Nikita

I think I probably watched this film at the wrong time. I first saw the American-language remake 'Assassin' back in the early nineties and have only just got round to watching the film it was based on, 'Nikita' (or 'La Femme Nikita' to be precise). Therefore, it's hard to accept that the French version is the original source material and not the remake. Both stay pretty much on the same story-telling path, telling the tale of a down-and-out, drug-addled young woman, killing a police officer in a burglary gone wrong, but eluding the death penalty in favour of working for a secret government agency to 'off' those who need disappearing. Yes, the plot is possibly a little far-fetched, but, if you can suspend your disbelief long enough, you'll find that it's well worth it.

What you get is the story of a tortured soul who's trying to make a fresh start of her life and yet keeps finding herself dragged back into the covert ways of the spy agency to do their dirty work. You will definitely feel for the lead and the writing is pretty solid for her and all those she encounters. It's one of those rare films where there isn't a discernible 'baddie' to take on. The 'bad-guy' (if it can be considered so) is the situation she's found herself in and her attempts to - once again - change her life for the better and truly escape the shackles she's found herself in - whether a slave to drug abuse or the government's whims.

I think the best thing about Nikita is its realism (yes, I know I've already said you have to suspend your disbelief to appreciate it, but hear me out...) - in many modern films where the lead is a female action hero who spends her time beating up dozens of burly men who stand in her way, you feel that - although cool to look at - it may not happen that way in real life. However, in Nikita she never uses her physical strength to overpower and take-down her targets. Instead, she uses her wits and deadeye with a sniper's rifle to get the dirty job done (and get home in time for tea with her new fella).

I'm glad I've watched the original. It's a decent film which blends action with genuine emotion for the characters, plus it's worth noting that it was good enough to inspire whoever greenlit its American remake NOT to change it so much that it's barely recognisable and remained true to what made it great in the first place.

'Josephine' in her little black dress, crouched in a hotel kitchen, HUGE smoking hand-cannon swaying in her delicate little paws, not entirely sure what she's doing......equals my all-time favourite movie poster and an enduring image of a wonderfully crafted, absorbing study of love, penance and obligation. Throw in a funky, pulsing score and you have a modern classic. The film is generally slow-paced save for a couple of genuinely exciting and achingly cool set-pieces and is more an examination of Marie's transformation and rehabilitation than anything else. If you want consistent, high-octane thrills then look elsewhere because this beautiful film packs an emotional rather than physical punch. Anne Parillaud as 'Marie' (Nikita/Josephine) in the lead role is breathtaking and her failure to feature since in any picture of note baffles me. She is the centrepiece of the film: aggressive, fragile, tactile, ugly, beautiful, cold, efficient, she runs the gamut of human emotion and in doing so lingers on as one of the most complex and memorable female characters in recent movie history. Time is a central character here; much as in Gaspar Noe's 'Irreversible' it is all-powerful and destroys everything, good and bad. It's passage is portrayed regularly, symbolic of Marie's simultaneous progress and rehabilitation. The lighting here is also effective, giving the film an almost washed-out feel. Hollywood again take note, this is a REAL film about love and pain of the most excruciating kind: of having no control, identity or direction and hurting those about whom you care the most. A must-see.

Luc Besson was on a hot streak in the late 80s/early 90s, and La Femme Nikita (or just Nikita for short) is almost as good as he got at putting his own distinctive stamp on a genre that many auteurs have trouble molding. The spy thriller is great for blockbuster audiences, but to make it into a strong romantic drama is always tricky, as there's the chance for too much one-dimensional theatrics or more attention paid to the plot convolutions than actual human emotions. Nikita squares this problem away just with the protagonist: a young punk (Anne Parillaud, in her most recognizable, near star-making performance) who kills a cop in the midst of a shoot-out is sentenced to life, but then sort of resurrected following the lead of a member of a covert spy organization, and given an ultimatum: become a spy/assassin, or die. She complies, and in a few years time turns into Josephine, who gets orders on the outside from time to time to do tasks like dress up in a maid's outfit to serve potential targets, or to ready herself to kill someone long-range at a moment's notice.

Besson crafts his main story by creating a sort of love triangle between Nikita/Josephine/Marie, her boss Bob, and her conventional lover Marco, a grocery store cashier who doesn't know what she really does. Besson tools with the elements for a much more conventional thriller, and from time to time it could appear like La Femme Nikita will veer into that realm and not return. But Besson is smart; he crafts the first hour like a kind of 'Taming of the Shrew' saga (or 'Taming of a Shrill Bad-ass'), filled with juicy, dark humor ranging from the ultra-violent (pencil in the hand anyone?) to the silly and playful (training with karate instructors). And as pure director of action sequences Besson shows himself as one of the more distinct masters; it's succinctly fresh and tense while holding the ingredients for what mainstream audiences crave, chiefly in that centerpiece as she is told to kill someone on the night of a seemingly hot date with Bob. Even in the little things, like the scene where she watches the spy put together the concoction for the target in the hotel, works on the purest technical terms.

