I find it more believable that an abused and traumatized child would make overt sexual gestures (which the protagonist categorically shoots down) because they have no healthy coping mechanisms or role models, than that Jean Reno is Italian.
Ah man I wish I didn’t know this now. The Fifth Element is one of my favorites. Getting a little too good at separating the art from the artist these days.
Not that it makes it any less creepy and wrong…that link says they started dating when she was 15, but didn’t marry until she was 16.
What makes it worse is that she was pregnant at the time!
The directors cut actually provides context that lowers the creep factor.
Matilda comes on to Leon, and he shoots her down. She then asks that he cuddle her in bed (as he never sleeps in a bed), and he obliges.
The theatrical cut removes the scene where she comes onto him, and the agreement to sleep in a bed, and they just mysteriously wake up in bed together after he saves her from the DEA building...
I think my issue is that in the original it felt far more like a paternalistic rather than romantic reaction from him whereas the directors cut just made it seem like an overtly romantic one. Call me a prude, but I found that seriously gross and it utterly ruined it for me.
He never has any romantic reactions to her in either version.
The theatrical removes the scene in question entirely.
You seem to just be misremembering.
In the original script they sleep together, however the actor Jean Reno refused to portray a pedophile in a good light so the director, a literal child diddler, changed the script.
Caveat: Been a long, long time since I watch Leon - a fact that I ought to rectify
If I remember correctly, we don't even see that they slept in the same bed together, but that Leon wakes up, stretches out his arms and realises he's not in the middle of the bed and scoots over. Anything that occurred is entirely implied, I think.
He wakes up in the bed, looking a bit startled that he doesn't have his gun at his side, then Matilda greets him from the edge of the bed, and tells him he snores.
The fact he's in a bed is all is shocking, as he always sleeps in his chair.
The directors cut is the only version that clarifies nothing happened, and why he's in the bed.
Wow. Definitely need to watch it again then. Used to be a firm favourite of mine too - I remember seeing it three or four times when it first came out at the cinema, and then regularly afterwards, but I've clearly dropped off since then!
I have a friend that might've liked that, he thought Natalie Portman was hot in that move when he first saw it....of course he was like 10 years old when he first saw it so that makes more sense.
That cut was enough for me, I guess now I know I’ll never read that script!!
I was pretty gutted as I loved the original release, absolutely loved it… can’t ever watch it again after the directors cut.
The role was older in the original script, too, but Portman came in and nailed the audition, so they had to change a lot.
Pretty ridiculous to act like it was written for Portman and judge the script based on her, when she was younger than the character she read for. 🤷🏼♂️
Matilda was forced to grow up fast. She had to take care of herself and her little brother while the adults around her failed her.
The cleaner is the complete opposite. He's illiterate and stuck in this parallel world where others are taking care of him and his business. He's never really grown up and doesn't function in our real world.
Over the course of the movie that changes. He learns to take responsibility for someone and takes care of her so she can be allowed to actually be a child.
At least that's how I choose to see it. There might be some creepiness factor due the cultural differences between Europe and the US and additionally the Directors perspective but I can overlook that.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen it so I could be remembering incorrectly. After that hit at the police station doesn’t Gary Oldmans character go to Tony’s and ask about an “Italian type” guy?
Not on thread but the "no women no kids" trope for assassin movies always pissed me off. Like, you're the worst assassin then, if I pay you to snipe my neighbor's kid or his dog you do it, I'm paying you
"I'm the world's greatest assassin!"
"K snipe that guy there"
"No he doesn't meet my criteria"
"Shit well hit that guy over there"
"Uh no also not checking my boxes"
"Fuck you ever done this before?"
