Léon: The Professional (1994)
"Léon" (original title)

A professional assassin rescues a teenage girl whose parents were killed in a police raid.

Director:

Luc Besson

Writer:

Luc Besson

Stars:

Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman

Top 250 #31 | 3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jean Reno	...	Léon
Gary Oldman	...	Stansfield
Natalie Portman	...	Mathilda
Danny Aiello	...	Tony
Peter Appel	...	Malky
Willi One Blood	...	1St Stansfield Man (as Willie One Blood)
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')

Storyline

Mathilda, a twelve-year old New York girl, is living an undesirable life among her half-family. Her father stores drugs for two-faced cop Norman Stansfield. Only her little brother keeps Mathilda from breaking apart. One day, Stansfield and his team take cruel revenge on her father for stretching the drugs a little, thus killing the whole family. Only Mathilda, who was out shopping, survives by finding shelter in Léon's apartment in the moment of highest need. Soon, she finds out about the strange neighbour's unusual profession - killing - and desperately seeks his help in taking revenge for her little brother. Léon, who is completely unexperienced in fatherly tasks, and in friendships, does his best to keep Mathilda out of trouble - unsuccessfully. Now, the conflict between a killer, who slowly discovers his abilities to live, to feel, to love and a corrupt police officer, who does anything in his might to get rid of an eye witness, arises to unmeasurable proportions - all for the ...

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Plot Keywords:

girl | drugs | revenge | hitman | apartment | 

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Taglines:

He moves without sound. Kills without emotion. Disappears without trace.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

France

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Léon: The Professional

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

FRF 115,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

JPY 112,586,900 (Japan) (3 January 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gaumont, Les Films du Dauphin

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 136 min (uncut) 133 min (International) 100 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When the film was first tested in LA, the version that was screened incuded a short scene where Mathilda asks Léon to be her lover. However, the audience became extremely uncomfortable and began to laugh nervously, completely destroying the tone of the film. The film received terrible test scores at the screening, and as such, producer Patrice Ledoux and writer/director Luc Besson decided to cut the scene for theatrical release.

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Goofs

Early in the movie, Léon gives Mathilda a revolver, which she fires six times out the window. Later on (in the International version) she plays Russian Roulette with the same revolver, and we see her place three bullets into the cylinder, although the audio indicates she loads four. However when she spins the cylinder and before snapping it closed it can be seen that three out of five chambers are loaded. It would be impossible to fire the gun six times without reloading.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

Under the "SPECIAL THANKS" heading you will find: Chevalier KAMEN (Prince of the Mash Potatoes) Byblos Bill (King of Saint Tropez) Princess Trudy (Queen of Hearts)

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Connections

Referenced in The Transporter (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Happy Birthday"
Written by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill (as Patty Hill)

User Reviews

Where are the accolades?

This movie is rated 63 on the imdb top 250 movie list, showing that people obviously like this movie, and with good reason. But why the hell didn;t this movie garner at least one single oscar or golden globe nomination??

natalie portman's performance was terrific as the emotionally ravaged matildha - best actress nomination for sure.

jean reno should have been nominated for a best actor nomination. the fact that the audience is led to feel sympathy and sorrow for a hitman speaks words enough about his performance.

gary oldman is fantastic as the corrupt and psychotic cop. his character is so repulsive and chilling, but at the same time so quirky and interesting to watch. best supporting actor nomination.

luc besson. when this man will get some kudos for his work i never know. the professional, in my opinion, is his greatest achievement as a director and, considering the fact he has helmed classic cult films such as nikita and the fifth element, the professional must rate highly as one of the best films of the 90's atleast! best film and best director nominations should have been given.

but no, it was all too easy to heap praise on the feel good movie forrest gump, and shun the movie that, through its intensity and tragedy, better highlights the value of life and love.