Monday 14 September 2015

Zorg - Monster Ego - Fifth Element - #MonsterMondays 18


If there is one thing that is great in a monster, it's when they are slightly ridiculous. Today for Monster Mondays 18 I am going for a human monster again, Zorg from The Fifth Element.
Monster Mondays posts may be fiction, film reviews, book reviews or me waxing lyrical about a particular monster. Monsters can be paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy or even simply human. So basically, anything monster goes. I also invite anyone who would like to, to join in with their own post. (See end for details).
Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg
Monster Ego - The Fifth Element

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I had no idea that was his full name, I just knew him as Zorg from watching The Fifth Element, but IMDB tells me that is his name :). My husband and I love The Fifth Element and we watched it again the other day. It is a great film and so much fun to watch. One of the reasons why is Gary Oldman's portrayal of Zorg.

Zorg is very much an old style comic book type villain - there is nothing redeemable about him. He is:
  • self-centred
  • ruthless
  • greedy
  • vain
  • homicidal
  • conceited
He's working for the ultimate big bad, Mr Shadow, a power that wishes to destroy the Earth and he doesn't care. All he is interested in is profit, so he doesn't ask any questions. His ego is so huge that he cannot conceive of a reason he will not win.

If someone stands in his way he simply crushes them under foot. I love the fact he sets up his own downfall by firing Korben at the beginning of the film through sheer callousness. He is the human face of the evil that the good guys are striving to defeat and he is brilliant.

The costumes for Fifth Element were designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier, so many of them are a little strange, but I do think Zorg is one of the most ridiculous. In a way it makes some of his actions all the more shocking. He's just a little bit silly, with some beautiful comic moments, like the rest of the film, and I love him. I never want to meet him, but he's a great character.


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My favourite scene with him is where he is on the phone to Mr Shadow and the colour starts to melt out of his hair and down his face. Oldman plays it so incredibly well. In his own little world he is the ultimate power and it's so good to see him brought down to size, even only for a moment.

I do spend the entire movie wanting to take a razor to the little tuft of hair under his bottom lip, but that might just be me :).

I'm pretty sure the only deadly sin Zorg would not delight in calling his own is sloth. He wouldn't live with envy for long because he'd take whatever he wanted, but I'm sure he could own it for a little while. Zorg is the embodiment of everything that can be wrong with the human condition and it makes him so entertaining. He's bad, a little mad and definitely out for the worst. Zorg is one of those monsters you love to hate.

Do you enjoy The Fifth Element? What is your favourite thing about the film?


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2 comments:

  1. I don't think anyone but Gary Oldman could play Zorg. He did it brilliantly. Now I'm going to have to watch the movie.

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    Replies
    1. He's just so good at odd ball characters isn't he :)

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