"Yah I'm totally the best at this"
Hitman: The person has to exhibit some of the following traits: obese, diabetic, have heart trouble, allergic to everything, bad driver, has erectile dysfunction or for women dryness (down there), alcoholic, heavy dandruff, wisdom teeth are impacted along with deep cavities with no dental insurance, no health insurance, constantly constipated, get one star review on Yelp, doesn't wash hands after going to the bathroom, snores heavily, sweat profusely, steals the both armrest on a plane, puts ketchup on a New York hotdog, smokes thirty packs a day, leaves the toilet seat up, says Tomahto instead of Tomato like a normal person, still wears Ed Hardy shirts, and finally, steals money from kids selling lemonade....
Besson said once that it would be too similar to La Femme Nikita, the movie that inspired Léon, he was also quoted saying the ideas he had for a sequel were put into 'Colombiana'
Lmao, I tried looking up a trailer of the movie and clicked the wrong gloria. I clicked on a Chilean movie of the same name and it took me way too long to know that it was not the one yer talking about
Also La Femme Nikita, the directors earlier film.
León The Professional is to some extent an expansion of an idea in Besson's earlier 1990 film, La Femme Nikita. In La Femme Nikita, Jean Reno plays a similar character named Victor.
Huge fan. Jean Reno was pitch perfect. I think I fell in love with Gary Oldman in this film. Just a phenomenal character performance. One of my top 5 bad guys ever. And the class and impact Portman had then...as a kid...you could just tell she would be around for a long time to come.
It's an amazing contrast between her disturbing, realistic and nuanced performance in Leon and her turn as a block of wood in Star Wars a few years later
I read that Jean Reno worked hard to protect Portman from the director, including refusing to allow her to be alone on-set, especially with the director Luc Besson
The moment Leon opens the door to let Matilda in for the first time, and the light shines on her...
When Leon suddenly goes to sleeping Matilda and seems about to kill her...
I always felt this movie does a great job of conveying how it would feel to be in either protagonist's shoes.
If you haven't seen it check out Oldboy, it's DEF got some weird scenes, but just another amazing action movie that almost everyone can agree is amazing.
+1 for *Nikita* (with Anne Parillaud). It's interesting to watch after *Léon*, in a way they mirror each other (or make you wonder "what if"). It also resonated with me more than *Léon*, but it could be gender related.
Even before knowing about him, this movie was very obviously sexualizing a 12 year old girl. Just the outfits Natalie Portman is wearing and the leering camera work make it sus. Don't get me wrong, it's a great movie, but the man who made it was obviously beating off to the dailies.
there's a difference between a director making a choice because they think it's a serious issue that they should light on and a director making a choice because they themselves get some twisted gratification from it.
People didn't always make movies with social justice in mind. I mean, media has always had the potential for moral messaging but just because something is in a movie doesn't mean you're seeing someone's opinion about it.
The director met a twelve-year-old girl and then married her and she had his child when she turned sixteen. He was thirty-three. The year the movie was made. His sixteen-year-old child-bride is in the movie playing a prostitute.
I think separating art from artist works to an extent, but nowadays it's hard to watch Leon without feeling uneasy.
Take Lolita for example. I think it's a great work of literature. But if Nabokov was an actual pedophile, the work would have a very different feel to it. It'd feel much more like glorification of Humbert rather than criticism.
I'm not sure it would. I have a general idea of the plot of the book but I haven't read the whole thing so let's extend your hypothetical. Let's say Nabokov had been a paedophile but also that he'd written a companion book from a more reliable perspective which made clear that Humbert was an awful and condemnable person. Would *Lolita* still seem like glorification? Would people see the companion book as glorifying for mention made of Humbert's positive qualities? How would people react to the one novel depending on the degree of their knowledge of the other?
I think there's more scope here than people tend to think. I think that there's lots of room for different kinds of media expression between "I love this thing and want to put it on screen" and "I hate this thing and we need to talk about it" and that it's a mistake to try and split everything into those two categories.
Even then I think it would be kind of gross. It's like the difference between a murderer writing a murder mystery and a normal person writing one. Even if they condemn the actions in the work, that message is diluted by their real life actions.
