Love Thy Extra-Terrestrial Neighbour: Charity and Compassion in Luc Besson’s Space Operas The Fifth Element (1997) and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Sylvie Magerstädt

doi:10.3390/rel9100292

Abstract

The role of romantic love in cinema–and its redeeming aspects–has been extensively explored in film studies and beyond. However, non-romantic aspects of love, especially love for the neighbour, have not yet received as much attention. This is particularly true when looking at mainstream science fiction cinema. This is surprising as the interstellar outlook of many of these films and consequently the interaction with a whole range of new ‘neighbours’ raises an entirely new set of challenges. In this article, the author explores these issues with regard to Luc Besson’s science fiction spectacles The Fifth Element (1997) and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). Both films have divided fans and critics and it is indeed easy to dismiss them as mere spectacle with little depth or message, as many reviewers have done. Yet, as this article demonstrates, beneath their shiny, colourful surface, both films make a distinct contribution to the theme of neighbourly love. What is more, Besson’s films often seem to develop a close link between more common notions of romantic love and agapic forms of love and thus offer a perspective of exploring our relationship to the alien as our neighbour.

Highlights

Science Fiction à la FrançaiseMuch has been said about the redeeming aspects of romantic love in science fiction cinema.As emblematised, for example, in Neo’s resurrection by a kiss from his beloved Trinity in The Matrix or Caster’s sacrificial death at the end of Transcendence (2014), science fiction often posits love as the ultimate saving grace of humanity against the threat of both alien invasion and technological apocalypse
It is not surprising that French director Luc Besson made love a central theme in his science fiction blockbusters The Fifth Element (1997) and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Nathan Rabin (2018) in The Guardian is more favourable, suggesting that when ‘Besson is working on a big canvas, as with 1997’s The Fifth Element, a film with the straight-faced audacity to posit that love truly is the fifth element, it becomes impossible to deny his auteur status.’

Summary

Introduction–Science Fiction à la Française

Much has been said about the redeeming aspects of romantic love in science fiction cinema. It is not surprising that French director Luc Besson made love a central theme in his science fiction blockbusters The Fifth Element (1997) and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017). The notion of Besson as an auteur, though controversial with regard to the films under discussion, is one of the reasons for choosing these particular films for my analysis Despite their blockbuster style action and visuals, they are quite distinct from more mainstream Hollywood science fiction films. Before analysing Besson’s films in more depth, let us first look briefly at the key aspects of agapic love and the ways in which extra-terrestrial beings have been portrayed in cinema This will provide the basis for exploring the biblical question ‘Who is my neighbour?’ in Besson’s colourful universe, where the contact with other planets and their inhabitants is the norm rather than the exception

It Is All about Love

The Alien and I–Extra-Terrestrial Neighbours in Science Fiction Cinema

Conclusion-Neighbour love in Luc Besson’s science fiction