Among foreign directors, everyone decides who is the most awesome.

Luc Besson

Luc Besson was born in Paris, France on March 18, 1959. His childhood ideal was to be a diver and navigator. But a diving accident when he was 17 years old shattered his childhood dream. Besson quickly adjusted his life goals. Determined to be a film producer, he came to Los Angeles in the United States when he was 19 years old and took a three-month film production course. And started shooting some experimental short films. In 1983, Besson's film debut "The Last Battle" came out. This multi-award-winning black-and-white, wide-screen silent science fiction film was reportedly made by the 23-year-old with 3 francs and six sous. Luc Besson seems to have proved to the world that even if you don't have a professional film education and can't find investment in France, you can still make unique films. Because of this, Besson was once regarded as a pioneer among young French directors, whether he liked this title or not. "Metro" and "Blue Sea" earned Luc Besson national and international fame. Although the French César Awards that year were a bit stingy and only awarded the "Best Recording" and "Best Music" awards to "Blue Sea and Blue Sky". However, Besson publicly stated that this film is the most proud work of his directing career. After all, this work is devoted to Besson's passion and dreams as a boy. Besson can finally use his camera to capture the light, shadow and life of the ocean he saw in his childhood. The diver Jack in the film finally died in the sea. To be more precise, that was his real life. Isn't Jack the embodiment of Besson's ideal?

In France in the 1980s, there was the so-called BBC young director theory, which specifically refers to the three emerging directors Beinex, Besson and Carax. Although they have many similarities with They are different, but their biggest similarity is their inexplicable preference for blue. Starting from Beneix's "Diva" in 1980, blue has been full of silver, and Caracas filmed "The Diva"; and Besson's "Blue Sea and Blue Sky" is full of silver from the title to the content. All blue. The yearning and romantic feelings for the sea that Besson painstakingly created are naturally unparalleled. His wonderful underwater photography may have benefited the directors of "The Piano Lesson" and "Titanic" a lot.

"Nikita" and "Leon" are Luc Besson's successful transition from art films to commercial films. "Tomb Tower" tells the story of how a female member of a violent gang was transformed into a national professional agent killer. Her identity as an agent killer and the stirring of love and humanity deep in her heart constitute the uniqueness of this film, and "Killer Leon" tells the story of a killer who desires to do good and a girl who desires revenge and does evil. This French commercial film with an artistic temperament is still an example for film students around the world to follow. There are many details in it, such as the green plant next to Leon and "Remember never to kill women and children." The wonderful dialogues are unforgettable. That green plant alone is not something a Hollywood screenwriter would have imagined. "Leon" won the César Award for Best Picture that year, and Besson won the Best Director Award. Since the 1990s, the prosperity of French art films has pushed French commercial films into an embarrassing situation. It takes a lot of courage to make art films outside France, because you have to face severe survival problems. It's different in France. If a film artist wants to make a commercial film that caters to the public's taste, it seems that he needs more courage. Luc Besson is such an "out of time" director.

In the mid-1980s, after Besson filmed art films such as "Metro" and "Le La Mer", he was hailed by French critics as a promising young director; in the 1990s, after Besson filmed "The Killer" After "Leon" and "The Fifth Element", he was despised by French film theory circles. "The Fifth Element" made a global revenue of 270 million US dollars in 1997, ranking third in the world of movies that year. No matter how the critics commented on this movie, it showed us the future in the eyes of a French director. The world, in the narrative of computer high technology and time and space, brings us a hint of historical and humanistic connotation that is different from Hollywood blockbusters.

Luc Besson is the most high-profile and controversial director in contemporary French film circles. Although the commercial success of "The Fifth Element" doubled the turnover of Gaumont, France's largest film company, Besson is often said to be a negative example of surrendering to Hollywood movies in China. For this reason, the depressed Besson often had to float across the sea to Hollywood to find a soulmate. The film "The Fifth Element" combines science fiction, thrills and fighting. It is the first English-language film in European history with a cost of nearly US$100 million. It shows the determination and courage of French filmmakers to revive the domestic and European film industries. Lai won the Technical Award at the 1997 Cannes International Film Festival. The actual content of the story was originally conceived by Luc Besson when he was 16 years old. At that time, Lucas's "Star Wars" had just come out. Obviously Besson's imagination and conception were in line with Still very immature in comparison.

Twenty years later, Besson still remembers the idea of ??his boyhood. After 20 years of planning. The script has the basic elements of Besson's first five feature films.

Although some critics thought that "The Fifth Element" seemed more like a French futuristic farce and thought it was just a good visual effect, it was screened as the opening film at the opening ceremony of the 50th Channes Film Festival in 1997. At that time, this science fiction film that showed the future of mankind in the 23rd century still caused a sensation. In the film, the hero played by Bruce Willis flies over New York City in his gravity-defying yellow taxi, which is comparable to Lucas's interstellar spaceship. Besson, who grew up watching "Star Wars", finally stood with Lucas 20 years later.