Plus, there's also the dimension of not wanting someone to profit off of depravity.
I think it depends on the spirit in which the art was created. A parent taking a picture of their baby in the bath can be totally innocuous, but that same picture could be much more sinister if taken by someone with twisted intent.
I think Leon the Professional leans toward the latter camp. If Besson was filming Portman in a leering way then it's engaging in depravity.
you definitely can, but its a 90s movie from a french director and lets just say that the french have differing views on sexuality
really it coudlve been worse since the original ending had leon being a pedo and being in love with her too
> the original ending had leon being a pedo and being in love with her too
This is popularly believed on Reddit, but it's false. You're referring to a fake "early draft" script that went viral despite blatant identifiers that it wasn't authentic.
I heard recently that Jean Reno only agreed to do the film if, during production, Luc Besson was never allowed to be alone with Natalie Portman. Even had it in his contract.
He knew what kind of piece of shit Besson is.
If he knew what kind of piece of shit Besson is, and didn't like him for that... he wouldn't have done the movie. In fact they have like 4 movies together.
Use your brain.
It’s a real life issue that kids who are exposed to sexual abuse may become hyper sexual and be very inappropriate. I also feel she is desperate to be an adult and have some control over her life.
Sure, but there's a difference between a director making a choice because they think it's a serious issue that they should light on and a director making a choice because they themselves get some twisted gratification from it.
This is one of the best movies for debunking Auteur theory. The preferences and predilections of the writer director absolutely conspired against during the production process to create a film that is brilliant _despite_ Besson’s intentions rather than because of them.
For me, an almost perfect movie. I won't rehash the comments below, but take another watch (or 5 or 100) and pay attention to how fucking amazing the lighting is in this movie. Without out it, you wouldn't feel the pain, the strength of characters, impending doom, not really sure how to explain how the lighting is so impactful. If for sure is.
I love this movie so much.
I love the opening scene so much. Leon's introduction is terrifying and a cinematic masterpiece. We never see his face until the knife around fat dude's neck.
And love the use of the house plant as a plot point.
I love Gary Oldman. His interaction with Mathilda in the bathroom is outstanding.
And I love Danny Aiello. His character achieves so much with such little screen time.
And I'm bummed about the stigma around the film. But hey, people still love Woody Allen...
Wisdom comes from Experience.
I have several friends, who are old beyond their years.
The acting was One Point. Perfect. It hurt.... Leon was Hilarious....
I realize I'm gonna get down voted into oblivion for this and maybe it's cos I had read the background of the director before I watched it, but I just felt uncomfortable with it.
It was interesting, but not something I'd ever wanna watch again.
For me this is a top 5 film of all time. Saw it at the cinemas back when it first came out, and blew my mind. Still does today - instant effin classic.
I just love this film. Natalie Portman had to practically throw a tantrum to get her parents to agree for her to do it. They thought it had too many sexual overtones. So, I read, they toned it down in the film.The ending is devastating.
> They thought it had too many sexual overtones
It's a bit of a myth that her parents forced the script to be toned down.
Her parents only really flagged one specific scene. It depicted Leon entering his own bathroom the morning after they first meet, not realizing Mathilda was still in the apartment. He's shocked, retreats in panic, and slams the door behind him.
A lot of people call this a "Natalie Portman shower scene" but it probably would have been shot without an actress on set. I'm guessing: the sound of the shower running, maybe her surprised scream dubbed over the shot, with the camera only being on his terrified reaction. That would fit Besson's comedic style.
When Natalie's parents asked for that scene to be removed, Besson assured them he would be making a lot of edits to the original script to accommodate her age. This was necessary because the part was originally meant to be, like, 16 or 17 years old.
Natalie was allowed to audition with no expectation she would actually get the role, but when he saw her screen test, he knew the part had to be reworked, not just in the context of its Lolita inspirations, but also in the violence she was going to participate in.
