France/Italy | 1990 | Directed by Luc Besson
Logline: A young and volatile criminal is convicted of multiple felon, but given a second chance; a new identity and exclusive training as a top secret assassin.
Talented French filmmaker Luc Besson had already garnered a cult following with his mid-80s subterranean neon romance, Subway, and then his lush oceanic romance The Big Blue. But it was fourth feature, an action-packed dramatic-thriller that turned him into a bona fide international favourite; Nikita (as it was originally titled) kicked ass with style to burn.
Anne Parillaud plays Nikita with a sexy ferocity. Her mentor is Bob (Tchéky Karyo), a hard-nosed intelligence agent. He arranges her fake death, new identity and the two year training program that involves a lot of deadly weapon mastering, but also cosmetic cultivation courtesy of Amande (Jean Moreau), who transforms (a la Pygmalion) her from the feral drug-addict into a sophisticated, yet still dangerously naïve, femme fatale.
Her initiation mission; killing a diplomat in a crowded restaurant and escaping back to the Intelligence Centre, is the film’s highlight action sequence, a tour-de-force of mise-en-scene and editing. Following this nerve-wracking experience Nikita (aka Josephine) “graduates” and begins life as a sleeper agent in Paris with her boyfriend Marco (Jean Hughes-Anglade), an ordinary man she meets in a supermarket, who never really knows nothing of her real profession.
It is this double life that provides the movie with its powerful intrigue and emotional turbulence. Nikita desperately wants out of her killer trappings, but understands the consequences if she tries to escape. Bob continues to lay the hard word on her, and hands her tougher and tougher assignments, culminating in an embassy document theft that goes awry. Victor, The Cleaner (Jean Reno) is brought in to fix the mess (and Tarantino borrowed the character for Pulp Fiction). Nikita realizes the gravity of the situation and pounces on the moment.
Luc Besson knows how to throw a camera around. He understands the potency of wide-angles, and dynamic use of sound, and he dabbles provocatively with sensuality and violence (some serious firepower) beautifully with Nikita. This is arguably his most accessible movie, although I love the ethereal beauty of The Big Blue. Curiously the movie received less than favourable reviews (both French and international) upon its initial release, but has since collected a large cult following, and deservedly so, its themes and stylish set-pieces are both fascinating and exhilarating, and it looks fantastic.
The movie was released in America as La Femme Nikita to indicate to audiences it was a foreign film. In Czechoslovakia it was titled Brutal Nikita, in Spain and Portugal it was Nikita – Hard to Kill, and in Argentina it was Nikita – The Face of Danger. It is the US title, however, that has since become the most familiar to international audiences. Three years later it was remade in the States and released as Point of No Return (more commonly known as The Assassin) starring Bridget Fonda. In 1997 a television series starring Peta Wilson was created which ran for five seasons.
La Femme Nikita DVD is courtesy of Madman Entertainment, many thanks!
DVD cover art copyright 1990 Gaumont Production – Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica
Short and to the point. I loved this film too when it came out and it seems to improve with age. Guilty pleasure confession, I also liked Point of No Return aka the Assassin starring Bridget Fonda…a fun by the numbers remake.
Yes, but let’s face it, Bridget Fonda is very watchable … What happened to Bridget?