Coolbaugh Comments:
Have I ever said I didn’t like one of our pics? Well, it’s not going to change this day. I loved this movie. I love that Davis struggled with his pick and was watching the shot clock tick down to 5 seconds with no timeouts remaining. And I love that Davis had so much confidence in his “backup” pick that he knew he didn’t need a time out anyway. He casually let the clock click down to one, and got off one last Hail Mary, and won the game.
I love Jean Reno. What an actor. He was so engaging. His level of uncompromising intensity and commitment to his profession was precisely balanced – and at the same time completely in conflict - with a delicate, vulnerable and extremely human soul. It was uncomfortable to watch at times, and beautifully fluid at others. This was only amplified when you placed him against the backdrop of an untouchable Natalie Portman performance - arguably the best of her career. It was even better than her Sesame Street appearance where she very sexily whooped up some bird seed milk shakes. To see her as this naïve, beaten and abused little 12-year old girl made your heart simply bleed. But in the next breath, you’re laughing out loud at her desires to be drilled by her 40-year old dream man. And from someone who thinks Natalie Portman is as hot as they come, to see her as this very sexy little girl was not the least bit comfortable. She danced between these two characters every bit as well as Reno brought to life the bipolar edges of Léon’s personal hell. Their chemistry as actors was perfectly displayed in the chemistry between the skits Mathilda and Léon performed to sneak past the deadbolts to do some cleanin’.
This movie is full of dualities. Mathilda vs. Mathilda. Léon vs. Léon. Even the completely psychotic, over-the-top “shoot first and ask no questions later” job turned in by Gary Oldman. His cold-blooded mass murdering on behalf of the DEA was juxtaposed with the music of Beethoven. Ironically, I love the music of Beethoven for the exact same reasons. I love the explosions of the first movement that so often is followed by the gorgeous, almost apologetic second movement that brings tears to the eyes of grown men.
I didn’t find any of the Oliver Stone/David Finch-esque super army squads to be anything other than powerful metaphors, when they could so easily come off lame. I bet in the shorter version of ‘The Professional’ they do just that. I haven’t seen that, nor will I.
This is the second film in a row that has delivered a gentle fable to the group. Maybe it’s a sign of our middle age slowly creeping up behind us, only to leap past when we’re not looking. But whatever it is, I can relate to this film on many levels. I’ve often said I’m a slave to indecision. I can always see, understand and relate to both sides of most arguments. It is something I don’t necessarily like about my nature. After all, why can’t I have a strong opinion on everything? Whatever. It is what it is, and it has served me well as often as it has cursed me.
Next week (actually, two weeks from now), Jaja, or Wiener, or whoever ends up selecting, will have a big decision to make on what direction to take Movienight. We seem to have recovered from our little slump. I hope Hal makes it back from the hospital in time. And I hope we continue to push the trend line upwards towards the stars that shine overhead on Wednesday nights. Until then,
Onward.
Nubs Comments:
Davis should be proud of his pick simply because it persevered. With an unprecedented 3 reboots from the projector, Pat Towne showing up late, and Coolbaughs “loud” chips and salsa (which Davis ended up finishing), we still all sat through the over two hour ‘Léon.’ That’s a good movie…or we were all too scared to break Davis’s heart.
Not to mention that when it first started, I thought I remember not liking it. Davis was quick to point out it was ‘The Professional’ and not this version which I had previously seen.
I couldn’t tell you the differences but it is a much better story with this version. Actually, I think I can tell the differences. ‘The Professional’ I remember as a shoot em up, over-acted, action film with an awkward Lolita love story. ‘Léon’ is a beautiful story about a man taking in a girl, and learning to live…while shooting up a lot of people.
The two performances from Jean Reno and Natalie Portman are what separate this film from so many of its peers. I’m sorry, but not only is Natalie Portman better in this than in any other work she’s done, including her nominated lap dance in ‘Closer,’ but she should have won an Academy Award much more than any other child star who has previously been nominated; Anna Paquin, Haley Joel Osment, or Rick Schroeder. Jean Reno gives an acting lesson on listening, reacting, and being in the moment, the hardest things to learn.
While I am speaking on the art of acting, I cannot let Gary Oldman go unscathed. I remember what I did not like about my earlier viewing of ‘The Professional’ was Gary Oldman’s way over the top, loosely directed performance. As much as I love him as one of the greatest actors of his generation, this is what I would consider “bad Gary Oldman”, see also ‘Air Force One.’ I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of Oldman’s history of dependency, and I suspect like his character, he was on something. I appreciate his introduction sniffing out the lie of his challenger, but from there it disintegrates into cartoon. It begins with his Beethoven monologue, which though I appreciate for it’s irony because he played Beethoven is still unbelievable “monologuing.” It is a great plot point how evil his character is, but, please, too much yelling Gary.