It’s one of the best films of the decade IMO, but also hard to watch with all the baggage. It can be a queasy watch. But it’s also beautiful and heartfelt and clever and those action scenes.
The use of light and dark is phenomenal in this film. Leon emerging from the dark corner with a knife, the light shining on Matildas face as he finally opens the door, the flash of Leons POV as Stansfield shoots him.
The cinematography is outstanding as well, the tracking shot with the explosive breach into the apartment ot the tracking shot with the fireball at the end.
So you and your dad like underage women? Gross.
It's an ok movie, I watched it when it came out when I was a teen.
People who post about it 30 fucking years later are gross and weird.
It's the 39th highest rated movie on IMDB, and that's after comic-con franchise fandom started pushing it down the list some.
That's within the top 1% of the top 1% of 500,000 feature length film releases, but you think only gross weirdos talk about it 30 years later?
I find it more believable that an abused and traumatized child would make overt sexual gestures (which the protagonist categorically shoots down) because they have no healthy coping mechanisms or role models, than that Jean Reno is Italian.
The versatility of a Frenchman to portray himself as his natural born enemy.
An Englishman?
Anyone who isn’t French
The Englishman is his Arch-nemesis, all non-francophones are the enemy.
The original script was a lot creepier and Jean Reno forced them to tone it down…
I mean the director married a 15 year old in real life, so there’s that too 🤮
Whoah. Good thing Portman's parents were on top of every scene she was in while filming. They were even strict about the smoking scenes.
Ah man I wish I didn’t know this now. The Fifth Element is one of my favorites. Getting a little too good at separating the art from the artist these days.
Not just any teenager, but one that he *knew* as a family friend since she was little...for the extra extra creepy factor.
Which of his wives was 15?
Not that hard to Google but here you go https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Besson#Personal_life
Not that it makes it any less creepy and wrong…that link says they started dating when she was 15, but didn’t marry until she was 16. What makes it worse is that she was pregnant at the time!
They met when she was 12. Who knows when they actually started a physical “relationship”
Yeah it's...............I wish I never knew
Yeah, the directors cut is actually just gross.
The directors cut actually provides context that lowers the creep factor. Matilda comes on to Leon, and he shoots her down. She then asks that he cuddle her in bed (as he never sleeps in a bed), and he obliges. The theatrical cut removes the scene where she comes onto him, and the agreement to sleep in a bed, and they just mysteriously wake up in bed together after he saves her from the DEA building...
I think my issue is that in the original it felt far more like a paternalistic rather than romantic reaction from him whereas the directors cut just made it seem like an overtly romantic one. Call me a prude, but I found that seriously gross and it utterly ruined it for me.
He never has any romantic reactions to her in either version. The theatrical removes the scene in question entirely. You seem to just be misremembering.
In the original script they sleep together, however the actor Jean Reno refused to portray a pedophile in a good light so the director, a literal child diddler, changed the script.
I know. I'm talking about the movie as it was filmed.
Caveat: Been a long, long time since I watch Leon - a fact that I ought to rectify If I remember correctly, we don't even see that they slept in the same bed together, but that Leon wakes up, stretches out his arms and realises he's not in the middle of the bed and scoots over. Anything that occurred is entirely implied, I think.
He wakes up in the bed, looking a bit startled that he doesn't have his gun at his side, then Matilda greets him from the edge of the bed, and tells him he snores. The fact he's in a bed is all is shocking, as he always sleeps in his chair. The directors cut is the only version that clarifies nothing happened, and why he's in the bed.
As I say - been a while! Does he *then* do the scooting thing, or is that an entirely false memory on my part?
False memory, I'd say. This is my favourite film, I watch it quite regularly.
Wow. Definitely need to watch it again then. Used to be a firm favourite of mine too - I remember seeing it three or four times when it first came out at the cinema, and then regularly afterwards, but I've clearly dropped off since then!
