Director: Luc Besson
Screenplay: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman
Country: US
Running Time: 133/111m
Year: 1994
I might be biased, because it was one of my favourite films from my formative film geek 90s years, but Leon still strikes me as a remarkably accomplished film. Luc Besson’s best film? Nikita and The Fifth Element are fabulous but still demonstrate a modicum of the criticism often unfairly levelled at the director’s penchant for style over substance. I don’t think it’s a fair generalisation, just like saying Spielberg is over-sentimental. However -and I’m being really picky here- some of his oeuvre is occasionally indulgent.
The only thing indulgent about Leon is how embarrassingly good it is. The Princess Bride of action, each element is in harmonious service to one another, even while the story positions them at odds. It felt fresh and original in the 1990s and still bucks the trend of hitman tropes today. Indeed, Leon established the modern euro-thriller.
The performances are extraordinary and importantly, so generous with each other, despite them not fitting together on paper. It’s a human film, even though the action is brutal when required. Gary Oldman is at his insane peak and it would be easy for him to take over the film. He doesn’t, but the film allows him to find a sympathetic pitch throughout. His henchmen are a mix of personalities that easily tolerate him. It’s no mistake he references composers so often; his is the voice of the film’s symphonic ambition.
Same goes for the incredible Natalie Portman. Hers is one of the finest kids performances you’re likely to see. The nuance and breadth she brought to Mathilda is incredible and that just demonstrates how good she is here, because she’s an incredible actor, of course. But the film belongs to Jean Reno and his hitman is quite unlike any stereotypical assassin before or since. He is cool and calculated, but off a job, awkward and fallible. Reno already played a ‘cleaner’ in Nikita with a near identical aesthetic, but this is a leap into something else.
In Leon himself, the film finds its heart, its humour and a thirst for something more than blood and bullets. Leon’s irresistible manner feeds into everything else. Is gruff boss Tony really trustworthy or is he playing a game? We don’t know, but we do know he’s not going to cross Leon.
With the story locked in and the cast smashing it, Besson has the luxury of finding grace-notes in every gap. And again, never indulgently so. It’s an eccentric tale in its own right, so some of the setups are pretty nuts, and yet the humanity of the thing is never obscured.
Included in this release is the longer International Edition (a funny name for it considering it was never released in France). Personally, I prefer the tighter theatrical cut, but there’s not much in it. The film is a magic trick in any form. I’m still holding out for a sequel; Natalie Portman could play Mathilda at any age.
VIDEO
Regular Besson collaborator Thierry Arbogast had a field day with Leon. It’s a gorgeous looking film, leveraging a bright, spacious New York city (though many of the interiors were filmed in France). Between Besson and Arbogast, we feel the suffocating enormity of the metropolis, but never lose focus on the two lost souls finding solace in one another.
The UHD is beautifully sharp and bright in the numerous and ambitious long-shots. The interior and frequent close-ups are full of tangible texture and detail. It leans into a bright colourful image, without pushing convention too far, as Besson did with Nikita. Nevertheless, it has bold neo-noirish shadows and close-ups reminiscent of Tony Scott.
