Besson masterfully directed a love story so moving and unconventional that there had to be a version of the film made for more “sensitive” (prudish) American audiences.
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"Léon" is the "director´s cut" of the film better known as "The Professional" in the United States. Columbia TriStar released the uncut version of the 1994 film in October 2000, a little more than two years after the release of the original "The Professional" DVD. This marks the first time that "Léon: Integral Version" (as it is known in France) is available States-side. Now, we are finally able to see writer-director Luc Besson´s original vision before the folks at the MPAA got their hands on it. I was surprised to find that "Léon" was selling for the same price as "The Professional" on local store shelves. Needless to say, I spurned "The Professional" for the newer and more complete version.
Besson made what turns out to be one of the most recognizable and controversial films in his repertoire (which includes "La Femme Nikita", "The Fifth Element", and "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc"). Many viewers would have expected, based on previews, that this would be an explosive action film. However, after actually viewing the movie, one has to realize that "Léon" is much more than that. "Léon" is an action thriller, yes, but it is also a very powerful (albeit unconventional) love story.
French actor Jean Reno ("Mission: Impossible", "Ronin") plays Léon, a chillingly precise and effective professional hitman (or "cleaner", as he refers to himself) living in near solitude in what is presumed to be New York City. We are also introduced to Mathilda, the debut performance of the then-12-year-old Natalie Portman ("Star Wars: Episode One", "Anywhere but Here"), a precocious young girl in a broken household who is hardened far beyond her years. She and her family are Léon´s neighbors in a run down inner-city apartment complex. Her father, an idiotic and greedy small-time criminal, soon finds himself in a heap of trouble with the film´s main villain, the amoral and corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield (played spectacularly by Gary Oldman). Oldman ("Bram Stoker´s Dracula", "The Fifth Element") delivers what is arguably his best "bad guy" performance to date. His presence on screen is delightful and terrifying enough to bring a chill up anyone´s spine. One has to wonder how a character of such pure evil is able to rise to such a powerful position in law enforcement, but I digress.
In the ensuing events, Stansfield and his goons brutally gun down Mathilda´s family, and she has no choice but to turn to Léon for protection and help. Mathilda learns of Léon´s profession, and she clings on to him not only because she has nowhere else to go but also because she yearns to avenge the death of her four-year-old brother. Herein begins the relationship between Léon and Mathilda, one that grows throughout the movie. Mathilda, (did I mention that she was precocious?) wants not only to avenge the murder of her brother but also to become a "cleaner" like Léon. Mathilda disrupts Léon´s routine and solitary life, and he has no clue how to handle any change, let alone this most unusual situation (at one point, he contemplates executing the sleeping Mathilda just to get her off his hands). He even asks her, in exasperation, "Why are you doing this to me? I have been nothing but nice to you." Léon, the killer with a conscience, reluctantly takes Mathilda as a protégé and also holds the responsibility for her life in his hands. In many ways, Léon reminds me of Chow Yun-Fat´s character in the 1990 John Woo film "The Killer" as he slowly transforms from a gun-for-hire into a man with a final noble purpose in his life.
The movie continues with Mathilda´s lengthy training in becoming a "cleaner" as well as the development of the relationship between two unlikely partners. In several gentler scenes, Mathilda attempts to bring out Léon´s more human side. Léon, in turn, teaches Mathilda how to kill without remorse, much like a mentor. Some viewers will find these scenes unsettling, but those with a sense of humor will find many of these scenes to be satisfyingly subversive.
The young Mathilda acknowledges the developing relationship as one of love, and she professes this love in ways that recalls Vladimir Nabokov´s "Lolita". (I wonder why Portman would turn down Adrian Lynne´s offer to play Lolita, especially since "Léon" is basically "Lolita" with guns.) One scene that was "sanitized" out of the American version of "The Professional" is a disturbing sequence in which Mathilda attempts suicide in a game of "love or death". Towards the end of the movie, we learn more about Léon´s past as he finally addresses his relationship with Mathilda. What viewers may find intriguing is that Léon´s reason for not consummating his love for Mathilda is not because it is "wrong" or inappropriate to do so but because he has an already broken heart from a previous love.
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