Other than Gary Oldman there are a couple of other minor flaws. Though I really like Danny Aiello’s character, Tony, we never really know if he’s a good guy. We don’t trust him with Léon’s money, and he gives up their location in the end. He seems to get Mathilda on the right track in the end so is he a good guy or bad? I also find the end a little too unbelievable. You gotta assume the hundreds of swat men know they are looking for an Italian and a twelve year-old girl. Yet both walk right by them bleeding like they had been in a gunfight. Oh, well.
Everyone thinks of this movie and focuses on the awkward love story. That is what I really appreciated with this viewing. I suppose because I now have a daughter of my own, it didn’t bother me. He seemed like he wanted to take care of her in a completely platonic way, and she unfamiliar with such kindness, mistakes it for love. It is perfectly harmless in my eyes. And if you had a daughter as hot as mine, you’d get it too. Just kidding! I probably shouldn’t joke about such things or this website or we will get shut down faster than you can say “MySpace.”
So, if it’s so harmless and insignificant why is there such emphasis on this story in this version. Everyone would have to admit how uncomfortable Mathilda’s dress up scenes are, as well as her tucking him in bed with just a skimpy wife-beater on. I think the point of the movie is to ask how close can one get to a taboo lifestyle and escape with their sanctity. Léon seems to live the life of a hitman, harbors and corrupts a minor, but in the end, saves her and himself. I need an editor.
SELECTOR Comments:
I heard a few years after ‘The Professional’ had been released that there was another version of the film that had not been seen in the United States. It was rumored that this ‘international cut’ was too scandalous for American audiences and I became curious to know what had changed and if it made a good movie, ‘The Professional,’ into a great one. When ‘Léon’ was released a few years ago I had my answer – oui.
‘Léon’ is at times a text book example of comic book violence and cinematic excess, but when it deals with the twisted, troubling love story of a forty year old child like hit man and a precocious twelve year old girl it becomes a complex, at times upsetting, and ultimately moving film.
Unlike Kubrick’s ‘Lolita’ where the child of the title is played by an obviously grown woman, Besson brazenly introduced us all to the magnificent twelve year old Natalie Portman and turned the audience unwittingly into borderline dirty old men. Her performance is so forcefully drawn that we forget her age and are transfixed by her beauty and poise. Besson always seems to know when he is approaching the edge of objectifying her and instantly reminds us of her youth and innocence. This push and pull mirrors the struggle Léon has in her company, and creates a sublime tension that never strays into exploitation.
What ‘Léon’ does well that ‘The Professional’ shied away from, is to develop an honest and painful story of love. It is not a physical love nor do we ever truly worry it will be, but in every other sense Besson succeeds in creating a human romance between a monstrous killer and the resilient youth whose life he saved. Mathilda’s desire for intimacy with Léon is the bulk of the restored material in this version of the film. Its restoration cements the love story at the film’s core and transforms Léon’s first and only quasi-romantic overture to Mathilda, as he liberates her and his plant from their doomed apartment, from an odd and clunky coda into a deeply noble and heartbreaking climax. Léon tells Mathilda she has given him a taste for life. He wants to plant roots and sleep in a bed. We realize in this exchange that when Léon made the choice to save her life, he was doomed. He saved her life at the cost of his own, but in exchange Mathilda has taught him how to love.
My acting coach, Ivana, believes the source of deep love in stories (and life) is two people sharing a common pain. Léon’s pain and origins are never really discussed in this film, but in one of the more beautiful sequences in the script Mathilda asks if life is always as hard as when you are twelve or if it gets easier. Léon’s perfect reply – “Always like this.” For what seems like the first time, an adult sees Mathilda as a person and answers her honestly and without pity. But the scene does more than that. It makes us believe that Léon knows abuse, and isolation. His origins are the same as hers and that commonality is the core of their affection. Besson crafts a beautiful and provocative story that makes the audience ask hard questions about the film, about society, and about the very nature of love. Not bad for an action flick.
Where ‘The Professional’ failed the most for me was in how cartoonish it became. It seemed as though Gary Oldman was playing the Big Bad Wolf in a straight up action film, and I blamed his performance for much of the film’s flaws. With ‘Léon,’ we understand that this story is a fable. It is cut from the same cloth as Beauty and the Beast, and King Kong, and without the breadth and width of Léon and Mathilda’s story, it had seemed more a quirky action film than the challenging and lyrical fairy tale it is. With the love story restored, the Big Bad Wolf is now at home in this film, and the cartoonish moments are transformed into allegory, mitigating our fears about a child’s safety and allowing the tale to be told.
‘Léon’ is a great film. Jean Reno and Natalie Portman are as close to perfection as any script could hope for, and ‘Léon’ stands apart from any film I’ve seen before or since. I don’t know much higher praise than that.
I am glad this film was well received and that the Crew stayed focused through the unprecedented projector issues. Where only a few months ago we would have had a Tea Break, the group pulled together and our trusty projector HAL came through in the end.
If you can make it I hope to see you all at my birthday next Wednesday night, and if you can’t I’ll see you when I return on Wednesday, July 12th.
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