diva Plavalaguna, a famous alien opera singer, who is currently performing in front of a majority white audience with her eyes closed, her arms stretched out, and her head titled to the side towards Planet Earth (which is glowing in the background of the ship). The color blue stands out in the shot, not only because of the fact that Plavalaguna’s skin color is blue and she is positioned in the center of the frame, but also because of the strong blue highlights being illuminated by Earth. The Earth also takes about seventy five percent of background space, causing the left side of the performance hall to fade a little into darkness. Due to this, it is hard not to focus on both Plavalaguna and Earth. There is also a strong key light being exhibited on Plavalaguna to the point in which we see lines of white light across both her arms as well as in between her chest, down to her stomach line. Ultimately, this key light works well at matching the intensity of the back light in this frame because the white light shining on Plavalaguna is similar to the white clouds that we see on Earth. The possible aim behind these lighting choices, as well as for Plavalaguna’s frame position in respect to Earth, might be to ironically express Plavalaguna’s likeness to those who live on Earth. The audience understands that Plavalaguna is alien because of her blue skin color and her unusual long, tentacle-like tubes. But through having Plavalaguna “look similar” to Earth as she passionately pours out her heart, the audience may begin to question if Plavalaguna is completely foreign or if there are aspects of her that are can be read as human. This is also shown through the ways in which Plavalaguna evoke and express human emotions such as pain, love, betrayal, and joy. I chose this frame primarily because it was one of the few frames in the movie in which there has been a positive portrayal of aliens (with the contrast being the Mondoshawan aliens and the Mangalores). From this image, I believe that Plavalaguna is valued not only as a performer and entertainer but also as an individual that can form emotional connections with her audience.