Friday 4 March
The Big Blue
9:30pm, SBS
M
France, 1988
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno, Rosanna Arquette
What's it about?
Inspired by Besson's own passion for diving and by real-life deep sea diver Jacques Mayol, The Big Blue recounts the competition and friendship between quiet loner Jacques (Jean-Marc Barr) and larger-than-life Enzo (Jean Reno) first in their youth, and then when they meet again at the World Free Diving Championships in Sicily years later. Set to the melancholic and dreamy score by long-time collaborator Eric Serra, The Big Blue became a cult movie for a whole generation, playing in French theatres for a year after its release.
Source: SBS Movies
Friday 11 March
Leon: The Professional
9:30pm, SBS
MA15+
France, 1994
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman
What's it about?
Leon, Besson's first real international success, was inspired by a character from his previous film Nikita: "The Cleaner", who makes all traces of Nikita's botched mission disappear. Starring regular Jean Reno, it follows a cold-hearted professional hitman Léon in New York, who takes under his wing his 12-year-old neighbour, Mathilda (preteen Natalie Portman), whose family was massacred on the orders of a crazy-eyed corrupt DEA agent played by Gary Oldman.
[link title="Leon: The Professional Review" url="node/5166"]
Jean Reno and Natalie Portman in Leon: The Professional, showing this Saturday on SBS Source: SBS Movies
Friday 18 March
Joan of Arc
MA15+
France, 1999
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Faye Dunaway, John Malkovich, Dustin Hoffman
What's it about?
Former model/singer turned actress (and Besson's then-wife) Milla Jovovitch stars in this star-studded epic biopic of Joan of Arc, a teenage girl from a remote French village who in 1429, stood before her King with a message she claimed came from God; that she would defeat the world's greatest army and liberate her country from its political and religious turmoil. Following her mission to reclaim god's diminished kingdom - through her amazing victories until her violent and untimely death.
Source: SBS Movies
Friday 25 March
The Fifth Element
MA15+
France, 1997
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman
What's it about?
The Fifth Element is Besson's teenage fantasy, which he managed 20 years later to turn into a visually stunning and thoroughly entertaining blockbuster, with impressive special effects, sci-fi comic book-style decors and unforgettable costumes by French fashion "enfant terrible" Jean-Paul Gauthier. It also starred a slew of famous actors, including action star Bruce Willis as a military turned cab driver, Chris Tucker as eccentric radio host Ruby Rhod, and Milla Jovovitch as the otherworldly creature named Leeloo on a mission to save the Earth in the 23rd century.
[link title="My Favourite Film: The Fifth Element" url="node/735"]
Source: SBS Movies
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