Here is my Final Portfolio. I hope you enjoy it.
Archive for May, 2008
Final Portfolio
May 14, 2008Process Folder
May 14, 2008Exceeding the Professional’s Standards
May 7, 2008
It is typical to think that a movie about a hit-man would be considered to be action-packed, blood-wrenching, multiple murdering, and somewhat brutal. But in the movie Leon: The Professional, that is not the case. In matter of fact, there are a couple of reasons why this film may be better than a straight up action film. The movie is unique in the sense that it concentrates more on the fact that the story development comes from the characters themselves. Natalie Portman, Jean Reno, and Gary Oldman star in this emotional movie produced by Luc Besson. The cast really does a near flawless job as this film could be considered a classic.
This film happens to be Natalie Portman’s first role in a movie, as she portrays a young, misbehaved 12 year old girl named Mathilda. She really does get into her character role which really may have jumpstarted her career. Actually, this may have been the highlight of her career, as the Star Wars series was the only real well known film from her as of late. Jean Reno plays a man in his forties named Leon, and his occupation is a hit-man, or in another words, an assassin. He also played roles in the film Mission Impossible, The Da Vinci Code, and many other French films. In Leon, a versatile and a professional assassin, there is oddly enough some kind of innocence to him. In addition, his French accent totally fits into character. He comes into conflict with a man named Norman Stansfield played by Gary Oldman. Oldman plays a corrupt, drug-addicted DEA officer who is also a murderer.
The beginning of the movie immediately hits some kind of uniqueness. It starts off with Leon being portrayed as a hard-nosed killer but then ironically fades into him being entertained by a musical. This shows his softer and innocent side of him. It sort of hints that his something tragic had happened to him in his background. Then a very powerful scene is shown when Mathilda is knocking on his door, begging him to let her in after her family had just been killed by Norman Stansfield, the corrupt cop. Just by the facial expressions shown by Leon, it conveys that this decision could affect his image as a hit-man, or she could die if he didn’t let her in. His human instincts prevail as he lets her in, which ultimately is the beginning of this unique relationship. But there could not be a better 1-2 counterpunch. The two are so opposite that it is perfect. He is a 40 year old man who kills people for a living, and on the other hand, Mathilda is young, misbehaved, but much more knowledgeable of the world compared to Leon since Leon is not from the U.S.
The relationship between Leon and Mathilda gets a little bit twisted though as the story moves on. Mathilda has this growing affection for Leon and admits to him she loves him. He immediately goes speechless and has a hard time expressing himself. This may be only one of the few negative parts of the film as it may seem immoral for many people to see a young girl to fall in love with an old man who easily could be seen as her father. The minds of people watching this film may drift a little bit thinking that he too loves her in a sexual way. But, that is not the case. Although it not clearly explained, it just seems that Leon’s moral conduct is too strict for him to fall in love with Mathilda in that kind of way. He does admit he loves Mathilda at the end of the movie, but in a father daughter-like relationship. It is special to watch Mathilda and Leon become companions. When Leon was there to save Mathilda’s life at the beginning of the film, she is thankful and consoles Leon when he explains his past. Leon had done such a good job on being a father-figure for Mathilda that it seems that Mathilda feels more comfortable with Leon instead of her real father since she did reveal that the only one she cared about in her family was her little brother. The movie could have done a better job on clearing Leon’s role in taking care of Mathilda instead of the viewers creating their own illusion between the two.
As the movie goes along, there is a scene that shows Mathilda in the same bed as Leon, it is supposed to seem like they have some sexual thing going on, but really, it is not. It just wants to show how their relationship had grown over their time together. Even at the beginning of the movie, Leon contemplated whether or not the shoot her and kill her himself, but he instead puts her life ahead of his. He would do anything to protect her and it comes to a point that his first priority is Mathilda’s life. The scene when they are in bed, symbolizes the change Leon has experienced. He went from this lonesome outsider to a happy, caring individual. Mathilda forces Leon to express his himself to society as he introduced to the normal, human world.
One part of the movie that seems unnecessary is when Leon teaches Mathilda how to “clean”, in other terms, becoming an assassin. That part really does not need to be included since she does not kill anybody. Although Leon allows an outsider into his own life and trusts that she can accept him as who he is, there is just no trust factor issue since she already accepts him when she walks into his apartment and when she finds out what Leon does for a living earlier in the movie. She actually finds it fascinating and “cool” when she finds the guns. And it does seem kind of disturbing to point a gun and zoom in on an innocent person especially by a little girl. Although the gun was fake, the story would have flowed just as nicely without that part.
Towards the end of the movie is where the biggest action scene takes place. Leon initially had nothing to do with Norman Stansfield. But when Stansfield realized he had not killed everyone in Mathilda’s family in the beginning of the film, he goes on this psycho rampage looking for her throughout the movie, and Leon was basically forced upon the responsibility to protect her. The action is created when Stanfield finally gets his hands on Mathilda near Leon’s apartment. Leon eventually wins Mathilda back from the police, but not without a scuffle, and taking a police officer as hostage. The action that takes place in this scene is pretty intense, but this is where the audience will see the skill and expertise of Leon. The way he maneuvers his way to avoid getting shot is somewhat intelligent and eye-catching. He eventually forces her down the air conditioning vent while holding the policeman hostage, allowing her to survive. The apartment is then torn apart by huge explosion.
It seems that the relationship and bond between Leon and Mathilda has ended. But, right when you think he hadn’t survived, he escapes the fallen debris and disguises himself as a DEA officer. With a glimmer of hope of the two being reunited, Stansfield locates Leon and shoots him in the head from behind. The camera view of Leon falling down after getting shot was dramatic. While it seems like Leon is walking towards freedom, all of the sudden his head moves side to side while falling down telling the audience he had been shot. Although Leon is shot, Stansfield removes something from Leon’s hand. He finds the energy to say these exact words, “This is from Mathilda.” Stansfield opens his hand and sees a grenade clip. He then zips down Leon’s jacket and finds a strap of grenades attached to Leon. Then the whole place is obliterated. Leon killing Stansfield and the words that are spoken at the end really symbolized the revenge Mathilda had for Stansfield. Overall, the last action scene was very necessary. This whole film is so unique that this scene was only one of a few action scenes throughout the movie. When a movie is just action packed with a normal and ordinary plot, it tends to get a little bit boring and is instantly compared to another action film or scene.
What makes this film so different from other action films is the way the characters create the action. There is not one part in the movie where the action comes to the characters, the character create the action, which is not the case in most action films. Leon and Mathilda changed one another for the good which makes this film so special. The tension created within these two characters is really truly felt to the viewers. The film was only appropriate to see Leon die and watch Mathilda be released to society with the new lessons learned. Mathilda finally finds a new home in her old school, as she plants the roots of Leon close to her. With that said, the character of Mathilda would have not had such a strong impact in the movie if it weren’t for the acting of Natalie Portman. Jean Reno also does fabulous acting as he makes the viewers understand the character from the very beginning. The relationship between these two seem like there couldn’t have been a better couple on playing those characters. With such a unique relationship created in an unlikely situation, it really sets this movie apart from other action films.
Works Cited
1. “DVD Movie Guide”. 23 Aug 2003. DVD Movie Guide. 21 Apr 2008. <http://www.dvdmg.com/leon.shtml>
2. “Youtube”. 4 Apr 2007. Youtube. 7 May 2008. <http://youtube.com/watch?v=ns4vh_xAn98>
3. “What DVD” No Date. Darren Jameison Images. 8 May 3008. < www.whatdvd.net/review.asp?ID=500>
