Leon: The Professional (Deluxe Edition)

Where to begin? First off, let me just say that this is by far my favorite movie ever. Regardless of what you think of my review you need to go out and pick this up.

There was a time when I judged a movie's merit by how high the level of information overload was. The more special effects, THX 3D blanket of sound, and larger-than-life characters there were, the better. Then I saw Leon and my perspective shifted considerably. I first saw this movie in my college dorm room on HBO. I only saw the first 30 minutes before I had to leave for a class, but I was intrigued. It would be another two years before I would decide to rent it and see what it was all about. When I walked into the video store I spotted a VHS titled "The Professional" and rented it. I later realized that this was the edited "American" version. A full 30 minutes had been cut! I was a bit pis/ /sed(apparently this word is censored...lol) off that some censors didn't think I would be able to handle whatever it was that was cut, so I went back the next week and got the Leon DVD, the uncut version. After viewing The Professional I decided it was about 9 out of 10 stars. After seeing Leon, I would have to give the Professional 7 stars and Leon 10. It's that big of a difference. Let me start by breaking the movie down into each part. You can read other reviews if you want a plot review, but I'll try to get a bit deeper with my review.

Acting

This is where the movie really shines. There isn't a single noticeable CGI effect, the "explosive action" is quite limited, and the sets and locations are pretty sparse. And what that does is let the acting take over. Every single part here is played beautifully. Gary Oldman might be a bit over the top in his role, but despite that it is fun to watch. Jean Reno plays Leon, the quiet introverted hitman, and is able to communicate so much with so little. He gives the impression of a cold and neutral killer and then switches to being a naive yet caring person.

But the real star here is Natalie Portman. This was her debut, and what a debut it is. Her interpretation of the semi-goth, edgy, seductive Mathilda is easily the best performance she's ever given. When watching the movie you never think, "Wow this actress sure is good." Instead you're caught up in the story and you see Mathilda as a real person, not just a great performance by an actor. Portman is able to alter the entire mood of a scene with something as slight as subtly arching her eyebrows. The way she delivers her lines is amazing as well. Her very first word is spoken to Leon as a simple "Hi". But she even says it differently than one would expect. In a later scene she tells a group of neighborhood boys her own age to leave her alone with the line "So go play someplace else, ok?". It perfectly conveys what's going on inside her. Everything about her performance is subtle yet powerful.

Cinematography

The look of this film is beautiful. There's a muted, low saturation, high contrast feel that really draws you into the world on screen. Interesting camera angles are everywhere but never overpower the elements they're filming. For a movie that takes place in such an average setting, the camera work really makes it feel like a surreal place all its own. This is the movie that was the transition for Besson from "French" films like la Femme Nikita to mainstream American fare like The 5th Element (shudder...). What we get is a solid American base with the aesthetic tone of French film. It's a great combo.

Music Score

As if the movie itself wasn't good enough, we also get an amazing score. Eric Serra perfectly takes what's happening on screen and translates it into audio form. With alot of movies like this you might expect just some "creepy synth tones" and drum loops, but you get alot more here. There are simple piano melodies, rich acoustic guitar, subsonic bass swells, and brittle organic drumming. Part of the score was used later as a full song on the soundtrack titled "Angel". With NINish drums and a hollow flute like melody this song encapsulates the feel of this movie better than anything else. It's hard to describe exactly how it does, but listen and you might get it. The final scene of the movie is an overhead shot of Mathilda that rises up to the New York skyline. This is accompanied by the song "Shape of My Heart" by Sting. They couldn't have picked a better song to close things. Somebody should seriously get an award for suggesting to use that song. It's synesthetic bliss between film and music.

The "Lolita" Issue

It's hard to find a review that doesn't touch on this topic. In the edited "The Professional" about 30 minutes of Leon/Mathilda interaction is taken out in an attempt to appease uneasy American audiences with more of an "action" movie. Those 30 extra minutes make Leon quite a different movie.

It doesn't take long for Mathilda to fall for Leon. All her life she's been neglected and she finally meets someone who seems to care for her. Her actual feelings might be the want of a father-figure, but her outward expression of those feelings is much more seductive. Leon is in a similar situation. He's a loner and when this young girl starts advancing on him he gets nervous. Despite his effort to turn her advances away he still can't deny 'some' feeling for her. All this makes for some interesting dynamics between the two.

Some people might read this and get turned off by the thought of a relationship between the middle-aged Leon and the thirteen year old Mathilda, but you really need to see the movie before you make that judgement. After a while you'll start to see the temptation that Leon is going through. I can't imagine there being a single guy who could watch this movie and not feel 'some' level of attraction to Mathilda. But that's the point. Her character is supposed to be sexually seductive. But she's not sexy in a gratuitous cheesy porn-mag way. There's more of a deep innocent undercurrent to her. You can't help but want to help her, to comfort her. I once read a review that said there's clearly an unspoken understanding that Luc Besson, Jean Reno, and every guy in the audience would take advantage of Mathilda's advances if they knew they could get away with it. I'm not sure if it's that extreme, but there is that element to it. Portman was later even offered the title role in a remake of the film "Lolita", which she turned down. There's no doubt that she was considered based on her work in Leon. In short, if things like this bother you, don't watch the movie...

