5 Best Luc Besson Movies Besides The Fifth Element and Leon

Luc Besson is one of France's most prolific filmmakers. During his 40-year career, he has directed 21 films and co-produced and co-written more than fifty.

Although the director is best known for Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element, his filmography contains many other projects that are no less noteworthy.

1. The Big Blue

Two friends, Jacques and Enzo, are complete opposites. Their friendship is based on their passion for freediving. Each of them goes deeper and deeper with each dive, setting new records. But there are limits beyond which it is impossible to go.

Besson was born into a family of diving instructors. He dived to take photographs of the ocean depths and dreamed of one day devoting himself to studying dolphins. At the age of 17, another dive shattered his dreams: the difference in pressure nearly blinded him. After entering the world of cinema, the director paid tribute to his childhood dreams in The Big Blue.

2. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc

An epic and spectacular movie about the life of one of the most famous women in the world – the great Maid of Orleans.

After The Fifth Element, Besson decided to take on an equally high-profile project. The story of Joan of Arc has already been told by the greats, but Besson has made perhaps the most epic version, with large-scale battles and an impressive cast. Who else would make a movie about a French heroine if not Besson?

3. Subway

Fred steals incriminating documents from the safe of a powerful businessman, for which the police begin to pursue him. To escape, he must hide in the intricacies of the French subway. In the tunnels, there is a group of people who live in a world of their own, hidden away from the prying eyes of others.

Luc Besson followed up his silent feature debut, The Last Battle, with the French hit Subway. The movie received 13 nominations for the top French Cesar Award, winning three.

4. Angel-A

Andre owes almost every person in Paris, so he ends up on the bridge to commit suicide. Suddenly a tall woman, Angela, appears nearby, and jumps into the Seine herself. Forgetting everything, the man runs after the stranger and saves her. In gratitude, Angela promises to help Andre pay off his debts and solve all his problems.

In this black and white melodrama, Luc Besson brings together two opposites and pays tribute to his early works without relying on action and a variety of special effects. Angel-A was the French director's attempt to revive his career after six years of silence.

5. The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec

At the beginning of the 20th century, Adele Blanc-Sec amazed the French public with her journalistic articles. In each of her assignments, she manages to encounter magical creatures and the living dead. A new expedition to Egypt turns into a hunt for the mummy of Pharaoh Ramses II.

Based on the comic book by Jacques Tardi, the movie is a fun family adventure that manages to put the French humor of Amelie in the setting of The Mummy and Indiana Jones.