Fifth element opera9/22/2023 ![]() When the time of the validation came I was impressed,I was facing Maria Callas’ and the Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan’s agent and a magnificent opera singer. ![]() When I explained them what I was going to do they didn’t quite understand but they decided to trust me. “She sang 85% of what I thought was technically impossible” It might seem obvious nowadays but at the time many wondered how I did it. I then sampled and edited her voice a bit. She sang 85% of what I thought was technically impossible. We sat down and she started to sing, I was overwhelmed. I was astonished, the beauty of her tone of voice and the perfection of her singing gave me shivers down the spine. In the studio before even taking her coat off she started humming from the music sheet. I had never worked with an opera singer before, I didn’t quite realize the technical ability they had, I thought that only 60% of the song was actually possible to sing. So I purposely wrote un-singable things, some too low, some too high, sentences that were too fast, I would then arrange it with the sampler. For the scene to work, we needed her to sound like an alien, thereforee we had to create notes that no human could sing. Today she is in the world’s top ten sopranos. When the scene is shot she is a young talented soprano, yet her agent was Maria Callas‘ one too, showing, if need to be, that she was already a promising artist. While the Mad scene is far from the most traditional of operatic moments, it still retains the double aria structure of “slow” and “fast.” So too does Besson in this choice.Ĭheck it out to get an idea of how Besson works this scene, and by extension, his films as a whole.In that scene Maïwenn plays the diva but the voice is not hers, it is the one of a true opera singer, the Albanian Inva Mula. And yet, it keeps in line with the operatic structure of a bel canto opera, albeit with a pop twist. With its hyperactive coloratura leaps and almost impossible vocal lines, it is a stark contrast to Donizetti’s perfectly written lyrical style. And just when you are lulled into the world of opera, Diva Plavalaguna pulls out a dance number (called “The Diva Dance” in the soundtrack) by Éric Serra. We get everything you might expect from Lucia in this segment. In a four-plus minute single take, we see the soprano take on the beginning of the famous mad scene from “Lucia di Lammermoor.” It’s actually a rather famous story as Besson reportedly wanted to use the voice of Maria Callas for this segment, but due to sound issues, he opted for Inva Mula, who dubbed the singing section of it. And sure enough, when we first meet her, that is exactly what we get. The constant mentions of the opera singer soprano have us creating ideas that she might just be a relic of history in a rather bizarre world we’ve experienced. We’ve heard about her throughout the film as the key to having the element stones everyone is after. ![]() That is essentially what he does almost halfway through “The Fifth Element” when he finally introduces Diva Plavalaguna. And yet, the director strikes a balance with these two opposing sentiments so that we never doubt his presence as a potent antagonist the hero Leon. In fact, you start to wonder just how far Besson might push that comic aspect at times. Meanwhile, Norman is a murderous villain who still gives us a few laughs due to his pathetic nature. Besson pushes the subject a bit to shock the audience, but never far enough that we stop believing the character altogether. We sympathize with Mathilda’s plight and yet she scares us out a bit with her subdued infatuation with Leon. ![]() One of my favorite examples has to be in “Leon the Professional” where its characters, particularly the precocious 12-year-old Mathilda Lando and Norman Stansfield, are both familiar and off-putting at the same time. It’s an odd balance that he strikes so beautifully in all his work. We always feel that his most outrageous moments are not so outlandish. And yet we always feel that he’s retaining a certain level of conservative cinematic structure in his movies. Just when you think you might have his intentions pinned down because he’s given you something rather traditional, he throws a curveball that turns expectations on their head. The director, whether working on an animated film, a suspense thriller, or a sci-fi classic, always manages to keep the viewer shocked and comfortable at the same time. Luc Besson’s films are strange and yet familiar. This week’s installment features Luc Besson’s “ The Fifth Element.” We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. “Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |