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Léon (film)
Encyclopedia
Léon is a 1994 French thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson
. It stars Jean Reno
as a mob hitman, Gary Oldman
as a corrupt DEA
agent, a young Natalie Portman
, in her feature film debut, as a 12-year-old girl who is taken in by the hitman after her family is murdered, and Danny Aiello
as the mobster who gives the hitman his assignments.
) is a hitman
(or "cleaner," as he refers to himself) living a solitary life in New York City's Little Italy
. His work comes from a mafioso
named Tony (Danny Aiello
), who operates from the "Supreme Macaroni Company" restaurant. Léon spends his idle time engaging in calisthenics
, nurturing a houseplant
that early on he describes as his "best friend," and (in one scene) watching old Gene Kelly
musicals.
On a particular day, he meets Mathilda Lando (Natalie Portman
), a twelve-year-old girl with a black eye
and smoking a cigarette, living with her dysfunctional family
in an apartment down the hallway. Her abusive father and self-absorbed stepmother have not even noticed that Mathilda has stopped attending class at her school for troubled girls. Mathilda's father (Michael Badalucco
) attracts the ire of corrupt
DEA
agents, who have been paying him to store cocaine
in his residence. After they discover that he has been stealing some of the drugs for himself, a cadre of DEA agents storm the building, led by a sharp-suited and drug-addicted Norman "Stan" Stansfield (Gary Oldman
), who murders Mathilda's entire family, missing her only because she was out shopping when they arrived. When she returns and notices the carnage, she calmly continues down the hallway and receives sanctuary from a reluctant Léon.
Mathilda discovers that Léon is a hitman. She begs him to become her caretaker and to teach her his skills as a "cleaner;" she wants to avenge the murder of her four-year-old brother, claiming that he was the only member of her family she loved, though she clearly regrets the deaths of her other family members. Léon shows her how to use firearms, including a scoped rifle. In return, she offers her services as a maid and teacher, remedying Léon's illiteracy. Mathilda tells Léon several times that she is falling in love with him, but he says nothing back. After increasing her experience with firearms, Mathilda fills a shopping bag with guns from Léon's collection and sets out to kill Stansfield. She bluffs her way into the DEA office by posing as a delivery person, only to be ambushed by Stansfield in a bathroom. Mathilda learns from Stansfield and one of his men that Léon has killed one of the corrupt DEA agents in Chinatown. Léon, after discovering her intentions in a note left for him, rushes to rescue Mathilda, shooting two more of Stansfield's men in the process.
Stansfield is enraged the "Italian hitman" has gone rogue. He beats Tony, forcing him to surrender Léon's whereabouts. As soon as Mathilda returns home from grocery shopping, an NYPD ESU
team, sent by Stansfield, takes her hostage and attempts to infiltrate Léon's apartment. Léon ambushes the ESU team and frees Mathilda. In the apartment, Léon creates a quick escape for Mathilda by chopping a hole in a slender air shaft. He reassures her and tells her that he loves her and that she has given him "a taste for life", moments before the police come for him. In the chaos that follows, Léon sneaks out of the apartment building disguised as a wounded ESU officer. He is unnoticed save for Stansfield, who recognizes the hitman and shoots him. Léon then places an object in Stansfield's hands, which he explains is "from Mathilda," and dies. Opening his hands, Stansfield finds the pin from a grenade. He rips open Léon's vest to discover several active grenades on his chest right before a massive explosion kills him as well.
Mathilda heads to Tony's place as she was instructed to do by Léon. Tony will not give Mathilda more than a small amount of the fortune Léon had amassed, which Tony was holding for him. He offers a monthly allowance and says school should be her priority for now. Mathilda asks Tony to give her a job, insisting that she can "clean" as Léon had. Tony sternly informs her that he "ain't got no work for a 12-year-old kid!" Having nowhere else to go, Mathilda makes her way to New Jersey in an attempt to return to school. After telling her and Léon's story to the headmistress, and seemingly being readmitted, Mathilda walks into a field near the school with Léon's houseplant in hand. She digs a hole and plants it, as she had told Léon he should, to give it roots.
Léon is to some extent an expansion of an idea in Besson's earlier 1990 film, La Femme Nikita (in some countries Nikita). In La Femme Nikita Jean Reno
plays a similar character named Victor. Besson described Léon as "Now maybe Jean is playing the American cousin of Victor. This time he's more human."
While most of the interior footage was shot in France, the rest of the film was shot on location in New York. The final scene at the school was filmed at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
, with an aggregate rating of 78% based on 41 critical reviews, and the consensus, "Pivoting on the unusual relationship between seasoned hitman and his 12-year-old apprentice — a breakout turn by young Natalie Portman — Luc Besson's Léon is a stylish and oddly affecting thriller". However, the inclusion of the 12-year-old Mathilda character, and Gary Oldman's deliberately overstated portrayal of corrupt DEA officer Norman Stansfield, polarized critics.
Richard Schickel
lauded the film, writing, "this is a Cuisinart of a movie, mixing familiar yet disparate ingredients, making something odd, possibly distasteful, undeniably arresting out of them." He praised Oldman's performance as "divinely psychotic." Mark Deming at Allmovie awarded the film four stars out of five, describing it as "As visually stylish as it is graphically violent", and featuring "a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman." Roger Ebert
awarded the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing: "It is a well-directed film, because Besson has a natural gift for plunging into drama with a charged-up visual style." He showed appreciation for the performances in the film, describing it as being "well acted." However, he was not entirely complimentary: "Always at the back of my mind was the troubled thought that there was something wrong about placing a 12-year-old character in the middle of this action." "In what is essentially an exercise—a slick urban thriller—it seems to exploit the youth of the girl without really dealing with it." On the film review show At the Movies, Gene Siskel
criticised the film, calling it a "truly annoying picture, all style, no substance, all fake emotion and even questionable in its would-be sexy portrayal of a pre-teenage girl". He said of Oldman's performance, "Is that overacting? I think so." While Oldman's performance divided critical opinion, Director Luc Besson was pleased with it, leading to his hiring Oldman for 1997's The Fifth Element
. In 2002, Stansfield was ranked #43 in the Online Film Critics Society's
"Top 100 Villains of All Time"; in 2011, Total Film
ranked Stansfield #92 in their "100 Greatest Movie Villains", and named the performance as one of the five best of Oldman's career.
Léon was nominated for seven César Awards
in 1995.
" but Besson refers to the original version as the Director's Cut and the new version as "The Long Version". According to Luc Besson, this is the version he wanted to release, but for the fact that the extra scenes tested poorly with Los Angeles
preview audiences. The additional material is found in the film's second act, and it depicts more of the interactions and relationship between Léon and Mathilda, as well as explicitly demonstrating how Mathilda accompanies Léon on several of his hits as "a full co-conspirator," to further her training as a contract killer.
The additional scenes include:
Léon: Version Intégrale was released in France in 1996; in the U.S. it was released on DVD as Léon: The Professional in 2000. Both versions contain the additional footage.
movie Bichhoo
was inspired by Léon.
It has been claimed that Besson has written the script for a sequel, which Transporter 3
director Olivier Megaton
was to direct and in which Portman would reprise the Mathilda role. Filming was to be delayed until Portman was a bit older. However, in the meantime, Besson left Gaumont Film Company
to start his own movie studio, EuropaCorp
. Unhappy at Besson's departure, Gaumont Film Company "has held The Professional rights close to the vest — and will not budge." According to Megaton, the sequel will more than likely never happen.
Luc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
. It stars Jean Reno
Jean Reno
Jean Reno is a French actor. Working in French, English, Spanish and Italian, he has appeared not only in numerous successful Hollywood productions such as The Pink Panther, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, Ronin and Couples Retreat, but also in European productions such as the...
as a mob hitman, Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
as a corrupt DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
agent, a young Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
, in her feature film debut, as a 12-year-old girl who is taken in by the hitman after her family is murdered, and Danny Aiello
Danny Aiello
Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
as the mobster who gives the hitman his assignments.
Plot
Leone "Léon" Montana (Jean RenoJean Reno
Jean Reno is a French actor. Working in French, English, Spanish and Italian, he has appeared not only in numerous successful Hollywood productions such as The Pink Panther, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, Ronin and Couples Retreat, but also in European productions such as the...
) is a hitman
Hitman
A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
(or "cleaner," as he refers to himself) living a solitary life in New York City's Little Italy
Little Italy, Manhattan
Little Italy is a neighborhood in lower Manhattan, New York City, once known for its large population of Italians. Today the neighborhood of Little Italy consists of Italian stores and restaurants.-Historical area:...