But La Femme Nikita, for the most part, also works on emotional levels too. Besson won't be above throwing in a hard-boiled killer in the midst (Jean Reno's Victor, my favorite supporting character if only for a few pivotal scenes, and a precursor to Leon), but he'll also subvert it just a tinge for good measure. I loved seeing when Josephine has to take out the woman in Venice, her shot in sight, and is moved to tears through the words that Marco speaks to her, truthfully, not in any terms that deem him as the boring "safe" character, but as her kind of salvation from a life that she's been forced into as a final alternative. As happens often in Besson's work, in fact, the female character is put into a realm of personal chaos that is created by or leads to murder and, at the least, harrowing times with the one she cares for or about (i.e. Portman in Leon, Leeloo in Fifth Element, Joan of Arc, even Angela in Angel-A). It's not simply a gimmick in having the character be a woman- it's essential to Besson's track as a filmmaker, and Praillaud is excellent for the sort of ups and downs the character goes through, sometimes in the same scene!

This isn't to say there are a few minor liabilities, if only from my perspective: the music is usually effective in that early electronic-techno beat style for a modern thriller, yet sometimes it's also a cross between a soft-core porn and Weather channel muzak; the ending felt abrupt, or at least on a first viewing (albeit it's hard to top the scene at the ambassador's HQ); and, as a minor criticism, what happened to showing how Nikita learns how to smile? (Seems a little crucial as something of her personality that's skipped over, when made to seem like a big stepping stone by Jeanne Moreau's enigmatic character.) Otherwise, a must-see, and one of Besson's best films.

This, the French La Femme Nikita, directed by Luc Besson, is one of the strangest, most bizarre, yet psychologically truest movies ever made. The story on the surface is absurd and something you'd expect from a grade 'B' international intrigue thriller. Anne Parillaud plays Nikita, a bitter, drug-dependent, unsocialized child of the streets who is faster than a kung fu fighter and packs more punch than a Mike Tyson bite. She's killed some people and is given a choice between death and becoming an assassin for the French government.

This premise should lead to the usual action/adventure yarn, with lots of fists flying, guns going off, people jumping off of buildings, roaring through the streets in souped up vehicles, spraying bullets, etc., as blood flows and bones shatter. And something like that does happen. However there is a second level in which Nitika becomes the embodiment of something beyond an action adventure heroine. She is coerced and managed by society. Her individuality is beaten out of her so that she can be molded into what the society demands. She comes out of her 'training' with her individuality compromised, her free and natural spirit cowed, but undefeated and alive, and she sets out to do what she has been taught to do. And then she falls in love. And she notices, somewhere along the way, amid the murder and the mayhem, that there is something better than and more important than, and closer to her soul in this world than killing and being killed. She finds that she prefers love to hate, tenderness to brutality. She sees herself and who she is for the first time, but it is too late. She cannot escape. Or can she?

Parillaud brings a wild animal persona tinged with beauty and unself-conscious grace to the role of Nikita. Marc Duret plays Rico, the tender man she loves, and Tchéky Karyo is her mentor, Bob, whom she also loves. Jeanne Moreau, the legend, has a small part as Amande, who teaches Nikita lipstick application and how to be attractive.

Now compare this to the US remake called Point of No Return (1993), starring Bridget Fonda. (Please, do not even consider the vapid TV Nikita.) What's the difference? Well, Fonda's flashier, I suppose, but nowhere is there anything like the psychological depth and raw animal magnetism found in the original. The Fonda vehicle is simply a one-dimensional action flick stylishly done in a predictable manner. Besson's Nikita is a work of art that explores the human predicament and even suggests something close to salvation.

As always with a French film, get the subtitled version. The dubbing is always atrocious, and anyway there's really not that much dialogue.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)

The convicted cop-killer is "kidnapped" by a government agency to be given one new chance. Only this time she is to become a trained spy and assassin.

Luc Besson sure know how to fill a film with passion, humanity and action. This is a truly beautiful movie. It is a rather slow movie compared to your typical Hollywood movie, but then again the story and characters are also stronger. You get hooked and the movie is finished before you know it.

The story is strong. It's cool, original and intriguing, yet it's simple and not hard to keep track of. You really get caught up with it. It has elements of all genre. It's got action, love and passion, drama, thriller and even some comedy in it. It's kind of a dark story, yet there are lot of funny elements to light it up a bit. Not much, just as much as it needs.

The actors are great. Anne Parillaud does a great job as Nikita. She makes a psycho-like character that you, in the beginning, don't really like much, but through out the movie her real personality is revealed. At the end you won't let go of her. The rest of the cast is also truly great. Jean Reno has a small, yet very nice part. I found his character really funny. The way he just barge into the story.

Eric Serra has given the movie a nice score. It supports the story, but may seem a little late 80's every now and then, but never the less it sounds good. It is passionate when needed and suspense when called for.

You won't get disappointed of cinematography. It's simply beautiful. You can just sit back and enjoy the shots. Nice contrasts and nice composition and the use of wide angle lenses are really cool. The lightning is good as well. It's all really enjoyable.

This movie has something for everyone. It's not a guy movie or a girl movie. It's not a adult movie or a teenage movie. This is simply a movie for everyone who enjoys good movies! I can, with no doubt, give this movie my recommendations.