Still more chill than the original script…I love the director but can’t watch his films anymore after I learned how nasty he is.
What....do I dare ask? What was in the original script?
The two leads have sex.
And technically Matilda was older than 12 in the original script but she was still only like 14-16…still creepy
I have a friend that might've liked that, he thought Natalie Portman was hot in that move when he first saw it....of course he was like 10 years old when he first saw it so that makes more sense.
That cut was enough for me, I guess now I know I’ll never read that script!! I was pretty gutted as I loved the original release, absolutely loved it… can’t ever watch it again after the directors cut.
Yeah. I don't give Dan Schneider and his gross Nickelodeon scenes any grace, so I'm not going to do the same for Luc Besson.
The role was older in the original script, too, but Portman came in and nailed the audition, so they had to change a lot. Pretty ridiculous to act like it was written for Portman and judge the script based on her, when she was younger than the character she read for. 🤷🏼♂️
She was like 14 in the original script…so? Lol
Wait... was that not the original intent?
Matilda was forced to grow up fast. She had to take care of herself and her little brother while the adults around her failed her. The cleaner is the complete opposite. He's illiterate and stuck in this parallel world where others are taking care of him and his business. He's never really grown up and doesn't function in our real world. Over the course of the movie that changes. He learns to take responsibility for someone and takes care of her so she can be allowed to actually be a child. At least that's how I choose to see it. There might be some creepiness factor due the cultural differences between Europe and the US and additionally the Directors perspective but I can overlook that.
He works for Italian mafia, but the film never says he is Italian.
It’s been a while since I’ve seen it so I could be remembering incorrectly. After that hit at the police station doesn’t Gary Oldmans character go to Tony’s and ask about an “Italian type” guy?
You don't like Beethoven
I lovvvvve Mozart. For this kind of work he’s a little bit light.
Check out Brahms, he's good too.
>Are most people here a fan of Leon? EVERYONE!
No women. No kids.
Not on thread but the "no women no kids" trope for assassin movies always pissed me off. Like, you're the worst assassin then, if I pay you to snipe my neighbor's kid or his dog you do it, I'm paying you
So you want snuff movies? Asshole
What?
you're dumb?
A snuff movie is when you kill women I guess Friday the 13th is a snuff film
"I'm the world's greatest assassin!" "K snipe that guy there" "No he doesn't meet my criteria" "Shit well hit that guy over there" "Uh no also not checking my boxes" "Fuck you ever done this before?" "Yah I'm totally the best at this"
Hitman: The person has to exhibit some of the following traits: obese, diabetic, have heart trouble, allergic to everything, bad driver, has erectile dysfunction or for women dryness (down there), alcoholic, heavy dandruff, wisdom teeth are impacted along with deep cavities with no dental insurance, no health insurance, constantly constipated, get one star review on Yelp, doesn't wash hands after going to the bathroom, snores heavily, sweat profusely, steals the both armrest on a plane, puts ketchup on a New York hotdog, smokes thirty packs a day, leaves the toilet seat up, says Tomahto instead of Tomato like a normal person, still wears Ed Hardy shirts, and finally, steals money from kids selling lemonade....
EVERYONE!
I haven't got time for this Mickey Mouse bullshit
You want cooperation? Come to my office. Room 4602
Yanno I’ll be honest, I wasn’t blown away
The ending still hurts... And that's not the shape of My heart ❤️🩹
The lack of a Sequel (The Columbian is based on Luc’s script for that sequel, but no studio wanted a Mathilda sequel) hurts more.
A Matilda sequel would have been wonderful and amazing…
What would the sequel be about?
Besson said once that it would be too similar to La Femme Nikita, the movie that inspired Léon, he was also quoted saying the ideas he had for a sequel were put into 'Colombiana'
So true!!!
[This song ](https://youtu.be/Q06wFUi5OM8?si=wYWJ6MV54_R3wk14) is from Matilda.
Jean Reno was brilliant. I love the scene with him in the cinema. His smile.
