Song of the Week - The 5th Element

Inva Mula Tchako - "Oh, giusto cielo!...Il dolce suono" (The Mad Song)

Aria from Lucia di Lammermoor, adapted for the film The 5th Element.

Illustration by: Avery Easter (averyeaster.com)

Although actor Maïwenn Le Besco plays the futuristic blue alien Diva Plavalaguna on screen in the 1997 action movie The 5th Element, the voice behind this brilliant aria is from Inva Mula Tchako, a famous Albanian opera soprano.

This clip is taken directly from the movie as Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) must protect 4 stones from the onslaught aliens. The stones contain incredible powers that are needed to protect the earth from certain destruction. Meanwhile, Korban Dallas (Bruce Willis) is sent to help protect Leeloo and retrieve the stones for the good of mankind. Here he is seen listening to Diva Plavalaguna, his contact on a foreign planet, and everyone is taken in by her brilliant voice. The aria starts slowly and soon develops a hip-hop feel to it, in line with the futuristic nature of the film, as well as the concurrent fight scene.

The original song comes from Gaetano Donizetti's opera Lucia Di Lammermoor.  This aria often goes by the title "The Mad Song" because Lucia goes mad singing this song while thinking that the ghost of her brother is haunting her.

This movie is a classic and a must-see. The opera itself is also brilliant and should be at the top of any opera-goers list.

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