Well, that's about all there is to say. This movie works on so many levels. It's downright annoying that it's marketed as an action movie in America when clearly that's only about 5% of the movie. This is a dark, dissonant, subtle movie and it deserves more than the "action" title it is labeled. Rumor has it that Luc Besson has written a script for Leon 2. Natalie Portman has even commented that she's read the script and is quite interested. And to top it off, she recently cut her hair "Mathilda style". Nothings confirmed, but I sure hope a sequel is made. I can't imaging it topping the first movie and given some of Besson's latest work (The 5th Element...) I'm a but worried it might flat out suck. But Leon is enough for me. Rent this movie. I dare you.

When I explained the premise of the movie, no one could believe it was actually a love story. Perhaps US audience will find it taboo to think of such - a young girl who falls for an older man. I am not saying it's right, but its what the movie is about and people viewing these kinds of movies should always keep an open mind to appreciate the story.

- The fact that you are checking out the Deluxe Edition of this movie proves that you already know what it is all about - an Italian cleaner whose methodic life is disrupted by a next-door neighbor, a young girl. It is because of her that he learned to appreciate life and realized what love is once more.

- This is a two disc set. It is mastered using Sony's Superbit - optimized video encoded at double the normal rate. Couple this with DTS and Dolby Digital and you have one heck of an experience in picture quallity.

- The first disc contains the actual original "Leon" movie. This has been previously released and mastered in Superbit. Apart from that, the only extra feature found here is the "Fact Track". This is activated and replaces the Subtitle. In place are lots of facts that appear throughout the movie regarding the movie, the production experience, the casts and even miscellaneous facts about them that isn't connected to the movie anymore. Hmm. Because of the Superbit mastering, the size of the first disc alone is around 6.84GB.

- The goodies are really found on disc 2. A mere 2.58GB, but lots of facts and interviews of almost all the main people responsible for creating the movie - the producer, director, cinematographer, editor, costume designer, casts and even the casting director. Interesting facsts as to how Natalie Portman got the part by showing her audition tape.

- Particularly of worthy note are the few peeks on the behind the scenes on how important scenes were done - Leon slipping in and out of the darkness; the rocket launcher setup used to blow up the apartment.

- There is a segment each for Jean Reno and Natalie Portman on their life prior to and after this movie. This should be pleased both fans.

- All in all a great buy and worthy investment especially since this could be had for less than USD18.72 over at Amazon. If you compare this with other DVD versions of this movie, they are being sold for more than USD20.00 and they carry the same uncut version, but no features like this.

- CONS. Yes, there are. Like every great DVD Deluxe Edition, you wonder why there were stuff left out to enjoy.

1. Since they already too the effort to produce a segment called "10 Year Retrospective", it would have been nice to see them assemble the important cast and crew in one room, too, and just talk and relive the memories.

2. Where is the director commentary? He could talk in French, but it is easy to translate this with another subtitle track for the US audience. It would have been fun to learn what was in his head as he takes us through each scene. This is standard for most DVDs already, I'm surprised they didn't take the time out to do that here.

3. The DVD has already been mastered in Superbit for its video and the resulting audio tracks in DTS and Dobly Digital. But why not go the last step and have it mastered in THX. A little more thought could have gone a long way for the fans. Perhaps it is reserved for the agine film negative for a "20 Year Retrospective"? Save the film while it is still intact!

4. They talk about Eric Serra, the music composer for all Luc Besson directed films. (Danny The Dog/Unleashed doesn't count because it isn't directed by Besson) as part of the Fact Track. But they fail to mention the fact in the powerful ending of the film where Mathilda plants the, umm, plant. We all know that it is Sting's "Shape of My Heart", but what we SHOULD know is that this is obviously another version and can only be found in the guitarist's (Dominc Miller) album - Shapes. A version worthy of obtaining. A fact worthy of mentioning.

- As I said, an excellent purchase. I can't wait for them to produce a Deluxe Version for Big Blue. And can't begin to think how this will look like when produced in the DVD High Definition format.

Until the next special edition comes out, this is something to cherish and enjoy.

I'm a HUGE Luc Besson fan, so I couldn't wait for this DVD to come out. And I think the new Extras on this DVD are very cool -although not quite what you might expect for a Leon DVD. There's a full length conversation with Natalie Portman in which she talks about making the movie, in detail, how her parents were against it at first, what conditions they made for her to make the movie, etc. Then there's a companion documentary with Jean Reno -- in which you get to hear about his growing up in Casablanca, how he got into acting, his relationship with Besson. The piece really has the feel of an in-depth, intimate conversation with this enigmatic star -- and is beautifully shot. This piece also includes some rare photos of the star - including childhood shots of him as a little boy in Casablanca. Any fan of Reno or Portman will love this DVD. The real big feature is called the Ten Year Retrospective - where you get to meet many cast and crew members (Ellen Greene, the DP, the Fat Man, Michael Badalucco, the Costume Designer, editor Sylvie Landra) - shot all over the world - the Producer stands in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Michael Badalluco stands in front of the Statue of Liberty, the editor sits in a beautiful cadillac outside a hollywood studio - and they each share their very best stories about making the movie (including what REALLY happened at a not-very-successful test screening during which the audience laughed). Lot's of really good inside scoops here. (Including a rare appearance by French actress Maiwenn, who claims that she was 12 when she met Besson and 15 when she fell in love with him - "so in a way, this is my story" she says. The show ends with an incredible shot of the cast celebrating Natalie Portmans very final shot and the cast dumping huge amounts of confetti on her in the middle of the shot. It's also revealed just how they did the movie's amazing "rocket shot" in the climactic final scene. All in all, very rewarding - 3 really interesting and engaging pieces. (Oh - and there's an interesting trivia track too).

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