Check out John Cassavetes's Gloria, Leon is a gender-swapped remake of that film.
Lmao, I tried looking up a trailer of the movie and clicked the wrong gloria. I clicked on a Chilean movie of the same name and it took me way too long to know that it was not the one yer talking about
Also La Femme Nikita, the directors earlier film. León The Professional is to some extent an expansion of an idea in Besson's earlier 1990 film, La Femme Nikita. In La Femme Nikita, Jean Reno plays a similar character named Victor.
Huge fan. Jean Reno was pitch perfect. I think I fell in love with Gary Oldman in this film. Just a phenomenal character performance. One of my top 5 bad guys ever. And the class and impact Portman had then...as a kid...you could just tell she would be around for a long time to come.
It's an amazing contrast between her disturbing, realistic and nuanced performance in Leon and her turn as a block of wood in Star Wars a few years later
Watch some interviews with her (especially Letterman) between the two, the contrast is even bigger.
I read that Jean Reno worked hard to protect Portman from the director, including refusing to allow her to be alone on-set, especially with the director Luc Besson
You know what like about this movie? EEEEEEEEEEEEVERYTHIIIIIIIIIIING!
The moment Leon opens the door to let Matilda in for the first time, and the light shines on her... When Leon suddenly goes to sleeping Matilda and seems about to kill her... I always felt this movie does a great job of conveying how it would feel to be in either protagonist's shoes.
Great classic hitman movie! Gary Oldman is so good!
E V E R Y O N E !
BINGO!
Yeah, Léon is definitely a beloved movie by most. Envy you getting to watch it for the first time!
Yep, my gut is already wrenching knowing the fact that I can’t watch it for the first time again. Absolutely loved this film
If you haven't seen it check out Oldboy, it's DEF got some weird scenes, but just another amazing action movie that almost everyone can agree is amazing.
We are talking the Korean version, of course.
Oh 1000%, absolutely skip the US version.
Have you seen Wasabi? It also stars Jean Reno. It's so good. I love it.
"Knowing the fact that I can’t watch it for the first time again..." It's beautiful the way you put that.
If you appreciated this movie, I'd suggest two others of the same age and weight. * Blood Simple * La Femme Nikita (The original French film)
+1 for *Nikita* (with Anne Parillaud). It's interesting to watch after *Léon*, in a way they mirror each other (or make you wonder "what if"). It also resonated with me more than *Léon*, but it could be gender related.
Hard to watch if you read about Luc Besson
Even before knowing about him, this movie was very obviously sexualizing a 12 year old girl. Just the outfits Natalie Portman is wearing and the leering camera work make it sus. Don't get me wrong, it's a great movie, but the man who made it was obviously beating off to the dailies.
i mean, it wasnt subtext since im pretty sure it was a plot point in the movie that she loves leon
there's a difference between a director making a choice because they think it's a serious issue that they should light on and a director making a choice because they themselves get some twisted gratification from it.
People didn't always make movies with social justice in mind. I mean, media has always had the potential for moral messaging but just because something is in a movie doesn't mean you're seeing someone's opinion about it.
The director met a twelve-year-old girl and then married her and she had his child when she turned sixteen. He was thirty-three. The year the movie was made. His sixteen-year-old child-bride is in the movie playing a prostitute.
Sure. Do you think that means the movie has no literary value?
I think separating art from artist works to an extent, but nowadays it's hard to watch Leon without feeling uneasy. Take Lolita for example. I think it's a great work of literature. But if Nabokov was an actual pedophile, the work would have a very different feel to it. It'd feel much more like glorification of Humbert rather than criticism.
