Léon (film)
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| Léon | |
|---|---|
 Official promotional poster |
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| Directed by | Luc Besson |
| Produced by | Patrice Ledoux |
| Written by | Luc Besson |
| Starring | Jean Reno Gary Oldman Natalie Portman Danny Aiello |
| Music by | Éric Serra |
| Cinematography | Thierry Arbogast |
| Editing by | Sylvie Landra |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Gaumont Film Company |
| Release date(s) | France: 14 September 1994 United States: 18 November 1994 |
| Running time | 110 mins / 133 directors cut |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16 million |
| IMDb profile | |
Léon (also known as The Professional and Léon the Professional) is a French 1994 action drama film written and directed by French director Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and a young Natalie Portman in her first starring role.
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[edit] Plot
Léon (Jean Reno) is a hitman (or "cleaner" as he would rather be known) living a solitary life in New York City's Little Italy. Most of his work comes from a mafioso named Tony (Danny Aiello), who operates from the "Supreme Macaroni Company" retail store. Leon spends his idle time engaging in calisthenics, nurturing a houseplant that early on he describes as his "best friend"[1], and (in one scene) watching a Gene Kelly musical.
One day he meets Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a twelve-year-old girl with a black eye, living with her dysfunctional family in an apartment down the hallway. Mathilda's father (Michael Badalucco) attracts the ire of corrupt DEA agents, who have been paying him to store cocaine in his residence, after they discover that he has been stealing some of the drugs for himself. A cadre of agents storm the building, led by a ragged and drug-addicted Norman "Stan" Stansfield (Gary Oldman), and murder Mathilda's entire family, missing her only because she was out shopping when they arrived. When she returns with the groceries she was sent to buy, she calmly continues down the hallway past the open door of her family's apartment, and receives sanctuary from a reluctant Léon.
Mathilda, who soon discovers that Leon is a hitman, begs Léon to become her caretaker, and to teach her his skills as a "cleaner": she wants to avenge the murder of her brother, the only member of her family that she actually loved. In return, she offers herself as a maid and teacher, remedying Léon's illiteracy. Léon hesitantly accepts her offer and the two begin working together, slowly building an emotional attachment between one another, with Léon becoming a friend and father figure.
As Mathilda increases her confidence and experience, she locates Stansfield, follows him to his office in the DEA building in an attempt to kill him, only to be ambushed by Stansfield in a restroom. Leon, discovering her intentions after reading a note left for him by Mathilda, infiltrates the building and rescues her, shooting several of Stansfield's men during the process.
Stansfield is enraged that what he calls the "Italian hitman" has gone rogue and is killing his own men. He confronts Tony and threatens him into surrendering Léon's whereabouts. One day, as Mathilda returns home from grocery shopping, an NYPD ESU (Emergency Service Unit) team, sent by Stansfield, takes her hostage and attempts to infiltrate Léon's apartment. Léon ambushes the ESU team and takes one of their members hostage, rapidly bartering him for Mathilda's freedom. As they slink back into the apartment, Léon rips open the wall to get at a small ventilation shaft in the kitchen and sends Mathilda down it to safety moments before a rocket-propelled grenade rips into the apartment.
In the chaos following the explosion, Léon sneaks out of the apartment building disguised as a wounded ESU officer. On his way out of the building, Léon is noticed by Stansfield, who silently follows him before shooting him from behind. Stansfield, looming over the dying Léon in a pool of his own blood, finally introduces himself. Léon hands Stansfield an object, which he explains is "from Mathilda". Stansfield opens his hand and recognizes it as the pin from a grenade. He proceeds to open Léon's vest to see not only the now-pinless grenade, but numerous others strapped to his chest. The massive explosion which ensues kills them both and sends shock waves through the neighborhood.
Mathilda heads to Tony's place as she was instructed to do by Léon. Tony will not give Mathilda more than a few dollars of the fortune Leon had amassed, which was being held by Tony. His reasoning is that she is not old enough to receive the large amount of money and that school should be her priority until she's older. Having no where else to go, she is then seen returning to school. The film ends in a scene on the school's grounds: Mathilda has Léon's houseplant in hand, a plant that Léon had dropped down the same shaft that Mathilda had used to make her escape. Mathilda digs a hole and plants the houseplant in the grounds of the school, as she had once promised Léon she would, "to give it roots."
[edit] Production
Léon is to some extent an expansion of an idea in Besson's earlier film, Nikita (1990), in which Jean Reno played a similar character to Léon, called Victor. Besson has said he considers Léon to be a more human "cousin" of Victor.[2]
[edit] Reception
The film was well received by most critics.[3][4] The film has gathered a strong fan base and it is as of 9th June 2008 ranked 37th on IMDB's Top 250 Films list,[5] which reflects the best 250 films of all time according to votes from members. It's average user rating is a 8.6/10 based on 129,930 user votes.
[edit] Director's cut
There is also a long version of the film, referred to as the director's cut, "international version" or "version intégrale". It has approximately 23 minutes of additional footage that was removed from the original release The additional material is found in the film's second act, and it depicts more of the interactions and relationship between Léon and Mathilda. In one scene, Mathilda plays Russian Roulette to try to get Léon to admit he loves her; in another, she openly asks him to be her first lover, but he refuses, although they do share a bed. Most of the other material in the longer cut involves Mathilda accompanying Léon on several of his hits, to further her training.
The "version longue" of Léon was shown in 1996 in French cinemas (followed by VHS), and released - as "version intégrale" - on LaserDisc and later Region 2 DVD in Japan. It appeared as the "international version" on Region 1 DVD in North America in 2000, and was re-issued in 2005.
[edit] In popular culture
- In the 2001 video game Max Payne, the scene where Alex gets shot and we see his point of view (falling, followed by a flash of white) is a reference to a similar scene in Léon. Saku Lehtinen, of the game's level designers, also stated this in a 2001 interview with Machinima.com.
- In the popular 2005 video game Resident Evil 4, after beating the game, the character Leon is awarded a handgun named Matilda.
- In the 2007 film Hot Fuzz, the Japanese peace lily that Nicholas Angel brings with him and takes care of is much like Leon's plant in the movie Leon. When he talks about it, similar dialogue is used.
- The main character of the Japanese manga Eat-Man is often mistaken for another character named Leon. He is tall, silent, and wears a similar hat to the Léon in the film.
[edit] Remake
Bollywood produced a remake of the film released in 2000 and called Bichhoo, which stars Bobby Deol and Rani Mukherjee. The character of Mathilda, played by Mukherjee, has been altered significantly, as she is now 20 years old and is in a romantic relationship with the protagonist.
[edit] References
- ^ He May Be a Killer, But He's Such a Sweetie, a November 1994 review of the film from The New York Times
- ^ Besson, Leon: International Uncut DVD, Inside Sleeve
- ^ Léon the Professional at Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
- ^ The Professional at Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-04-28.
- ^ Top 250 movies as voted by IMDb users Retrieved on 2008-06-09.
[edit] External links
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