was one of Hollywood’s most sought-after filmmakers in the 1990s. His “Leon the Professional” from 1994 was a huge hit that successfully promoted not only , but also Jean Reno. The production provided them with recognition and was a solid foundation for their further career path – suffice it to say that both Portman and Oldman earned Oscars after years. Now, however, “Leon the Professional” is a movie that both of them would probably prefer not to talk about.
Natalie Portman on “Leon the Professional” after years: “It’s complicated”
“Leon the Professional” is not only about a hit man who reluctantly decides to take care of his neighbors’ 12-year-old daughter after almost the entire family was murdered in their own home. It is also a story in which a 12-year-old girl decides to kill people on her own and to avenge the death of her younger brother. She also tries to establish a relationship with a much older man that goes beyond the standard caring arrangement. Matylda does not hide that she is in love with Leon – although he rejects her advances, he teaches her the secrets of his bloody craft and tries to financially secure her future.
Luc Besson wrote the script himself, and according to Savannah Walsh from the American, he was loosely inspired by his relationship with a 15-year-old girl – in France it is the legal age of consent (i.e. the minimum age set in the regulations, from which a person is considered capable of expressing a legally valid consent to engage in sexual activities with a chosen partner). It doesn’t help that “Leon the Professional” has two versions – an abridged version, which was widely distributed, and the so-called director’s cut.
This one contains an additional 25 minutes of scenes that Besson intended to appear in the second part of the film – they showed, among others, more intimately, the development of Leon and Matylda’s relationship and several joint assignments during which the teenager trains to become a hitman. The producers decided to cut them after test screenings. Ultimately, the cut shots where Matilda kills, drinks alcohol, tells Leon he should kiss her, threatens to kill himself if he doesn’t get “love”, says that “sometimes he thinks about his first time” and falls asleep cuddled up to Leon. What’s worse, Luc Besson was accused by several women of sexual violence in 2018 – the filmmaker refutes the allegations.
Natalie Portman in the latest interview with does not hide that she was shocked when she found out about the allegations against Luc Besson. As she says, it was “devastating”. Asked if she had any suspicions when they worked on Leon, she replied: “I really didn’t know anything. I was a working kid. I was a kid. But I don’t want to say anything that might negate someone’s experience.” About the film itself, he says:
It’s a film that audiences still love and people still come up to me to talk about it – more times than anything else I’ve done in my career. But when I watch it now, I see there, to put it mildly, aspects that are embarrassing and embarrassing for me. So it’s really complicated for me.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