As early as "Blue Sea and Blue Sky", Luc Besson showed his fascination and pursuit of big productions and grand scenes. Beginning with "The Fifth Element" and "Joan of Arc", Besson has increasingly strayed away from the film formats he used to belong to, and has set his sights on the international market, not only playing tricks in terms of genres, but also in terms of production costs. Continuously escalating, this may be the main reason why Besson has been criticized in his own country. At this time, Hollywood also began to recruit talents from all over the world, and its first choices were John Woo and Luc Besson. Besson's French romantic style and John Woo's oriental heroic complex have been favored and imitated by Hollywood. Besson finally proved with "The Fifth Element" and "Joan of Arc" that entertainment blockbusters are not the exclusive domain of Hollywood. The French can not only produce low-cost, small-production art films, but also commercial blockbusters that are globally profitable. A Frenchman can "compete with them" on American soil. Today Besson seems to have become a successful role model. We can not hesitate to regard him as a great commercial film director of the same type as Spielberg, but we don't know Besson has paid a huge price to be able to reach this point.

As the first high-cost European film, "The Fifth Element" was not successful at the box office when it was released in theaters in the summer of 1997. People are optimistic. French audiences who are accustomed to watching art films and American audiences who are influenced by Hollywood commercial blockbusters are not very interested in it. The reaction of film critics is also to criticize and praise the film. The most fatal thing about the film is that it has a high cost of 100 million. The huge cost of US dollars. But a miracle happened. "The Fifth Element" actually overcome its inherent shortcomings and ominous omens, and was widely screened in several major Western countries in less than a month. The film made a lot of money. However, critics still treat Besson and this film in a low-key manner.

Luc Besson will not waver in his pursuit and belief because of these comments. He wants to make a film that is both French and American. The film was well-received. His "Joan of Arc" chose an appropriate blend of history and reality, nationality and internationality. After the filming, Joan of Arc was a goddess in the eyes of the French. She achieved success with her own life. An immortal legend. There are countless works about Joan of Arc, but only three films are worthy of leaving a mark in film history. They are: Director Dreyer's film brought a wonderful end to the silent film era. "The Passion of Joan of Arc"; "The Passion of Joan of Arc" directed by Bresson, which is extremely faithful to the religious plot and original trial materials: Luc Besson's epic blockbuster "The Passion of Joan of Arc" which took three years to shoot "Joan of Arc".

Bresson's "Joan of Arc's Creation" only intercepts a historical fact of Joan of Arc's trial and going to the stake, showing the heroine's religious beliefs and the real moment of history. . And Luc Besson's "Joan of Arc" shows the magnificent Hundred Years' War between England and France and Joan's romantic feelings as a girl and a French soldier. Like Bresson, Luc Besson also paid attention to the Chinese film industry. A lonely explorer, perhaps this is the only similarity between these two French directors from different eras. Perhaps it is this only similarity that makes them both prefer Joan of Arc as a historical figure, but their interpretation of historical figures is the same. The method is different. In Luc Besson's director's notes, we see Besson's evaluation of Joan of Arc: Joan of Arc is our ancestor, and what she captured between her faith and innocence is also in her. The era was lost, just like what we lost in our own era." Besson expressed his unique thinking about this period of history in this film: "Does human thought have to follow such a tortuous path to discover Is there goodness hidden behind evil? ”

Luc Besson is a lonely explorer in the film industry. Even in his commercial blockbusters, we can feel his interest in history and life. The ultimate understanding touched his mental journey as a French soldier. Whether it is Jack in "Blue Sea and Blue Sky", the killer in "Leon", or Joan of Arc in "Joan of Arc", we will all feel: This is Luc Besson.

Director's works

Arthur (2006)

Angel-A (2005)

Joan of Arc Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, The (1999)

The Fifth Element (1997)

This killer is not too cold Leon (1994)

Atlantis (1991)

Nikita (1990)

Grand bleu, Le (1988)

Subway (1985)

Dernier combat, Le (1983)

Screenwriting works

Arthur (2006)

Angel A Angel-A (2005)

The Transporter 2 (2005)

Danny the Dog (2005)

Bandidas ( 2005)

Banlieue 13 (2004)

Taxi (2004)

Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse (2004)

Tulip Fragrance fnfan la tulipe (2003)

Michel Vaillant (2003)

Taxi 3 (2003) )

The Transporter (2002)

Kiss of the Dragon (2001)

Corporate Warrior Yamakasi - Les samoura? des temps modernes (2001)

Wasabi (2001)

Dancer, The (2000)

Taxi 2 (2000)

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Joan of Arc Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, The (1999)

Taxi (1998)

The Fifth Element ( 1997)

This killer is not too cold Leon (1994)

Point of No Return (1993)

Nikita (1990) < /p>

Grand bleu, Le (1988)

Subway (1985)

Dernier combat, Le (1983)