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Fifth Element Part 5

Added 2024-04-24 01:20:14 +0000 UTC

A thread I've been playing at for a while now is the notion of what happens to Corbin Dallas if he doesn't meet Leeloo. Scott assumed that since we didn't meet him, he would just be out of the movie, but the fact is that he's always going to be important to the story since he's the guy the military chooses to go on the mission. As long as he says yes to the call of adventure, he's in the movie.

Corbin is a cynical, broken man, who in the film is moved to accept the call because of his blossoming love for Leeloo. I thought it would be a very acceptable choice for Scott to say that without that motivation, Corbin would simply refuse to go, as he seems about to do in the film. Instead, Scott's Corbin forced a bribe out of the general, and so he sets out on his adventure motivated by greed.

The Fifth Element is a film about how our actions define us, taken to a literal sense. Leeloo is a machine made for battle, and she is not able to vanquish evil, until she is moved by love to action. The film does not explore the notion of what other things Leeloo could be moved by, and what kind of a weapon she would become in that case. For me, that was always the central mechanic of this film. But it's not only true for Leeloo, Corbin is also a machine made for battle, who is incapable of action without being moved by love.

If Corbin goes on his mission and crosses paths with our version of Leeloo, they will be at odds with each other: Corbin's mission is to return the stones to the military, not to Leeloo and her party. I find it interesting that Scott chose money as the motivator, as this Corbin's actions are explicitly not driven by love, but by greed.

What happens when this Corbin meets Leeloo? I think Scott may have been building the villain of this film without even intending it.