10 Unnecessary Movie Details You Need To Know
2. Korben's Match Is A Sneaky Chekhov's Gun - The Fifth Element
Luc Besson's The Fifth Element is one of the most distinctive and unforgettable sci-fi movies of the last 25 years - a flawed classic overflowing with ingenuity and creativity.
One of its smarter flourishes involves its use of the "Chekov's gun" narrative device, whereby everything featured in a story has a distinct narrative function, and nothing is shown to the audience for no reason.
In the case of The Fifth Element, this would be protagonist Korben Dallas' (Bruce Willis) matches.
Near the start of the movie, we see Korben - who is trying to quit smoking - searching for a match and eventually discovering a matchbox with two remaining matches.
Korben uses one to light his cig, and puts the other away in his pocket, where it's completely forgotten about until the very end of the film almost two hours later.
At the climax, Korben and Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) are desperately trying to figure out how to light the fire stone, when Korben remembers - you guessed it - that he has one remaining match in his pocket.
And like that, he lights the fire stone - while everyone holds their breath - and successfully saves Earth from its impending destruction.
While Korben could've just pulled a box of matches from his pocket without any prior setup, it's infinitely more satisfying to the audience that this was subtly teed up in advance, again proving why the principle of Chekhov's gun is so effective when employed in a smart way.