La Femme Nikita

Maybe I just have not seen too many thrillers, but this is a particularly boring film, with mediocre actors, incoherent script, poorly followed lines, underdeveloped characters. I have to admit, the shooting scenes are well done, but the stuff in between puts me to sleep. The characters are "flat" (especially Nikita's lover - that guy should not be on the screen at all, he is too poor an actor) The story has a potential: it *could* be made into a good film but this is a total fiasco.

Exciting and stirring movie that is remade in American style by John Badham (1993) . A gang of armed drug-addicts break into a shop to try and steal drugs to fuel their habit and then takes place a bloody tour of force . However, the police arrive too fast and all addicts but one are killed .The hardened criminal (Anne Parillaud , role subsequently played by Bridget Fonda) , a punk-junkie sociopath acts with consistence violence, even in police custody and is given a life sentence .But after being drugged by her captors she wakes up to find that she has been spared in order to train her as a government assassin . However, top-secret agency official (a Svengali alike ,Tcheky Karyo , character interpreted in the American version by Gabriel Byrne))arranges a stage , so she can be elaborately trained as phantom killer and subdued into obedience. After a dramatic transformation, she is allowed to leave and start a new life for herself .On her eventual release she turns into a sophisticated girl thanks to an old lady (Jeanne Moreau , role also acted by Anne Bancroft) . As a cover, she gets a new identity . And with a wonderful house-mate, a broad-minded, gentle boyfriend (Jean Hugues Anglade , posteriorly performed by Dermot Mulroney) . The two fall in love, but that complicates jobs. His good influence extends to breeding her a conscience that puts love over business, alas unlike agency. However, she begins to discover that there is more to life than she previously thought and soon begins to wish she could escape from her obligation. But the government aren't so easy to evade . This exciting noir-thriller is packed with thrills , tension , suspense and lots of noisy action .From the start to the ending the action pace is fast moving, provides fast and furious entertainment with spectacular scenes. Displays nonstop action and is extremely entertaining and thrilling . Some scenes are brutal and with a load of violence. Still it's a good movie, I think furthermore the incredible chemistry between Parillaud and Karyo ,the plot was moving and intense , it makes you want to know what happens after . Anne Parillaud is pretty good as the heroine who turns in violent tendencies to patriotic use , both as the anti-social rebel of the early scenes and the sophisticated, seductive young lady of the later ones . It benefits enormously from a memorably assured performances from veteran as Jeanne Moreau , Jean Reno , Philippe Leroy and Jean Bouise whom is dedicated the movie . Atmospheric musical score by Eric Serra , though with excessive use of synthesizer . Colorful cinematography by Thierry Arbogast and perfectly remastered . The motion picture is lavishly produced and well directed by Luc Besson with his ordinary visual pyrotechnics . He often casts Jean Reno and music always by Eric Serra. Besson is the greatest producer and director from France with hits as ¨Leon¨ , ¨Joan of Arc¨ , ¨The fifth element¨ , the ¨Taxi¨ series , ¨Big blue¨ , ¨Arthur and the Minimois¨ , of course ¨Nikita¨ and many others .

After killing a cop and maiming others, a drug-addicted nut case is inexplicably trained to work as an assassin for the police. Nothing about this idiotic movie makes sense. Why isn't a cop killer punished? Why do the police pick such an unstable person to work for them? Why are the police in the assassination business? Parillaud turns in a surly performance in the title role, a character about as interesting as a wet rag. She veers from cold-blooded killer to whiny cry-baby to giggling schoolgirl, but no attempt is made to explain her bizarre behavior. Nikita's missions are executed so poorly that they are laughable. There's a dull romance with a grocery store cashier.

After years of knowing the hype of this pic, I finally decided to view it. Director Luc Besson had been responsible for one of my favorite movies of all time, Leon (The Professional), so it had to be good, right? NOT! It was one of the most boring and unintelligible few hours of absolute tripe I have ever seen. Firstly, the character of Nikita (or Marie, or Josephine, take your pick) is rather annoying and seems a hysterical split personality; one moment laughing and dancing, the next crying and screaming, the next composed and cold-blooded. Anne Parillaud does a really poor job as the title character, and has the screen presence of a stick. Her handler, played by Tcheky Karyo, interacts poorly with her and everyone else in the movie. He seems to be modeling stylish European suits. Her jobs of killing are all idiotic and absurdly far-fetched. But worse, none seem to make any basic practical sense. The worst is the last which has Nikita dressing as a male diplomat to penetrate a fortified embassy with the criminal-looking Jean Renot. One can suspend disbelief just so far, but this action was unintentionally comical. If you must see this crap due to its rep, be prepared to have difficulty staying awake and avoiding laughing. A truly poor effort all around, made even worse by being in French with subtitles.

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.

After seeing Point of No Return (a great movie) and being told that the original was better, I was certainly thrilled to see that one of the indie film channels was running La Femme Nikita. Then I saw the movie. Ouch! This was a major let-down. Nikita herself reminds me of Jar Jar Binks more than any other character I've seen recently. She comes across entirely as comic relief. The movie simply has nothing to recommend it besides the core concept of an evil, inhuman character paradoxically learning to be human while training as an assassin, and that concept failed miserably in Nikita due to the poor writing of the title role.

Stylish thriller? Hardly! This French action film from director Luc Besson is more confused and unsure about itself than anything else I have seen recently. The opening action sequence shows some promise, and the following action sequences are good. However they are sadly too few and far between. The drama is dull and erratic, and the characters are generally unlikeable. Anne Parillaud and the support cast are unable to involve the audience emotionally. "La Femme Nikita" ends up more like a try hard, B-grade action thriller. Very average! Saturday, April 28, 1991 - Balwyn Cinema

I fell in love with this film from the moment I first saw a brief clip of it on an entertainment program. At first I was drawn to the action elements (being young and somewhat immature in my dramatic tastes), but I was blown away by the romance and character interplay. I loved the composition of the scenes, the noirish lighting, and the quirky humor. This movie, along with Pedro Almodovar's films, really opened my eyes to European films, particularly those with a signature style. The performances are great across the board. Anne Parillaud plays all facets of Nikita well, from her rebellious, drug-hazed beginning, to her growing confidence, and her near breakdown as her mission falls apart. Tcheky Karyo made a huge impression, mostly through his body language and his eyes. He says more with an expression than most actors do with dialogue. Jeanne Moraeu is a treasure, a truly beautiful woman in appearance and spirit. Jean-Hughues Anglade has the harder part, the "normal" guy who Nikita falls for. He is adept at comedy, but is tender in the love scenes. He carries himself well in his face-off with Bob. Finally, the actor who really stands out in memory, Jean Reno. Reno oozes charisma and talent, even in bad films. He steals the film the moment he enters. Luc Besson is a tremendous stylist. His films are beautiful, even when the story is a bit obtuse. He is adept at using light to portray and enhance emotion and his compositions are stunning. His main fault is that he lets style overtake story, but he gets away with it because the style is always interesting. He is a fine writer, although more care seems to go into the scripts he directs than those he has written for others. Finally, one can't discuss the films of Besson without discussing the music of Eric Serra. Serra creates an atmosphere that is much a part of the setting as the lighting or set decoration. His compositions convey mood and emotion, adding another layer to the story. His signature bass and percussion gets your heart pumping during action sequences, while the melodies bring a softness to intimate moments. He demonstrates the proper way to use synthesizers, to transform the music, rather than make up for lack of an orchestra (or talent). Serra's soundtracks were the first that I bought for instrumental music, rather than for pop songs used in the film. This is a film that appeals to many audiences. There is plenty of action and intrigue for thrillseekers, unique character studies, quirky humor, and above all, romance. It has spawned many imitations (Point of No Return, Black Cat, Nikita TV series) but has never been equaled. If you are a fan of film noir, action/espionage, character drama, or romance, you should see this film; then you should own this film. You'll want to watch it again and again.

Leon the professional (done by the same director) is my favourite movie of all time, so I had high hopes for this flick, but... this is utter dreck nothing in this movie makes any sense, dozens of questions are never answered: e.g. why is Nikita (the name isn't used for 90% of the movie even though the film is named after it) executed? why does she have to learn art and dancing in order to become an assassin? why can't she all of a sudden bear killing people anymore when she never cared before at all? why doesn't she try to quit the assassinating business? why does Nikita cry all the time? who is she working for: Heaven? Hell? why does she leave her fiancée in the end? nothing makes any sense and the corruption scene (which is completely redundant in the course of the movie) is the most repugnant I've seen in some time, the quintessence of this dreck scene is "Woman should be men's plaything" I honestly did not expect such tripe from Luc Besson who wrote the divine Leon the Professional the soundtrack is the single worst I've heard in my life, you can find better music in * movies (save for the few scenes that had Leon-like music) all in all, this could have been a good movie, if certain things would be more developed, like Nikita's sadness and anger; certain scenes cut, the whole soundtrack replaced and an alternative ending filmed, but as it is, the movie cannot be saved by a fan edit, so I will never watch this again shame on you, Luc Besson

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!)