. His work comes from a mafioso
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
named Tony (Danny Aiello
Danny Aiello
Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
), who operates from the "Supreme Macaroni Company" restaurant. Léon spends his idle time engaging in calisthenics
Calisthenics
Calisthenics are a form of aerobic exercise consisting of a variety of simple, often rhythmical, movements, generally using multiple equipment or apparatus. They are intended to increase body strength and flexibility with movements such as bending, jumping, swinging, twisting or kicking, using...
, nurturing a houseplant
Houseplant
A houseplant is a plant that is grown indoors in places such as residences and offices. Houseplants are commonly grown for decorative purposes, positive psychological effects, or health reasons such as indoor air purification...
that early on he describes as his "best friend," and (in one scene) watching old Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
musicals.
On a particular day, he meets Mathilda Lando (Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
), a twelve-year-old girl with a black eye
Black eye
A black eye , or or 'shiner', is bruising around the eye commonly due to an injury to the face rather than eye injury. The name is given due to the color of bruising. The so-called black eye is caused by bleeding beneath the skin and around the eye...
and smoking a cigarette, living with her dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...
in an apartment down the hallway. Her abusive father and self-absorbed stepmother have not even noticed that Mathilda has stopped attending class at her school for troubled girls. Mathilda's father (Michael Badalucco
Michael Badalucco
Michael Badalucco is an American actor most famous for his role as lawyer Jimmy Berluti on the ABC legal drama The Practice...
) attracts the ire of corrupt
Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, other personal gain, or career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or arrest....
DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
agents, who have been paying him to store cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
in his residence. After they discover that he has been stealing some of the drugs for himself, a cadre of DEA agents storm the building, led by a sharp-suited and drug-addicted Norman "Stan" Stansfield (Gary Oldman
Gary Oldman
Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
), who murders Mathilda's entire family, missing her only because she was out shopping when they arrived. When she returns and notices the carnage, she calmly continues down the hallway and receives sanctuary from a reluctant Léon.
Mathilda discovers that Léon is a hitman. She begs him to become her caretaker and to teach her his skills as a "cleaner;" she wants to avenge the murder of her four-year-old brother, claiming that he was the only member of her family she loved, though she clearly regrets the deaths of her other family members. Léon shows her how to use firearms, including a scoped rifle. In return, she offers her services as a maid and teacher, remedying Léon's illiteracy. Mathilda tells Léon several times that she is falling in love with him, but he says nothing back. After increasing her experience with firearms, Mathilda fills a shopping bag with guns from Léon's collection and sets out to kill Stansfield. She bluffs her way into the DEA office by posing as a delivery person, only to be ambushed by Stansfield in a bathroom. Mathilda learns from Stansfield and one of his men that Léon has killed one of the corrupt DEA agents in Chinatown. Léon, after discovering her intentions in a note left for him, rushes to rescue Mathilda, shooting two more of Stansfield's men in the process.
Stansfield is enraged the "Italian hitman" has gone rogue. He beats Tony, forcing him to surrender Léon's whereabouts. As soon as Mathilda returns home from grocery shopping, an NYPD ESU
New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit
The New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit is the Emergency Service Unit for the New York City Police Department. A component of the Special Operations Division of the Patrol Services Bureau, the unit provides specialized support and advanced equipment to other NYPD units. For...
team, sent by Stansfield, takes her hostage and attempts to infiltrate Léon's apartment. Léon ambushes the ESU team and frees Mathilda. In the apartment, Léon creates a quick escape for Mathilda by chopping a hole in a slender air shaft. He reassures her and tells her that he loves her and that she has given him "a taste for life", moments before the police come for him. In the chaos that follows, Léon sneaks out of the apartment building disguised as a wounded ESU officer. He is unnoticed save for Stansfield, who recognizes the hitman and shoots him. Léon then places an object in Stansfield's hands, which he explains is "from Mathilda," and dies. Opening his hands, Stansfield finds the pin from a grenade. He rips open Léon's vest to discover several active grenades on his chest right before a massive explosion kills him as well.
