Le Dernier Combat (Luc Besson, 1983)

Or what Besson does when he doesn't even have a percent of the budget of The Fifth Element. His first feature kicks off with a man on a blow-up doll. In short, the world has ended and this is what we're reduced to. No-one can speak any more and communicates in violence instead, shuffling around in the dust. All personae are emblems: The Man, The Doctor, The Brute, and as such clearly represent aspects of the psyche when having to face up to existence being stripped bare.
This is an archetypal first statement of intent for any director with big ideas, as the opulent pyrotechnics of his later work cannot swamp the naked symbolism. Along the way, sidesteps into humour and flashes of vulnerable humanity are also enabled by the supple framework. Eric Serra's unhinged soundtrack, which somehow finds room for 70s jazz-funk in between moody sound effects, adds to the patchiness of execution, but the spine of the piece is strong.

7/10