Léon (film)

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Léon (aka The Cleaner, The Professional, or Léon the Professional) is a 1994 action drama film written and directed by French director Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno as the titular character, Gary Oldman as his nemesis, and Natalie Portman in her first starring role.

[edit] Plot

Léon (Jean Reno) is a hitman living a solitary life in New York City's Little Italy. He spends his time caring for his favorite plant (which he refers to as his 'best friend' and nurtures throughout the film) and performing assassinations for an Italian mafioso named Tony (Danny Aiello). In his free time Léon enjoys the cinema, in one instance, watching a musical with faint amazement at the joie de vivre, an alien concept to him. One day he meets Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a twelve-year-old girl living with her dysfunctional family in an adjacent apartment. Mathilda's father attracts the ire of corrupt DEA agents, who have been paying him to store cocaine in his residence, after they discover that he has been hoarding some of the drugs for himself. A cadre of agents storm the building, led by a ragged and drug-addicted Norman "Stan" Stansfield (Gary Oldman), and murder Mathilda's entire family. Léon begrudgingly offers Mathilda sanctuary after she stands outside his door and pleads for help.

Mathilda, who soon discovers that Leon is a hitman, pressures Léon into acting as her caretaker and instructor and to teach her his skills, so she can avenge her brother's murder. In return, she offers herself as a maid and teacher, remedying Léon's illiteracy. Léon accepts her offer, and the two begin working together, slowly building an emotional attachment between one another, with Léon becoming both Mathilda's friend and also a father figure. As Mathilda slowly gains confidence and experience, she follows Stansfield to his office in the DEA building in an attempt to kill him, only to be ambushed by Stansfield in a restroom. Leon, discovering her intentions after reading a note left for him by Mathilda, infiltrates the building and shoots several of Stansfield's men during her interrogation, rescuing her.

Stansfield, enraged that the "Italian hitman" whose services he frequently utilizes has gone rogue and is killing his own men, confronts Tony and tortures him into surrendering Léon's whereabouts. One day, as Mathilda returns home from grocery shopping, an NYPD ESU (Emergency Service Unit) team, sent by Stansfield, takes her hostage and attempts to infiltrate Léon's apartment. Léon ambushes the ESU team and holds one of their members hostage, bartering for Mathilda's freedom. As they slink back into the apartment, Léon rips open a ventilation shaft in the kitchen and sends Mathilda to safety moments before a rocket-propelled grenade rips into the apartment.

In the chaos following the explosion, Léon sneaks out of the apartment building disguised as a wounded ESU officer. On his way out of the building, Léon is noticed by Stansfield, who silently follows him before shooting him from behind. Stansfield, looming over the dying Léon in a pool of his own blood, finally introduces himself. Léon hands Stansfield an object, which he explains is "from Mathilda". Stansfield opens his hand and recognizes it as the pin from a grenade. He proceeds to open Léon's vest to not only see said grenade, but numerous others strapped to his chest. The massive explosion that ensues kills Stansfield and sends shockwaves through the building. Mathilda is then seen returning to school as the film ends. Mathilda plants Léon's plant in the grounds of the school, in memory of him, and as she had once promised she would, 'to give it roots'.

[edit] Production

Léon is to some extent an expansion of an idea in Besson's earlier film, Nikita (1990), in which Jean Reno played a similar character to Léon, called Victor. Besson has said he considers Léon to be a more human "cousin" of Victor^[1].

In the first draft of Besson's screenplay, the hitman's full name is Leone Montana (making him of Italian origin), although this is not apparent in the finished film^[2].

[edit] Version intégrale

There exists a longer edition of the movie, often referred to as the director's cut, "international version" or "version intégrale", that has approximately twenty minutes of additional footage that was removed from the original release in response to American test screenings.^{[citation needed]} The additional material is found in the film's second act, and somewhat alters the tenor of Léon and Mathilda's relationship by delving more obviously into the notion that their interaction is more than just between a father figure and a daughter. In one scene, Mathilda plays Russian Roulette to try and get Léon to admit he loves her; in another, she openly asks him to be her first lover (the two are seen waking up in bed together after he refuses, though only the version intégrale gives the proper context to the scene by showing them falling asleep in the first place). Most of the other material in the longer cut involves Mathilda actually accompanying Léon on several of his hits; while she is never shown actually pulling the trigger of a real gun, she is obviously at least an accessory to several murders.

Luc Besson often releases extended versions of his movies after their original theatrical runs. They are usually called "long versions", or "version longue", and get limited runs in normal cinemas of large cities. The existence of an extended version does not necessarily indicate the original one having been somehow censored, although in Léon's case the shorter original edit was done minding the American audience.^{[citation needed]} Besson does not consider that cut defective or corrupt in any way, however, just more condensed and less elaborate.^{[citation needed]} Extended versions are targeted at fans who endure or enjoy a slower-paced show, Éric Serra's music and the general climate, like in The Big Blue.^{[citation needed]} Léon received its theatrical release in France and worldwide as the normal version, not the longer cut.

The "version longue" of Léon was shown in 1996 in French cinemas (followed by VHS), and released - as "version intégrale" - on LaserDisc and later Region 2 DVD in Japan. It appeared as the "international version" on Region 1 DVD in North America in 2000, and was re-issued in 2005.

[edit] Parodies, homages and remakes

• Leon, a character in the fighting game series Dead or Alive was based on this movie. Both characters share similar backgrounds, fighting styles and personalities. One of his comments during a battle is also a reference to the film, as he states "I am a professional," a line from the film. In the survival mode in Dead or Alive, Leon collects potted plants.

• There is a Bollywood remake of the film called Bichhoo, which stars Bobby Deol and Rani Mukherjee. The character of Mathilda, played by Mukherjee, has been altered significantly, as she is now 20 years old and is in a relationship with the protagonist.

• In Resident Evil 4, the hardest difficulty setting is "Professional", an obvious nod {Fact|date=December 2007} to this film^{[citation needed]} in conjunction with the protagonist's name, Leon Kennedy. In addition, the VP70M machine pistol used by Leon in Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 is unlockable, and appears with the name "Matilda".

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Léon at the Internet Movie Database
• Léon the Professional at Rotten Tomatoes
• NNDB Entry for Léon the Professional
• Discussion about the 150 min version and the original script

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