Léon (1994)

Director:

Luc Besson

Writer:

Luc Besson (writer)

Release Date:

18 November 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

If you want a job done well hire a professional.

Plot:

Professional assassin Leon reluctantly takes care of 12-year-old Mathilda, a neighbor whose parents are killed, and teaches her his trade.

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Revenge | Apartment | Neighbor | Hitman

Awards:

2 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Jean Reno	...	Léon
Gary Oldman	...	Stansfield
Natalie Portman	...	Mathilda
Danny Aiello	...	Tony
Peter Appel	...	Malky
Willi One Blood	...	1st Stansfield man
Don Creech	...	2nd Stansfield man
Keith A. Glascoe	...	3rd Stansfield man (Benny)
Randolph Scott	...	4th Stansfield man
Michael Badalucco	...	Mathilda's Father
Ellen Greene	...	Mathilda's Mother
Elizabeth Regen	...	Mathilda's Sister
Carl J. Matusovich	...	Mathilda's Brother
Frank Senger	...	Fatman
Lucius Wyatt Cherokee	...	Tonto (as Lucius Wyatt 'Cherokee')

Also Known As:

Léon (UK)
Leon: The Professional (USA) (longer version)
The Professional (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for scenes of strong graphic violence, and for language.

Runtime:

110 min | France:136 min (uncut version) | 133 min (International version) | Turkey:100 min (TV version)

Country:

France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

South Korea:18 (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M (tv rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Philippines:R-18 | Italy:T | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-15 (director's cut) | South Korea:15 (DVD rating) (2002) | South Korea:18 (director's cut) | UK:15 (DVD re-rating) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Chile:18 | France:-12 (original version) | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB (director's cut) | Israel:PG | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R (original rating) | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | Canada:16+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

1 Centre Street, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Gaumont

Trivia:

Natalie Portman was originally turned down by Todd M. Thaler (the casting director) due to being too young, but she returned to the auditions and performed the scene where Mathilda laments the loss of her brother. Luc Besson was so impressed with the depth of emotion she summoned during the audition that he gave her the role.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: According to the headmistress's phone call, the Spenser School is supposed to be in Wildwood New Jersey, but the end of the film shows that it overlooks Manhattan. Wildwood is a oceanfront community at almost the southernmost tip of New Jersey, over 150 miles from NYC.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Tony: Allora, come stai, Leone?
Léon: Bene.
[Tony puts out his cigarette in an ashtray]
Tony: OK. OK. Let's talk business.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Naked Fear (1999)

Soundtrack:

Happy Birthday

Excellent, smart action film.

Luc Besson's "The Professional" is sort of a companion piece to his international breakthrough hit "La Femme Nikiti", and in many ways it's an even better film. It raises the stakes of Besson's playful women-with-guns theme by making the heroine a 12-year-old, played by a then unknown Natalie Portman. Jean Reno is excellent as her assassin trainer and surrogate father. Oldman is completely over the top in one of his best bad-guy roles, obsessed with both Beethoven and butchery. As a gritty, suspenseful thriller, this film won't leave action fans feeling cheated, but the film is so much more than that. At the center of "The Professional" is a wonderful father and daughter-like relationship between two damaged strangers who find solace in each other.