Next: Luc Besson's Anna Ending & All Twists Explained [14] Sony Pictures released it in the United States in November 2009. At first, Léon is unsettled by her presence, and considers murdering her, but he eventually trains Mathilda and shows her how to use various weapons. Mathilda lives with her dysfunctional family in an apartment down the hall, and has stopped attending class at her school for troubled girls. I love action movies where people are not thrown a parsec into the air, land and are good to go.In the follow-up Mathilda has given Leon a boy and a girl and only one of them is following Leon's path. There is also a deleted scene for the film (which may be found on the DVD) in which Léon gives Mathilda a dress to wear, tells her he likes the way it looks on her, and then whispers to her about sex. [25] The character Norman Stansfield has since been named as one of cinema's greatest villains.[26][27][28]. Léon killed the father out of revenge and fled to New York, where he met Tony and trained to become a cleaner. The presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal and other historical events unfold from the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, whose only desire is to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart. As ‘Léon: The Professional’ turns 25-years-old, we speak to costume designer Magali Guidasci about styling Natalie Portman in the cult classic. But Mathilda doesn’t just want protection; she wants revenge. Read here. ), Leon: The Professional is a fairly straightforward narrative with little overt symbolism or subtext. Léon: The Professional (French: Léon), titled Leon in the UK and Australia (and originally titled The Professional in the US), is a 1994 English-language French action-thriller film[5][6][7][8] written and directed by Luc Besson. The symbols that do appear in the movie, however, provide the viewer with information about the inner workings of Leon and Mathilda. Use the HTML below. [30], Besson wrote a script for a sequel, Mathilda, but filming was delayed until Portman was older. Actually, what kind of grenades produces that kind of an explosion? Mathilda tries to convince Tony to hire her in Léon's place, but Tony flatly refuses to hire a twelve-year-old, and tells Mathilda he had been instructed by Léon to give his money to her if anything happened to him. The British band Alt-J released a song about the film, titled "Matilda" [sic]. A former neo-nazi skinhead tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same wrong path that he did. In the original script for the film, Léon and 12-year old Mathilda actually become lovers and have sex. An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston. It is not to be confused with, "How Luc Besson's 'LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL' created a new type of action movie", "The Professional (1994) - Luc Besson - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related", "The Professional (1994) - Box Office Mojo", "Leon – The Professional filming locations", "Léon Blu-ray United Kingdom Special Edition", "Leon: The Professional Blu-ray, Léon / Theatrical and Extended Versions", He May Be a Killer, But He's Such a Sweetie, "OFCS Top 100: Top 100 Villains of All Time", "100 Greatest Movie Villains: Norman Stansfield", "Exclusive: Olivier Megaton Says Sequel to 'The Professional' Unlikely", "Olivier Megaton Admits 'Colombiana' Inspired By Luc Besson's Unmade 'The Professional' Sequel Script", "Besson on: His promise to make only 10 films, Working with Natalie Portman, Jacques Mayol, directing", "Leon: Version Integrale – The Professional (Director's Cut)", The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Léon:_The_Professional&oldid=1013525149, Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 22 March 2021, at 02:15. Mathilda goes to Tony, as Léon had instructed her to do before he died. In time, the pair form a close bond. "The Professional (1994 film)" redirects here. He then opens Léon's vest to find a cluster of active grenades which detonates, killing Stansfield. So, apparently, do the films of Luc Besson. The extended version of Léon was shown as "version longue" in French cinemas in 1996, and then released on VHS. An extended cut, retitled 'Leon: version integrale' was released in French cinemas on June 26, 1996. Léon ambushes the ESU team and rescues Mathilda. Léon: The Professional Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the hitman's trade. By the end of The Professional, Mathilda is an orphan, her parents and siblings murdered by Norman Stansfield, the crooked DEA agent played with crazy-eyed perfection by Gary Oldman. [19] Mark Deming at AllMovie awarded the film four stars out of five, describing it as "As visually stylish as it is graphically violent", and featuring "a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman". Vinyl is a strange colour scheme, looks like a platter of vomit when spinning. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship .\r\r Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. During the scene with all of the police cars on the street, a man ran from a store he had just robbed. Here are some of our favorite films that sparked the popularity of these danceable Holi numbers. It was commercially successful in Japan, being certified gold for 100,000 copies shipped in December 1999. The first line in the lyrics, "this is from Matilda", refer to Léon's last words to Stansfield, shortly before the grenades detonate and kills them. "[8]The New York Times' Janet Maslin wrote, "The Professional is much too sentimental to sound shockingly amoral in the least. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims. Was this review helpful to you? [13] A Léon special edition (2 cuts) Blu-ray Disc was released in the United Kingdom by Optimum Home Entertainment on 14 September 2009 with four special features including three featurettes "10 Year Retrospective: Cast and Crew Look Back", "Natalie Portman: Starting Young", "Jean Reno: The Road to Leon" and theatrical trailer. Listen to trailer music, OST, original score, and the full list of popular songs in the film. [1] The film was a commercial success, grossing over $45 million worldwide on a $16 million budget. Written by It includes most of the special features combined from previous releases. [24] In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films; Léon: The Professional was listed at No. Besson described Léon as "Now maybe Jean is playing the American cousin of Victor. (1994). She begs him to take care of her and to teach her his skills, as she wants to avenge the murder of her four-year-old brother. The lives of guards on Death Row are affected by one of their charges: a black man accused of child murder and rape, yet who has a mysterious gift. An enraged Stansfield confronts Tony, who is violently interrogated for Léon's whereabouts. An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soapmaker form an underground fight club that evolves into something much, much more. The film also received seven nominations at the 20th César Awards, for Best Film, Best Director for Besson, Best Actor for