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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
At last, a 'making of' book with some substance...., 19 Dec 1998
By A Customer
If you have read any 'the making of' books in the past you will probably have been disappointed like I have. Books about big budget Hollywood blockbusters largely contain facts about the plot of the film or information on actors with a few pretty pictures of the special effects; the story of The Fifth Element is quite different.Unlike most books on big budget films this one is actually written by the director Luc Besson, and not by marketing men who bring out the books purely to drum up the hype surrounding the film. Luc Besson has written books with the same format for all of his features, these include 'The Big Blue', 'Nikita', and 'Leon (The Professional)'. The book is 242 pages long, in paperback and contains the following sections: - The story of the writing and pre production - A comprehensive diary by Luc Besson through the six month shooting stage - Credits and filmographies - Glossary of Leeloo's language - Posters and release details - Interviews with Jean-Paul Gaultier (costumes), Dan Weil (Production Designer), Jean-Claude Mezieres and Moesbius (Designers). - A huge section of concept art and design of the films costumes, sets, aliens etc. Having read the story of The Fifth Element I found it to be one of the best portrayals of the movie making process I have seen. Luc Besson doesn't glamorise or gloss up the production process but chooses to tell the truth of how it can be extremely physically and mentally draining, how there are times when he felt lucky, satisfied and also times when all he wanted to do was go home. If you are interested in film making, striving to become one like myself, or just liked the film then you should definitely take a look, Highly recommended.
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