Léon: The Professional Blu-ray delivers great video and audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
A corrupt Drug Enforcement Administration boss and his thugs murder Mathilda's family in a drug deal gone awry. Orphaned by the massacre, Mathilda is forced to take shelter in the apartment of a neighbor, Léon, whom she knows only slightly. He's a loner and first generation immigrant, who also happens to be a professional hitman. He's never had reason to care about anybody and she has no one else to turn to. Together they form a makeshift bond that will forever change both their lives.
I like these calm little moments before the storm.
It's the "calm little moments" that elevate Léon above and well beyond the plethora of
both "Hitman" action-oriented movies and most any general Action picture out there. Director
Luc Besson's (The Fifth Element)
magnum opus blends hard-hitting action with both revenge-oriented drama and heartfelt
sincerity in the film's superbly-developed relationship between killer and child. Léon
understands that human complexities, drama, and consideration for the calm moments in
between the action sequences are what make or break a film and separate the best of the genre
from the doldrums of repetitive video-game style run-and-gun action that's barely recognizable
one from another. Léon not only tells a story to compliment the action, but it constructs
a powerful and moving tale that delivers real people with real feelings, real motivations, real skills,
and most importantly, real souls to accentuate the purpose of the action. It doesn't hurt, either,
that Besson proves himself a master craftsman of action in Léon, and the two combined
make for one of the strongest films of its kind.
Any time is a good time for some trigger time.
Hitman Léon (Jean Reno, Godzilla) is the best
in the business, a true professional, taking out his targets with stealth and deadly efficiency. His
next door neighbor is a young girl named Mathilda (Natalie Portman, Closer) who lives a
life of abuse at the hands of her detached and uncaring parents. When her family is murdered by
a gang led by a man named Stansfield (Gary Oldman, Bram Stoker's Dracula)
as part of a
drug deal gone bad, Léon reluctantly takes her in and soon finds himself with more than he
bargained for. Mathilda wants Léon to teach her how to be a "cleaner," or hitman, so she can
exact her revenge on Stansfield for the murder of her innocent four-year-old brother. Léon
reluctantly agrees but soon finds that Mathilda sees him as more than a mentor and father
figure, complicating both their relationship and her drive for vengeance that Léon himself cannot
ignore.
Léon is a film that explores the human condition in the context of a world at its worst.
Through the corruption, hate, greed, and violence that has influenced and, now,
come to define young Mathilda's life, the film examines innocence that threatens to succumb to
the
very things that have torn her world apart. The film's crux stems from the fact that she finds
comfort, solace, and even a misplaced romantic attraction in a man who is, himself, made of
violence, but not of hate. Unlike Stansfield, Léon is fully capable of both understanding and
respecting the distinction between the two and the resultant effect on the mind, body, and soul.
Also unlike the people that murdered Mathilda's family, Léon works by a stringent set of
rules that may not cleanse his soul of the deeds he's done, but they certainly allow him to, in a
way, convey to Mathilda the distinction between "cleaning" the world of its most vile scum and
haphazardly murdering both the guilty and the innocent with no respect for life or the deadly
force
that those that choose a life of violence truly wield.
In that context, the action of Léon is enhanced many times over. The film shows
violence in several unique contexts: killing for misguided or otherwise unscrupulous reasons;
killing those that, in some way or another, a justification may be made for their deaths;
and killing -- and the seemingly unquenchable desire to do so -- for revenge. Each perspective,
then, is witnessed through three sets of eyes: the guilty, the innocent, and a man caught
somewhere in between. It's the in-between character -- Léon -- that proves the film's most
fascinating. The movie creates a wonderful dichotomy that sees him in one scene a brutally
efficient killer and, later, as a man that seems caught in a world from which he cannot escape
thanks to his lack of education and, by extension, lack of options for a fruitful life outside the
world of violence that defines his personal history and prevents him from finding that one thing
that could
reshape his life: true love. He kills not for money but merely because it's what he's always done,
what's come to define his life for better or for worse, and Mathilda's place in his life allows him to
find meaning in
something other than the care for his plant, an act which symbolizes his desire to nurture rather
than destroy, and by extension, his nurturing of Mathilda -- even if it means teaching her to be
like
him -- gives him a purpose in life that was absent before. Luc Besson's action scenes take on a
new tone and purpose when seen through the eyes of each character, and therein lies
Léon's greatest strength.
Suffice it to say, however, that Léon is also a success thanks to the high quality acting
that permeates the entire film. Gary Oldman delivers another top-notch and Oscar-worthy
performance in Léon; while it may not be his signature role, it's one of his very best.
One of the finest actors of his or any other generation, he has an uncanny ability to completely
lose himself in each and every role he plays, and his effort in Léon is no exception.
Deliciously deviant, thoroughly dangerous, morally repugnant, and concealing a secret that adds
an additional layer of complexity to his motivation, Oldman's character proves a challenge the
actor conquers in every scene-chewing moment. His performance is easily the highlight of the
movie
from a more technical perspective, besting even the efforts of his fellow actors and Besson's
marvelous direction. Still, Léon would not be the success that it is without an almost
equally strong performance from Jean Reno. At once both deadly and emotional, Reno plays his
character with a superb balance that's reinforced by an undertone of innocence and desire to
better his life that allows him to both accept and understand Mathilda on almost every level.
