Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello
Jean Reno… Tall, dark and handsome (Not everyone would agree with that though). An excellent actor (Now, no one can contradict that). He’s cool, he’s charming and his voice can send shivers down your spine.
I first saw him in The Da Vinci Code where he played Bezu Fache. A small but impressive role. Next, I saw him in Les Visiteurs trilogy, where he teams up with Christian Clavier, a talented comedian not so well-known outside of France. They make a great pair – the tall, strong and stoic Reno opposite the bumbling buffoon Clavier. The two French films are genuinely funny, a must-watch for anyone who loves good comedy. The American version is a bit of a disappointment though not bad at all. And then one day, I watched the Besson classic Nikita where Reno makes a very short but effective appearance as Victor, the cleaner. And he’s not one of your regular cleaners; instead of a broom he wields a gun!
It was this character that inspired Besson to write Leon (known as The Professional in the US). The movie would eventually gain a cult status, catapulting Besson and Reno to international fame.
Leon (Jean Reno) is a hitman. He lives in Little Italy (he’s an Italian immigrant) and is a loner. His best friend is a potted plant. His only human contact is Tony – his friend, philosopher, guide and bank!
Next door lives a twelve year old girl, Matilda (Natalie Portman). Her dad deals in drugs and her mother is probably a hooker. The only person she cares for is her four year old brother. After drug deal has gone bad, her entire family is wiped out by a psychopath cop Stansfield (Gary Oldman). Matilda survives as she has gone grocery shopping.
On finding her family dead, she persuades Leon to take her in. When she comes to know that Leon is a cleaner, she asks him to teach her to kill. In return she promises to do his chores. At first, he refuses, but gives in eventually.
Meanwhile, a special bond develops between them. Matilda professes her love to Leon which he brushes off to be nothing but adolescent stupidity. This is where the film ventures into some grey areas. Some scenes of the film (including one where the two sleep in the same bed) had to be cut in order to release the film in the US. I got to see the complete version of the film and I didn’t really find the scenes offensive. Firstly, it is perfectly natural for an adolescent to have a little crush on someone much older that him/her. Secondly, the director has taken enough care to ‘infantilise’ Leon - he drinks lots of milk, does not know to read or write and he is so incapable of thinking independently that he relies blindly on Tony. So Leon is basically reduced to an innocent child even though he is a dangerous killer. At the same time, the bond between Leon and Matilda cannot be described to be that of a father and a daughter. Mentally, they both seem to be of the same age. Thirdly, these ‘controversial’ sequences are filmed in a sensitive manner so that at no point I felt uncomfortable. The credit, without doubt, goes to Luc Besson.
Coming back to the story, Matilda, eager to bump off Stansfield, follows him to his office. Her plan fails and instead he kidnaps her. But our knight in shining armour rescues her. Stansfield decides to retaliate and sends in an army of SWATs to kill Leon. Leon manages to save Matilda’s life (and that of his plant) but loses his. He blows himself off along with Stansfield.
Talking of the actors, they are all brilliant. Gary Oldman as the maniacal cop is first-rate. He manages to give you the goose bumps. Danny Aiello, too, is perfect. But the film obviously belongs to Natalie Portman and Jean Reno.
In spite of this being her first shot at acting, Portman is brilliant, playing the role with maturity and confidence. She fits the role of the headstrong and brash Matilda to the T.
The role of Leon made a star out Jean Reno all over the world. He is, to say the least, in his element. The strong, silent type with a big heart is his speciality. And I believe it all started with this film. But Leon is much more complex. He is somewhat autistic. Besson said in an interview that if Jean were to portray Leon as someone intelligent, his relationship with Matilda would immediately seem perverted. So his portrayal of Leon is nothing but superlative.
All in all, Leon/The Professional is a great film. You’ll especially love it if you happen to be a Besson or Jean Reno fan.
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