Mathilda heads to Tony's place as she was instructed to do by Léon. Tony will not give Mathilda more than a small amount of the fortune Léon had amassed, which Tony was holding for him. He offers a monthly allowance and says school should be her priority for now. Mathilda asks Tony to give her a job, insisting that she can "clean" as Léon had. Tony sternly informs her that he "ain't got no work for a 12-year-old kid!" Having nowhere else to go, Mathilda makes her way to New Jersey in an attempt to return to school. After telling her and Léon's story to the headmistress, and seemingly being readmitted, Mathilda walks into a field near the school with Léon's houseplant in hand. She digs a hole and plants it, as she had told Léon he should, to give it roots.
Cast
- Jean RenoJean RenoJean Reno is a French actor. Working in French, English, Spanish and Italian, he has appeared not only in numerous successful Hollywood productions such as The Pink Panther, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, Ronin and Couples Retreat, but also in European productions such as the...
as Léon, a professional hitman - Gary OldmanGary OldmanGary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...
as Stansfield, a corrupt DEA agent - Natalie PortmanNatalie PortmanNatalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
as Mathilda, a twelve-year old girl - Danny AielloDanny AielloDaniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
as Tony, a mafioso who gives Léon hit jobs - Michael BadaluccoMichael BadaluccoMichael Badalucco is an American actor most famous for his role as lawyer Jimmy Berluti on the ABC legal drama The Practice...
as Mathilda's father - Ellen GreeneEllen GreeneEllen Greene is an American singer and actress. Greene has had a long and varied career as a singer, particularly in cabaret, as an actor and singer in numerous stage productions, particularly musical theatre, as well as having performed in many films – notably Little Shop of Horrors...
as Mathilda's mother - Peter Appel as Malky
- Willi One BloodWilli One BloodWilli One Blood is a reggae singer, formerly New York-based and now in Miami, famous for the song "Whiney Whiney ", included on the soundtrack album of the 1994 film Dumb and Dumber...
as Blood - Don CreechDon CreechDon Creech is an American actor who has appeared in many television shows. He is mainly known for playing Mr. Sweeney, the "evil" science teacher in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide and the English con artist Nigel West Dickens on Red Dead Redemption.-Film:*Léon as Stansfield man*Flirting...
as Neal - Keith A. Glascoe as Benny
- Randolph Scott as Jordon
- Elizabeth Regen as Mathilda's Sister
- Carl J. Matusovich as Mathilda's Brother
- Frank Senger as Fatman
- Lucius Wyatt Cherokee as Tonto
Production
Jean Reno
Jean Reno is a French actor. Working in French, English, Spanish and Italian, he has appeared not only in numerous successful Hollywood productions such as The Pink Panther, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, Ronin and Couples Retreat, but also in European productions such as the...
plays a similar character named Victor. Besson described Léon as "Now maybe Jean is playing the American cousin of Victor. This time he's more human."
While most of the interior footage was shot in France, the rest of the film was shot on location in New York. The final scene at the school was filmed at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
Reception
The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. As of January 2011, the film holds a "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, with an aggregate rating of 78% based on 41 critical reviews, and the consensus, "Pivoting on the unusual relationship between seasoned hitman and his 12-year-old apprentice — a breakout turn by young Natalie Portman — Luc Besson's Léon is a stylish and oddly affecting thriller". However, the inclusion of the 12-year-old Mathilda character, and Gary Oldman's deliberately overstated portrayal of corrupt DEA officer Norman Stansfield, polarized critics.
Richard Schickel
Richard Schickel
Richard Warren Schickel is an American author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He is a film critic for Time magazine, having also written for Life magazine and the Los Angeles Times Book Review....
lauded the film, writing, "this is a Cuisinart of a movie, mixing familiar yet disparate ingredients, making something odd, possibly distasteful, undeniably arresting out of them." He praised Oldman's performance as "divinely psychotic." Mark Deming at Allmovie awarded the film four stars out of five, describing it as "As visually stylish as it is graphically violent", and featuring "a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
awarded the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing: "It is a well-directed film, because Besson has a natural gift for plunging into drama with a charged-up visual style." He showed appreciation for the performances in the film, describing it as being "well acted." However, he was not entirely complimentary: "Always at the back of my mind was the troubled thought that there was something wrong about placing a 12-year-old character in the middle of this action." "In what is essentially an exercise—a slick urban thriller—it seems to exploit the youth of the girl without really dealing with it." On the film review show At the Movies, Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
criticised the film, calling it a "truly annoying picture, all style, no substance, all fake emotion and even questionable in its would-be sexy portrayal of a pre-teenage girl". He said of Oldman's performance, "Is that overacting? I think so." While Oldman's performance divided critical opinion, Director Luc Besson was pleased with it, leading to his hiring Oldman for 1997's The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element
The Fifth Element is a 1997 French science fiction film directed, co-written, and based on a story by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich...