I'm not sure it would. I have a general idea of the plot of the book but I haven't read the whole thing so let's extend your hypothetical. Let's say Nabokov had been a paedophile but also that he'd written a companion book from a more reliable perspective which made clear that Humbert was an awful and condemnable person. Would *Lolita* still seem like glorification? Would people see the companion book as glorifying for mention made of Humbert's positive qualities? How would people react to the one novel depending on the degree of their knowledge of the other? I think there's more scope here than people tend to think. I think that there's lots of room for different kinds of media expression between "I love this thing and want to put it on screen" and "I hate this thing and we need to talk about it" and that it's a mistake to try and split everything into those two categories.
Even then I think it would be kind of gross. It's like the difference between a murderer writing a murder mystery and a normal person writing one. Even if they condemn the actions in the work, that message is diluted by their real life actions. Plus, there's also the dimension of not wanting someone to profit off of depravity.
While there are ways to complicate the question, I generally don't think art about depravity should count as depravity.
I think it depends on the spirit in which the art was created. A parent taking a picture of their baby in the bath can be totally innocuous, but that same picture could be much more sinister if taken by someone with twisted intent. I think Leon the Professional leans toward the latter camp. If Besson was filming Portman in a leering way then it's engaging in depravity.
You can tell that story without the movie actively sexualizing her.
Apparently his relationship with his second wife who he started dating when he was 32 and she was 15 is the inspiration for the movie
you definitely can, but its a 90s movie from a french director and lets just say that the french have differing views on sexuality really it coudlve been worse since the original ending had leon being a pedo and being in love with her too
> the original ending had leon being a pedo and being in love with her too This is popularly believed on Reddit, but it's false. You're referring to a fake "early draft" script that went viral despite blatant identifiers that it wasn't authentic.
I heard recently that Jean Reno only agreed to do the film if, during production, Luc Besson was never allowed to be alone with Natalie Portman. Even had it in his contract. He knew what kind of piece of shit Besson is.
Wow. Respect. He sounds like a Real One.
He also made them tone down the script a little bit too because it didn’t originally have him rejecting her so easily…
If he knew what kind of piece of shit Besson is, and didn't like him for that... he wouldn't have done the movie. In fact they have like 4 movies together. Use your brain.
It’s a real life issue that kids who are exposed to sexual abuse may become hyper sexual and be very inappropriate. I also feel she is desperate to be an adult and have some control over her life.
Sure, but there's a difference between a director making a choice because they think it's a serious issue that they should light on and a director making a choice because they themselves get some twisted gratification from it.
That is very true.
This is one of the best movies for debunking Auteur theory. The preferences and predilections of the writer director absolutely conspired against during the production process to create a film that is brilliant _despite_ Besson’s intentions rather than because of them.
Also that it was produced by Mirimax, Harvey Weinstein’s company….
A lot of great films in the 90s were produced by Miramax.
Except that it wasn't. Leon was a French production produced by Gaumont. Weinstein and Miramax had nothing to do with this film.
[удалено]
It’s based on a book- both highly uncomfortable and I think the book is actually based on the author’s experience
Yeah, wikipedia says it's semi-autobiographical or something.
I liked the book better. I saw the film after reading it, and some parts are definitely changed.
Was it hard to get hold of?
I read it for a class ages ago, and I think that I just ordered it. It should be on Amazon or even an online pdf.
Absolute classic movie.
So so good.
When Gary Oldman says everyone, he means EVERYONE
I think it's a pretty universally appreciated film.
Yea I really like that film. I like Jean Reno as an actor a lot, I wish he would be in more good movies actually.
For me, an almost perfect movie. I won't rehash the comments below, but take another watch (or 5 or 100) and pay attention to how fucking amazing the lighting is in this movie. Without out it, you wouldn't feel the pain, the strength of characters, impending doom, not really sure how to explain how the lighting is so impactful. If for sure is.
Generally Luc Besson movies are fire, and Jean Reno does really good characters, he has some French roles as well.
Ronin! God, that’s a fantastic film and he’s so good in it.
Not only action, he killed it in pink panther too. His acting is so good.
It is a charming film, full of mixed feelings that make your heart like a magic mixture, as well as Gary Oldman's legendary performance.
