While watching The Fifth Element, focus broadly on the mise-en-scene (m-e-s) and how the filmmakers use elements of the m-e-s to construct their vision of the future.
- What elements of the m-e-s would you point to as being "futuristic"? If so, what are they? Where in the film do you notice these elements?
- Can you find recurring elements? Particular uses of light, or arrangements of people or objects, for example?
- Are there individual shots or scenes that seem to distill or concentrate how the future looks in the film? What are the primary elements of the m-e-s that signify the filmmakers' ideas?
- Are there aspects of the m-e-s that seem more like design details than ones that are material within the narrative? On the other side, are there aspects that seem crucial to the narrative?
- What does The Fifth Element borrow from Metropolis? What does the film have in common, visually, with the other films we have watched in this section of the term?