Léon (1994)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

Luc Besson

Writer:

Luc Besson (writer)

Release Date:

18 November 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

If you want a job done well hire a professional.

Plot:

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

Awards:

2 wins & 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 15

12:30 PM

OXYGEN

Cast

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')

Also Known As:

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

MPAA:

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

Runtime:

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

Country:

France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

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)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Gaumont

Trivia:

The second shot (a tracking shot traveling down a New York street without stopping) could only be accomplished after carefully studying the pattern of the traffic signals so as to insure the camera truck didn't encounter any red lights.

Goofs:

Continuity: The bathroom mirror disappears and reappears during Mathilda's charades game. It is on the wall for 'Madonna', off the wall for Marilyn Monroe, back on the wall for Charles Chaplin, and off again for 'Gene Kelly'.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Follow That Egg (#9.10)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

I Like Myself

A Brilliant Conflict

This film, better known in the U.S. as "The Professional", is a wonderful and intense film. Jean Reno plays his role as a "cleaner" with incredible subtlety. Leon tries to keep his emotions completely suppressed, yet Matilda (in an extraordinary performance by a young Natalie Portman, who is destined to become a very powerful actress into her adult life) bring out in him a new-found joy for life that accompanies his growing paternal instincts. But, the most dynamic element of this film is undeniably Gary Oldman's performance as a wildly sadistic and crooked DEA agent with his own narcotic-induced demons. His obsessions eventually lead him to the brink of absolute madness in his hunt for the cleaner. Truly, this is Oldman's finest performance to date, worthy of Oscar glory, though sadly forgotten. And so, Luc Besson did indeed top his triumph of "La Femme Nikita" by far with this masterpiece. Though, I cannot exactly praise his most recent effort with the sci-fi misfire, "The Fifth Element."