Léon (1994)

Note Générale:

8,6/10   

Réalisateur:

Luc Besson

Scénariste:

Luc Besson (writer)

Date de sortie:

18 novembre 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drame | Thriller

Accroche:

If you want a job done well hire a professional.

Intrigue:

Professional assassin Leon reluctantly takes care of 12-year-old Mathilda, a neighbor whose parents are killed, and teaches her his trade.

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Revenge | Apartment | Neighbor | Hitman

Récompenses:

2 wins & 8 nominations

Avis des utilisateurs:

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 15

12:30 PM

OXYGEN

Ensemble

Jean Reno	...	Léon
Gary Oldman	...	Stansfield
Natalie Portman	...	Mathilda
Danny Aiello	...	Tony
Peter Appel	...	Malky
Willi One Blood	...	1st Stansfield man
Don Creech	...	2nd Stansfield man
Keith A. Glascoe	...	3rd Stansfield man (Benny)
Randolph Scott	...	4th Stansfield man
Michael Badalucco	...	Mathilda's Father
Ellen Greene	...	Mathilda's Mother
Elizabeth Regen	...	Mathilda's Sister
Carl J. Matusovich	...	Mathilda's Brother
Frank Senger	...	Fatman
Lucius Wyatt Cherokee	...	Tonto (as Lucius Wyatt 'Cherokee')

Autre(s) titre(s):

Léon (UK)
Leon: The Professional (USA) (longer version)
The Professional (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for scenes of strong graphic violence, and for language.

Durée:

110 min | France:136 min (uncut version) | 133 min (International version) | Turkey:100 min (TV version)

Pays:

France

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur (Technicolor)

Rapport de forme:

2,35 : 1

Son:

Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Classification:

South Korea:18 (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M (tv rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Philippines:R-18 | Italy:T | Finland:K-15 (director's cut) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) (2002) | South Korea:18 (director's cut) | UK:15 (DVD re-rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:18 | France:-12 (original version) | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB (director's cut) | Israel:PG | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (original rating) | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | Canada:16+ (Quebec)

Lieux de tournage:

1 Centre Street, New York City, New York, USA

Société:

Gaumont

Anecdotes:

According to Patrice Ledoux, Luc Besson planned Léon as filler. At the time, he had already started working on The Fifth Element (1997), but production was delayed due to Bruce Willis's schedule. Rather than dismiss the production team and lose his creative momentum, Besson wrote Léon. It took him only 30 days to write the script, and the shoot lasted only 90 days. Ironically, Léon is now generally considered to be a far superior film to The Fifth Element.

Goofs:

Révélant des erreurs: Following the DEA raid on Mathilda's apartment in the beginning of the movie, Mathilda's "dead" sister is seen visibly breathing while lying on the floor.

Guillemet:

[first lines]
Tony: Allora, come stai, Leone?
Léon: Bene.
[Tony puts out his cigarette in an ashtray]
Tony: OK. OK. Let's talk business.

Connexions:

Référencé sur Biohazard 4 (2005) (VG)

Bande son:

I Like Myself

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

Luc Besson's movie Léon (The Professional) gives us an intense story which is maximized in potential by the casting of the movie done by Todd Thaler. Every aspect of the movie delivers to the audience and makes an impressive overall package. Jean Reno plays a character named Léon who has learned to repress his emotions in order to perform his job as a "cleaner", or hit-man. His secluded world is shattered by the young girl named Mathilda who lives on the same floor as he does in an apartment building. When she turns to him for help, he learns about living a normal life, even if the circumstances which unite them are far from normal.

The performance delivered by then twelve-year old Natalie Portman as Mathilda is nothing short of brilliant. Her ability to relate to others with body movement and facial gestures is matched by few, she really brings raw emotion and believability to a difficult role. Mathilda and Léon are unexpectedly thrown together, but learn to value life from their chance encounter, and how valuable a friendship can be.

Jean Reno as Léon gives us a solemn and calculated character who sets all of his energy on his assignments until her is given something else to care about. Mathilda gives him the daughter that he never had, while Léon serves as a father and friend to her. Gary Oldman, as the corrupt DEA Agent Norman Stansfield, offers the viewers an amazingly wired and electrical performance which pushes the envelope. He moves the story along by his actions. Oldman offers us a memorable portrait of a sadistically obsessed man who stops short of nothing to get what he wants.

The Professional is what movie-making is all about. Without the overuse of special effects, a large shooting location, or a commercially star studded cast, we are given all that could possibly be asked for in a movie. Portman, Oldman, and Reno, along with Danny Aiello as the hit-contractor Tony remind us that there is no substitute for great acting. There are elements of comedy, drama, and action, and great original music by Eric Serra adds to the energy the film already encapsulates. The most impressive thing about the movie is its story which is basic but is maximized by all the other elements which go into the making of the movie. Simply put, an intense and impressive movie.