Léon: The Professional

365 Films

Entry #40

Léon: The Professional (1994)

Directed by Luc Besson

Léon: The Professional is a film so wildly implausible that it almost begs to be taken not as a straight drama but more along the lines of a fairy tale.  That would most certainly explain the beauty and the beast romance between Leon, a professional hit man and Mathilda, a lonely twelve-year-old girl who is the only surviving member of her family after a police raid.  Said romance was severely tamped down for the American release and if you were committed enough to see the original European cut of Léon, you’ll find a much more pronounced emphasis on a potential romantic relationship between a middle aged man and a pre-teen girl.  I could never figure out if this was really daring or incredibly creepy.  The argument could be made that the particulars of the courtship take place mostly inside Mathilda’s head given her consuming obsession with the guardian/avenging angel of Léon.  At the same time, it’s a little weird and says something very interesting about American tolerance towards that kind of crap.  As such, the American release does lean towards a more generic by the numbers action revenge motif whereas the international cut definitely has more of a melancholy/doomed romance ballad feel to it.  It goes without saying that in either cut, the action is expertly filmed and exquisitely choreographed.  In particular, Besson’s decision to set two action sequences inside an incredibly cramped apartment building pays off gracefully.  The opening raid on Mathilda’s family is especially terrifying with the claustrophobia serving as a reminder that there is very little chance of escape for any of the innocents.  And the final shoot out between Léon and what looks like the entirety of the NYPD SWAT team delivers on the promise of such an excruciatingly tense set up.  This film also introduced me to the idea of Gary Oldman, murderous psychopath.  I don’t recall ever seeing him in a film prior to this and yet when you watch The Professional, he is one of the most memorable things about it (if not THE most).  What followed for Mr. Oldman at this point in his career was a slew of villains that may have gotten more cartoonish in caricature yet never quite topped the intense sadism of Stansfield.  The fact that he was able to successfully bring to life the only character of moral decency in all of the Gotham police force just proves what a versatile and resourceful actor Mr. Oldman can be.  It’s been a while since I’ve seen Léon and my primary memories are that it attempts to blend together elements from maybe seventeen different kinds of movies and doesn’t always succeed.  That being said, what it gets right certainly sticks with you and there are images and sequences from this film that I will never forget.  It is damn near impossible for me to ever ask somebody to “bring me everyone” without resorting to Oldman’s famous command (or maybe I’m just a weirdo).  All things considered, when you compare Léon to the sorry state of action films being offered today (most of which are produced by Luc Besson, for god’s sake!) this looks like something all together unique, ambitious, and just flat out strange.  We could definitely use more of that these days.