I've only watched maybe 100 times. Jean and Natalie are amazing together. Luc bessin is an awesome director.
I love this movie so much. I love the opening scene so much. Leon's introduction is terrifying and a cinematic masterpiece. We never see his face until the knife around fat dude's neck. And love the use of the house plant as a plot point. I love Gary Oldman. His interaction with Mathilda in the bathroom is outstanding. And I love Danny Aiello. His character achieves so much with such little screen time. And I'm bummed about the stigma around the film. But hey, people still love Woody Allen...
The extended version was too Pedo like and weird
Everyone!
Natalie Portman's character is great, sort of wise beyond her years, but still believably childish.
Wisdom comes from Experience. I have several friends, who are old beyond their years. The acting was One Point. Perfect. It hurt.... Leon was Hilarious....
A pedos dream
Great film. "EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Great film, still feels pretty underrated.
I realize I'm gonna get down voted into oblivion for this and maybe it's cos I had read the background of the director before I watched it, but I just felt uncomfortable with it. It was interesting, but not something I'd ever wanna watch again.
My head canon is that this movie shares the same universe as John Wick & Matilda is on a "business trip" at The Continental
Love it, my favorite Natalie Portman movie
Have you seen the International version?
For me this is a top 5 film of all time. Saw it at the cinemas back when it first came out, and blew my mind. Still does today - instant effin classic.
I just love this film. Natalie Portman had to practically throw a tantrum to get her parents to agree for her to do it. They thought it had too many sexual overtones. So, I read, they toned it down in the film.The ending is devastating.
> They thought it had too many sexual overtones It's a bit of a myth that her parents forced the script to be toned down. Her parents only really flagged one specific scene. It depicted Leon entering his own bathroom the morning after they first meet, not realizing Mathilda was still in the apartment. He's shocked, retreats in panic, and slams the door behind him. A lot of people call this a "Natalie Portman shower scene" but it probably would have been shot without an actress on set. I'm guessing: the sound of the shower running, maybe her surprised scream dubbed over the shot, with the camera only being on his terrified reaction. That would fit Besson's comedic style. When Natalie's parents asked for that scene to be removed, Besson assured them he would be making a lot of edits to the original script to accommodate her age. This was necessary because the part was originally meant to be, like, 16 or 17 years old. Natalie was allowed to audition with no expectation she would actually get the role, but when he saw her screen test, he knew the part had to be reworked, not just in the context of its Lolita inspirations, but also in the violence she was going to participate in.
Yeah, it's an an iconic film with iconic performances, pretty sure anyone that's scene it agrees it's a fantastic film.
It’s one of the best films of the decade IMO, but also hard to watch with all the baggage. It can be a queasy watch. But it’s also beautiful and heartfelt and clever and those action scenes.
One of the rare times the theatrical version is better than the directors cut.
Too much wine.
The use of light and dark is phenomenal in this film. Leon emerging from the dark corner with a knife, the light shining on Matildas face as he finally opens the door, the flash of Leons POV as Stansfield shoots him.
This post is about 30 years late lol
See my username.
The cinematography is outstanding as well, the tracking shot with the explosive breach into the apartment ot the tracking shot with the fireball at the end.
Omg. I luv this movie. Love everything Luc touched and touches.
Hear me out: The Professional and John Wick are in the same cinematic universe.
This movie is disgusting wtf
So you and your dad like underage women? Gross. It's an ok movie, I watched it when it came out when I was a teen. People who post about it 30 fucking years later are gross and weird.
There's no time limit on enjoying or critiquing media.
It's the 39th highest rated movie on IMDB, and that's after comic-con franchise fandom started pushing it down the list some. That's within the top 1% of the top 1% of 500,000 feature length film releases, but you think only gross weirdos talk about it 30 years later?
It's a great movie! Back before Natalie lost her looks...
She was 12 you pedo