Leon the Professional
Here’s the thing- Luc Besson used to be a really great action filmmaker. Now people know him more for writing the “Transporter” films and “Taken,” but as “Leon” shows, he excels as a director.
Take the opening sequence. We start by seeing Leon (Jean Reno) in an Italian restaurant talking to Tony (Danny Aiello). He’s a hitman discussing a job. Next we see the mark- a drug dealer with bodyguards all around. Leon is smart, fast, and lethal. He gets behind the dealer, putting a knife to his throat. After a phone call, he’s gone.
We then see him on his way home. He gets two gallons of milk, and goes into his apartment, but not before he talks with the 12 year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman in her first role), who’s father is an asshole and also holding drugs for a group of dirty DEA agents, led by detective Stansfield (Gary Oldman at his creepy, over-the-top best). Leon’s life is a quiet one, lived in solitude, until the death of Mathilda’s family at the hands of Stansfield turns his life upside down.
Before he effectively retired from directing (since his 2000’s Joan of Arc debacle “The Messenger,” he’s only directed the family fantasies “Arthur and the Invisibles” and “Angel A”), he’d directed this classic, “The Fifth Element,” and “La Femme Nikita” (all fantastic). His action beats are unlike anyone elses. The scene where Stansfield takes out the family is pure adrenaline, dark humor, and suspense- whether he’s talking classical music or pissed about his jacket getting ruined, Oldman is a one-of-a-kind villain. And Eric Serra’s evocative, unique score (which no doubt led to a chance to score the next Bond film “Goldeneye” for Martin Campbell) only adds to the film’s exotic flavor. It may’ve been made in America, but Besson’s French style shines through amazingly.
Never is that more evident than in the international version of the film on DVD. This version illuminates more the “Lolita”-esque relationship between Leon and Mathilda that’s merely hinted at in the American version. Even in the longer version, nothing actually happens between them, but Mathilda’s infatuation with Leon is obvious. When she tells a hotel manager that he’s her lover, you can tell feel the real feelings underneath that statement, and Portman is a marvel at blending Mathilda’s child-like innocence with the maturity that comes with being an old soul. And she brings out a side of Leon that opens him up to life a little more, although that’s not necessarily a good thing for a pro like him…especially when it comes to life and death situations like these two find themselves in.
But there are other things in this version that make the film even better, like when Leon takes Mathilda on her first training session up close. The mark is a drug dealer- when Mathilda sees his paraphernalia for mixing and prepping the drugs, she torches it. “No women no kids, right? Who do you think this stuff’s gonna hurt?” We then get a montage of them going on hits together. Yeah, American audiences wouldn’t have been ready for this type of thing…
…not that they were anyway. The film wasn’t very successful in the US when it came out in 1994. But Columbia still allowed him to finance and distribute “The Fifth Element,” which was a project he’d been dreaming of making since he was a kid. Still, the film is a cinematic thrill-ride with feeling and style to spare. All three of the main actors saw their careers only get bigger after this film (and would it be too much to discuss more a “Mathilda” sequel between Besson and the now-grownup (and legally hot) Portman?). And while Besson has been a frequent fixture on the action front as a writer, his deft and intelligent touch has been sorely missing in the action genre as a director (only “Taken” has come close to matching this film’s greatness). Hopefully with a new TV series based on “La Femme Nikita” coming to American sets, we might see him get his action on again. If not, at least we have “Leon” we can always go back to.