Reno, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Music, and Best Sound. [12] It debuted on Blu-ray in Germany by Kinowelt in 2008. Like Mathilda, her character goes to war with a drug cartel as revenge for the murder of her family when she was a child. One day, Léon meets Mathilda Lando, a lonely 12-year-old girl. He then opens Léon's vest to find a cluster of active grenades, which promptly detonate, killing Stansfield. When his next-door neighbors are murdered, Léon becomes the unwilling guardian of the family’s sole survivor – 12-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman). "[9], While most of the interior footage was shot in France, the rest of the film was shot on location in New York City. From the electrifying opening to the fatal finale, Léon: The Professional is a nonstop crescendo of action and suspense. While the film was shot in both Paris and New York … Luc Besson’s Léon or The Professional (as it was known in the States) is widely considered a classic.Although the movie has a large following not everyone knows that a thematically different cut, often billed as the international version or extended cut, of the film is available. He gives Mathilda $100 from Leon's funds as an allowance, and sends her back to school, where the headmistress re-admits her after Mathilda reveals what had happened to her. In 1994, "Léon: The Professional" premiered in theaters, introducing the world to an actor who'd become one of Hollywood's biggest stars: Natalie Portman. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. This version is 26 minutes longer than the previously released version and includes, amongst others, one sequence that was removed from the film after the disastrous tests with L.A. preview audiences. Léon is an Italian hitman (or "cleaner", as he refers to himself) living a solitary life in New York City's Little Italy. The final scene at school was filmed at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. The site's consensus states, "Pivoting on the unusual relationship between seasoned hitman and his 12-year-old apprentice—a breakout turn by young Natalie Portman—Luc Besson's Léon is a stylish and oddly affecting thriller". [1] On its first week in Paris, the film sold 243,285 tickets and a total of 797,939 tickets in Paris on its initial theatrical run. When Mathilda returns, she realizes what has happened just in time to continue down the hall to Léon's apartment; he hesitantly gives her shelter. A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II. As he is dying, Léon places an object in Stansfield's hands that he says is "from Mathilda" before succumbing to his wounds; Stansfield discovers that it is a grenade pin. A young F.B.I. The Experience of Love He pours a less than full glass for himself when his back is to the camera, but it is at the top line when the camera faces him. Mathilda goes to Tony, as Léon had told her to do earlier. He praised Oldman's performance as "divinely psychotic". Norman Stansfield (billed as Stansfield) is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of Luc Besson's 1994 film In La Femme Nikita, Jean Reno plays a similar character named Victor. Rated R for scenes of strong graphic violence, and for language, Tony puts out his cigarette in an ashtray, The Criterion Channel and Mubi Unveil April 2021 Lineups, Natalie Portman, Lupita Nyong’o to Star in Apple Series ‘Lady in the Lake’ From Alma Har’el, Dre Ryan, Film Review: Kiss of the Dragon (2001) by Chris Nahon, Top 100 Movies as Rated by Women on IMDb in 2016, The Top 200 Movies as Rated by Women on IMDb in 2018. History repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. [33] According to Besson, this is the version he wanted to release, but for the fact that the extra scenes tested poorly with Los Angeles preview audiences. That's right, Portman who'd go on to appear in "Star Wars," "V for Vendetta," and "Black Swan" got her start at just 12-years-old in this action-thriller from director Luc Besson. After her father, step-mother, step-sister and little brother are killed by her father's employers, the 12-year-old daughter of an abject drug dealer manages to take refuge in the apartment of a professional hitman who at her request teaches her the methods of his job so she can take her revenge on the corrupt DEA agent who ruined her life by killing her beloved brother. … referencing Léon The Professional (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), 2xLP, Album, Dlx, RM, Bei, WW021 No problems with sound quality on my copy. A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which began when five criminals met at a seemingly random police lineup. And it is well acted." [21], Roger Ebert awarded the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing: "It is a well-directed film, because Besson has a natural gift for plunging into drama with a charged-up visual style. [3], The film was originally released on VHS and LaserDisc. Léon: The Professional is one of the finest action movies of all time precisely because it has in spades what so many films in this genre lack: Genuine emotion. Unlike other 1994 crime films (Pulp Fiction, Natural Born Killers, etc. Léon creates a quick escape for Mathilda by smashing a hole in an air shaft; he tells her to meet him at Tony's place in an hour, and tells her that he loves her, moments before the police blow up the apartment. In the script, Mathilda was described as "older" and "more mature", and was working as a cleaner. What are the tablets which Stansfield takes twice during the course of the film? 108 of 120 people found this review helpful. Mathilda quickly discovers that Léon is a hitman. The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. In exchange, she runs his errands, cleans his apartment, and teaches him how to read. The film holds a 74% positive aggregate rating based on 65 critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 6.91/10. Léon, after discovering her plan in a note left for him, rescues Mathilda, killing two more of Stansfield's men in the process. [17] At Metacritic, the film received an average score of 64 based on 12 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews". The two made plans to elope, but when the girl's father discovered their relationship, he killed her out of anger and escaped justice. Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. He said, "Oozing style, wit and confidence from every sprocket, and offering a dizzyingly, fresh perspective on the Big Apple that only Besson could bring, this is, in a word, wonderful". It appeared as the "international version" on Region 1 DVD in North America in 2000, and was re-issued in 2005. Later, while Mathilda returns home from grocery shopping, a NYPD ESU team sent by Stansfield captures her and attempts to infiltrate Léon's apartment. The additional material is found in the film's second act, and it depicts more of the interactions and relationship between Léon and Mathilda, as well as explicitly demonstrating how Mathilda accompanies Léon on several of his hits as "a full co-conspirator", to further her training as a contracted killer.[34]. 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