Leon: The Professional — Luc Besson
A poignant crime/love story between a hitman and a young girl
Quick Summary
A hitman by the name of Léon takes Mathilda, a twelve-year-old girl, the only survivor of her family’s massacre, under his wing. Soon, Léon will turn Mathilda into a “cleaner”, like him. And Mathilda will be able to avenge her little brother…
My Thoughts
I think that the least we can do is to start by thanking Luc Besson for his masterpiece called “Léon”, and also to the actors who offer very good performances, especially Jean Reno at the top of his form, Gary Oldman, and we also see the revelation Natalie Portman. And the music of Eric Serra reinforces once again the purpose.
It was a difficult bet because the subject was delicate… With at the beginning a 12 years old girl that life made her grow up too fast because she was a spectator of what the New York jungle offers her and a killer a little autistic on the edges. Even if it’s never really explicit, we won’t be surprised by the naturalness of the relationship between the two, a motherly child who falls in love with an adult with emotional deficiencies. Besides, in Leon there is finally very little action. The film is primarily focused on the relationship between Léon and Mathilda, a relationship in constant evolution: friends, father/daughter, teacher/student, partners, platonic love. Above all, Luc treats his subject with tenderness.
This approach allows the director to really take care of his few moments of violence, but this is only a small part of the film’s purpose, with the opening of the film which is downright a model of construction, the mass murder of Mathilda’s family (with subjective view and execution in the bathtub of the most beautiful effect), and of course the long finale.
In fact Leon is above all an intimate film and a love story. And even if we can understand that we can be shocked by this kind of relationship, it is true that in the film it goes very well.
With such well-written and well-acted characters, the ultimately simple plot of Leon is followed with passion. Besson presents his film in a credible way, that is to say with sobriety and efficiency, without falling into the classic sanitized. He plays with simple emotions, underlines them just right, without looking for the spectacular.
Mr. Besson offers us very beautiful images, very beautiful worked shots, and does not lack style in the direction. It is great cinema because Leon, whether you like it or not, is an excellent film that is even more profound in its long version.
To Watch or Not to Watch?
As I said, I think this movie is a masterpiece. It means everyone should watch it, so I highly recommend it, no matter what kind of movies you like!
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