. In 2002, Stansfield was ranked #43 in the Online Film Critics Society's
Online Film Critics Society
The Online Film Critics Society is a professional association for film critics who publish their reviews, interviews, and essays on the Internet.The OFCS was founded in 1997...
"Top 100 Villains of All Time"; in 2011, Total Film
Total Film
Total Film is a British film magazine published 13 times a year by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched in 1997 and offers film, DVD and Blu-ray news, reviews and features...
ranked Stansfield #92 in their "100 Greatest Movie Villains", and named the performance as one of the five best of Oldman's career.
Léon was nominated for seven César Awards
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
in 1995.
Extended version
There is also an extended version of the film, referred to as "international version" or "version intégrale". Containing 25 minutes of additional footage, it is sometimes called the "Director's CutDirector's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
" but Besson refers to the original version as the Director's Cut and the new version as "The Long Version". According to Luc Besson, this is the version he wanted to release, but for the fact that the extra scenes tested poorly with Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
preview audiences. The additional material is found in the film's second act, and it depicts more of the interactions and relationship between Léon and Mathilda, as well as explicitly demonstrating how Mathilda accompanies Léon on several of his hits as "a full co-conspirator," to further her training as a contract killer.
The additional scenes include:
- Mathilda telling Léon she is 18 years old.
- Mathilda threatening to shoot herself playing Russian roulette if Léon doesn't teach her how to become a killer.
- Léon taking Mathilda to meet Tony.
- Léon and Mathilda hitting a drug dealer's home, with Mathilda setting fire to his supply of drugs with rubbing alcohol.
- A montage of training missions where Mathilda learns the ropes of becoming an assassin.
- Léon and Mathilda celebrating her first hit at a restaurant, where she gets drunk.
- Léon explaining why he left Italy and went to New York at the age of 19.
- Mathilda asking Léon to be her lover (with Léon refusing, saying "I wouldn't be a very good lover").
- Mathilda and Léon sleeping next to each other in a bed.
Léon: Version Intégrale was released in France in 1996; in the U.S. it was released on DVD as Léon: The Professional in 2000. Both versions contain the additional footage.
Trivia
During the filming of final scenes which involved dozens of police cars, a robber from a nearby store encountered the movie set by accident and surrendered himself to a bunch of uniformed extras.Legacy
The BollywoodBollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
movie Bichhoo
Bichhoo
Bichhoo is a 2000 Bollywood film directed by Guddu Dhanoa. It is a suspense film, and the lead roles are played by Bobby Deol and Rani Mukerji...
was inspired by Léon.
It has been claimed that Besson has written the script for a sequel, which Transporter 3
Transporter 3
Transporter 3 is a 2008 French-English action film, and is the third installment in the Transporter film series, as well as the first not to be distributed by 20th Century Fox in the United States. Both Jason Statham and François Berléand reprised their roles, as Frank Martin and Tarconi,...
director Olivier Megaton
Olivier Megaton
Olivier Megaton is a French film director, writer, and editor best known for directing The Red Siren, Transporter 3 and Colombiana.-Early life:...
was to direct and in which Portman would reprise the Mathilda role. Filming was to be delayed until Portman was a bit older. However, in the meantime, Besson left Gaumont Film Company
Gaumont Film Company
Gaumont Film Company is a French film production company founded in 1895 by the engineer-turned-inventor, Léon Gaumont . Gaumont is the oldest continously operating film company in the world....
to start his own movie studio, EuropaCorp
EuropaCorp
EuropaCorp is a French movie studio headquartered in Paris. It has been a listed company on Euronext Paris since July 2007. Co-founded by Luc Besson and Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, the Group takes on a range of production activities like film distribution in France, DVD distribution, sales of French TV...
. Unhappy at Besson's departure, Gaumont Film Company "has held The Professional rights close to the vest — and will not budge." According to Megaton, the sequel will more than likely never happen.