Room 37--Lucia goes over the edge!

One of the most interesting parts of the movie The Fifth Element is where the alien being known as Plavalaguna sings a version of the Mad Scene from Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti while Bruce Willis watches from the audience and towards the end, Milla Jovovich beats the crap out of a bunch of Mangalores.

Of course, the aria is not staged but in the opera, it occurs at the point where Lucia imagines herself to be married to Edgardo, but she has actually just murdered Arturo.

Plavalaguna in film

Plavalaguna without makeup (Maiwenn Le Besco)

Inva Mulla Tchako (voice of Plavalaguna)

Anyway, that has nothing to do with the film. The unique part is that after she finishes the section actually written by Donizetti, she launches into a more uptempo thing which features a number of wonderful coloratura turns and a sort of hiphop beat. This music was written by the French composer and pop musician Eric Serra. It is at this point in the music where Jovovich starts committing martial arts a-plenty on the aliens. Let’s hear how Donizetti and Serra combine together under the watchful eye of soprano Inva Mulla Tchako. Listen!

Just after the movie was released, Serra put out an album that contained the music over the close of the film, “Little Light of Love.” The album was called RXRA. Why? He’s French. Think about it.

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