The “terrifying” movie that became Joseph Quinn’s first obsession: “It hits a bullseye”
Sometimes, the films we watch as kids are the ones that stay with us the longest, lingering on as we recall fond memories of them even as adults, despite not being able to discern if they are actually good or we love them for purely nostalgic reasons (which is perhaps what makes it good).
But for those with particularly seasoned cinematic taste, they are able to make these distinctions as children, with some actors describing their intense and early love for arthouse classics.
Whether it be Leonardo DiCaprio or Emma Stone, there are many movie stars who have always been head-over-heels for the medium, describing early memories of sitting in awe as they stare at the big screen or queuing outside theatres for hours on end. For Joseph Quinn, this was certainly the case, with visceral feelings towards a ‘90’s classic directed by Luc Besson.
Surprisingly enough, Quinn isn’t the first person to describe his love for The Fifth Element, a movie that Margot Robbie has also described as one of her favourites after becoming enamoured by Milla Jovovich’s character. Set in the year 2257, the film follows a taxi driver who is unintentionally given the task of saving a young girl who is the key to saving humankind as a whole.
It’s one of those films you feel thankful was ever made, something that would feel impossible in today’s filmmaking climate given the lavish production design and sets, with films of this genre now opting for green screens and sound stages.
When discussing the film, Quinn highlighted just how bonkers the film is in all that it managed to achieve, saying, “I remember watching The Fifth Element and thinking this is so hilarious and transporting and brave and it was one of those perfect collaborations from so many HOD’s like the Jean-Paul Gautier costume design, the performances, like Chris Tucker just turns up like a freight train in that film. And Ian Holmes, who’s just one of my favourite actors.
“Just watching all of this kind of come together and it be entertaining but also terrifying and captivating was like, wow. And then you’ve just got Bruce Willis in his best era where he’s just an irrefutable movie. I remember just kind of when films tap into something where it hits a bullseye in a way that’s just so sweet. I was like, ‘how did they do that?’”
Jean-Paul Gautier was notorious for his work on some of the most daring film productions of the ‘90’s, also working with Peter Greenaway on his lavish yet disgustingly grotesque film The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover. It’s Besson at his best and one of the most immersive sci-fi films from the decade, with a strangely dystopian and jarring tone that keeps you guessing throughout the length of its run time.
Given Quinn’s recent role in the Fantastic Four reboot, his love for this movie makes more sense, with both containing fantastical and otherworldly elements that heighten our imaginations and play on the nostalgic filmmaking style we loved as kids. It might be a different vein of cinema, but it is certainly seeing a comeback in its own way, and something that Quinn is surely glad to be a part of.
