Let me clarify myself here: this, by no means, was a bad film. My disappointment actually came from my own expectations. What I was prepared for when sitting down to watch this film was a slick, cool action thriller about assassins. That's what any film which includes assassin's usually are, I didn't get what I was prepared for.
Leon, or The Professional, is a French thriller starring Jean Reno as the titular character. He's a hitman working for the mob. I had to look up what the difference is between "Assassin" and "Hitman". There is no difference, but somehow being called a hitman seems a little more... sleazy.
Leon doesn't even refer to himself as a hitman, or an assassin or a killer or a murderer. He calls himself a "cleaner", a somewhat insightful title that alternates the typical image of a hitman in our minds. When twelve-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman in her debut film) asks what he does for a living, he calmly replies he is a "cleaner", perhaps as an attempt at protecting her innocence and casting himself into a falsified good light. This seems to contradict though, as he continues to try and protect Mathilda's innocence he does so by degrading himself, knowing deep down, in a moral sense, that his lifestyle isn't to be indoctrinated into her.
Mathilda herself is a dark character and she's quite well-written. Despite this, her development was my biggest disappointment. The first half of the film gives the impression that she will become a ruthless child assassin, as she certainly has the right character for it. She becomes Leon's protégée after her family are massacred by a corrupt DEA agent (Gary Oldman). The scene building up to her family's murder is quite impressive, Mathilda manages to narrowly escape the clutches of her family's murderers by simply walking past her apartment door and knocking on Leon's, her neighbour. I liked this because it seemed to be a plausible situation that Mathilda found herself in, and she dealt with it in a way a logical character would, she remained as calm and thought fast. Though this was an impressive feat of Mathilda's character, I couldn't shake off the sense that she should have been older. It felt wrong to be putting a twelve-year-old in the middle of this turmoil, it was almost disturbing in a way.
Leon doesn't even refer to himself as a hitman, or an assassin or a killer or a murderer. He calls himself a "cleaner", a somewhat insightful title that alternates the typical image of a hitman in our minds. When twelve-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman in her debut film) asks what he does for a living, he calmly replies he is a "cleaner", perhaps as an attempt at protecting her innocence and casting himself into a falsified good light. This seems to contradict though, as he continues to try and protect Mathilda's innocence he does so by degrading himself, knowing deep down, in a moral sense, that his lifestyle isn't to be indoctrinated into her.
Mathilda herself is a dark character and she's quite well-written. Despite this, her development was my biggest disappointment. The first half of the film gives the impression that she will become a ruthless child assassin, as she certainly has the right character for it. She becomes Leon's protégée after her family are massacred by a corrupt DEA agent (Gary Oldman). The scene building up to her family's murder is quite impressive, Mathilda manages to narrowly escape the clutches of her family's murderers by simply walking past her apartment door and knocking on Leon's, her neighbour. I liked this because it seemed to be a plausible situation that Mathilda found herself in, and she dealt with it in a way a logical character would, she remained as calm and thought fast. Though this was an impressive feat of Mathilda's character, I couldn't shake off the sense that she should have been older. It felt wrong to be putting a twelve-year-old in the middle of this turmoil, it was almost disturbing in a way.
Mathilda's age is a big issue for me. Though, prior to watching this film, I felt okay with the idea of a twelve-year-old assassin. I imagined Mathilda to be in the same characterization of O'Ren Ishii of Kill Bill- same principle of a young girl, witnessing her family murdered, swears revenge, becomes an assassin in order to achieve it. Despite Mathilda's thirst for revenge, she fails to succeed due to her childish ways. This is when the figurative punch of reality hit me in the face... Mathilda is TWELVE. Even more disturbing, she replicates the mirror image of my younger sister when she was twelve, hairstyle, gangly body and facial features. Suddenly, Mathilda's transformation is much more personal to me. Do I really wish for this young girl to dedicate her life to killing for hire? In Hollywood, sure, I could switch off and admire the idea for its abstract appeal, but realistically? If I'd known a pre-teen girl who's family was murdered, would I really aid her in extracting revenge?
While this thought circled my head it seemed like Leon was asking himself the same thing. Though he begins to value his student and takes her on a surprisingly comical "Take your kid to work" day, he knows deep down he's doing Mathilda wrong. When Mathilda begins to proclaim her love for Leon, the feel of the film starts getting "Lolita"-themed. It was expected, of course, but the image of my younger sister refused to leave me. Every time little pubescent Natalie Portman gives hints, unashamedly tells people that she is Leon's "lover", attempts to sneak provocative kisses and plays "dress up" as Marilyn Monroe- my mind grasps firmly at the thought that she should still be older.
Gary Oldman's performance as the corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield is mixed with me. In one scene he is outstanding, in another he's a hammy villain and lets himself down. There's no denying he's a formidable antagonist, but he's not used to his full extent. For the entire second act of the film he's nowhere to be seen, and appears at the end almost due to tying up loose ends for Mathilda's revenge.
While this thought circled my head it seemed like Leon was asking himself the same thing. Though he begins to value his student and takes her on a surprisingly comical "Take your kid to work" day, he knows deep down he's doing Mathilda wrong. When Mathilda begins to proclaim her love for Leon, the feel of the film starts getting "Lolita"-themed. It was expected, of course, but the image of my younger sister refused to leave me. Every time little pubescent Natalie Portman gives hints, unashamedly tells people that she is Leon's "lover", attempts to sneak provocative kisses and plays "dress up" as Marilyn Monroe- my mind grasps firmly at the thought that she should still be older.
Gary Oldman's performance as the corrupt DEA agent Norman Stansfield is mixed with me. In one scene he is outstanding, in another he's a hammy villain and lets himself down. There's no denying he's a formidable antagonist, but he's not used to his full extent. For the entire second act of the film he's nowhere to be seen, and appears at the end almost due to tying up loose ends for Mathilda's revenge.
Mathilda's conclusion is a satisfactory one and probably the best ending she could have obtained in terms of the story. My main complaint is, despite myself and my moral questioning, I would have preferred Mathilda developing into a skilled assassin through Leon's training. Believe it or not, it would have actually given the film a much better feel. As opposed to child assassin seeking vengeance, I got troubled youngster falling in love with an older man...
Not what I expected, but not a bad film overall.
Not what I expected, but not a bad film overall.
my best film
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