Likewise, a young Natalie Portman turns in what is, to date, her strongest performance, no doubt
aided by what is the best character and script she's had to work with.
Léon arrives on Blu-ray with another strong 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer from Sony.
The film's bright exterior city shots look fantastic with superb clarity and attention to detail and
color. The grocery store that sits adjacent to Léon's apartment building features an abundance of
colorful products in the window, and the fine detail surrounding the store on the brick façade;
pavement; and even a grimy, beaten, and graffiti-laden telephone booth look marvelous.
Likewise, interior shots of both Léon's and Mathilda's apartments look appropriately worn, beaten,
and generally run down, with a coat of grime and various scuffs, dents, and cracks on the walls.
The image also enjoys strong clarity and detail on a myriad of objects. Whether cereal boxes and
milk cartons or the fine lines, ridges, and general wear on the bluing of Léon's impressive
weapons collection, the transfer allows even the smallest of nuanced imagery to stand out nicely.
Color reproduction is solid, too; the green leaves on Léon's prized plant are expertly and
realistically rendered, as are any other number of hues throughout, from Mathilda's blue eye
shadow in one scene to the pink and red color on Léon's pig-styled oven mitt. Sharpness is solid,
though the image can appear slightly soft in several shots. Blacks are generally
strong throughout, and flesh tones never veer too far towards either the red or ghastly ends of
the spectrum. Rounded out by a moderate layer of film grain, Léon makes for another
winning transfer from Sony.
Léon shoots up Blu-ray with a high-quality DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. While
the
film's themes compliment the action to perfection, it's the action itself that defines the
soundtrack.
Léon does feature a nicely-done mix outside the bullets; it delivers some exceptional
supporting
atmospherics during the somewhat ethereal opening musical number. The sounds of the city are
nicely realized throughout, but they never overpower the rest of the track, instead working in
conjunction with music, dialogue, and additional sound effects to create a pleasant atmosphere.
Still, there's no denying that the hard-hitting action of Léon is what makes this track,
and
from the first action piece on, it's clear that this lossless DTS track means business. Léon's first
hit
on the fat man features exceptionally reproduced gunfire. Loud, aggressive, and featuring
pinpoint
placement of both shots and impacts in flesh and solid objects, each shot hits a target with a
power
and precision that accentuates the artistry of the action and the violence of the moment. Later,
heavier machine gun fire and several explosions are heard and felt all around the soundstage,
and
explosions are delivered with a hefty rattling bass that doesn't overplay its hand. Still, much of
Léon is dialogue-driven, and in that department, the soundtrack never falters.
Léon makes for another well-above-average soundtrack from Sony.
Aside from the inclusion of the 109-minute theatrical version and 133-minute extended cut of
the film, this Blu-ray release of Léon features only a small handful of extras. 10 Year
Retrospective:
Cast and Crew Look Back (480p, 25:10) is exactly as it sounds, a "virtual gathering" that
sees the cast -- spread all over the world -- coming together to recall a vast amount of interesting
information revolving around the world of Léon. Participants include Producer Patrice
Ledoux, Actress Maiwenn, Casting Director Todd Thaler, Actor Jean Reno, Director of Photography
Thierry Arbogast, Actress Natalie Portman, Costume Designer Magali Guidasci, Actor Frank
Senger, Editor Sylvie Landra, Actress Ellen Greene, and Actor Michael Badalucco. Jean Reno:
The Road to 'Léon' (480p, 12:25) takes a closer look at Jean Reno's performance in a
challenging role, framed around the actor's history and how it prepared him to tackle the
demands of the lead character in Léon. Natalie Portman: Starting Young (480p,
13:50) takes an interesting look at the film's young character and the equally young actress that
portrayed her. Also included is a text-based "Fact Track" that plays over the extended version of
the film; BD-Live functionality; and 1080p trailers for The Da Vinci Code,
Close Encounters of the Third
Kind, The Taking of Pelham 1 2
3, Angels & Demons,
Felon, 12,
District 9, and Moon. No digital
copy, on-disc or otherwise, is included.
Léon is an exceptional film on every level: thematically, emotionally, and technically. The
star of the film isn't the action but rather the meaning behind it, an engrossing look at the loss of
innocence, the quest for vengeance, and the search for purpose in life. Few Action films cover such
a broad spectrum of emotion as Léon, and its deeper philosophical overtones are supported
by a trio of exceptional performances, notably from Gary Oldman in a trademark performance, all of
which accentuate the action many times over. Sony's Blu-ray release is technically solid. Both
picture and sound quality are very good, and the included supplements are few in number but
rather high in quality. Highly recommended.
When George Lucas announced that he would be directing three new Star
Wars films, fans young and old built a level of anticipation not seen since the
original trilogy first graced theater screens - at least until they met Jar Jar. So
when Paramount announced ...
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has officially announced the Blu-ray release of Luc Besson's 'Léon' (also known as 'The Professional'), starring Jean Reno as a hitman who becomes the guardian of a 12-year-old girl (Natalie Portman, in her first starring role). ...
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