Plot: What’s it about?
Luc Besson, in his brief but hopefully growing career, has given us some of the more interesting movies out there. Besson gained worldwide attention with 1994’s “The Professional” better-known around the world as “Leon: The Professional”. He followed that up with the very scenic, if not surreal, “The Fifth Element” and has most recently graced us with “The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc”. I’m guessing here, but I think I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that Besson likes his heroines to face almost impossible odds and likes them frizzy-haired! For all the notoriety that The Professional garnered, it was preceded by La Femme Nikita. La Femme Nikita was popular enough to spawn a television series after it (though it was terrible), and thrust Besson into the spotlight. While this is the essential to The Point of No Return (starring Bridget Fonda), I happened to like this “French” version a lot better. In fact, it’s well-known that the French have had several movies that have been remade over here in “the states” to greater financial success. Sommersby, Three Men and a Baby and The Talented Mr. Ripley are only a few of the more recent examples. Anyhow…on with the plot.
Nikita (Anne Parrillaut) starts out as part of a gang that gets caught while robbing a store. After a bloody shoot-out ensues, it’s Nikita who takes the life of a police officer and is sentenced to death at the mere age of 19. Here, and right here, is where the film takes an abrupt turn. The outside world is led to believe that the sentence was carried out and that Nikita is dead at the hands of the state. As it turns out, she is in the hands of the state, but she has been “recruited” to be trained as an assassin for the government. Nikita, very brash and ignorant of any type of authority, immediately revokes any semblance of someone telling her what to do. Of course, she doesn’t have any idea that during her training, her life is constantly in danger. As time progresses, she eventually learns to “play ball” and proceeds with her training, under the leadership of her instructor and mentor (Marc Duret). After passing an interesting final test, she is ready to begin her new life out in the open. She has been locked up in a pseudo-prision for a number of years. What happens with Nikita is that she gets back into the swing of life. Nikita forms, almost instantly, a romantic relationship with a local man. This presents her with a problem when the government will come calling, asking her to perform her duties as an assassin (and they do).
You see, Nikita has to kill a certain number of people for the government, otherwise her own life is in danger. She is the ultimate assassin, beautiful and innocent…but deadly. Her romance with her previous mentor comes up in her new life, as she has taken what they have given her (a renewed lease on life) and put it to good use. Unlike “The Terminator” or any of the other senseless violence movies, La Femme Nikita concentrates on the complexity of life and makes it into a great action movie as well. Hardly any, if no, special effects are used but the movie flows like a river. We see Nikita as a person, and not the brutal assassin that she has been taught to be. Though there are scenes in which she kills, I still don’t associate this movie with anything “bad”. While the ending is criticized for being a very “French” ending, or not satisfying, I think it’s perfect. If you’re a fan of any or all (most likely all) of Besson’s movies, then La Femme Nikita is the place to start. It’s a great movie that’s been made into a great DVD…again.
Video: How does it look?
La Femme Nikita has been given a brand new anamorphic transfer. This DVD has had a previous version put out by Pioneer, but it did not have a 16:9 transfer. Kudos to MGM for this! The film is nine years old, and all things considering…it doesn’t look that bad. While there are some blips and scratches here and there, for the most part, it looks very solid. Black levels are a tad bit off, and the color balance is a bit ‘iffy’ here and there as well. Most scenes have a very controlled look about them, and one thing that Luc Besson learned later on (with his later movies) is how to create visuals that leave a lasting impression. While a tad bit of artifacting and edge enhancement are evident, the picture looks good considering it’s age and budget. I know there have been a lot of strikes listed against it, but it’s really not that bad. A good overall job. At the very least, it’s nice to see this film get a new transfer.
Audio: How does it sound?
In addition to a new transfer, a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack has also been added. Besson’s later movies like The Messenger, The Fifth Element and The Professional (Leon) all benefit from very vibrant, dynamic-sounding tracks. It’s clear that he tested the waters here, as part of La Femme Nikita really light up your system. The dialogue is a hard thing to describe. I watched the dubbed version, and watched it again in it’s original language (French) with the subtitles. Obviously, the French version has a more natural feel to it, as it was the original language. Several gunshots, and even a few explosions radiate from the speakers and give it a very good-sounding track. Unless you are strictly against reading subtitles, I would recommend watching the French version, as that track is much better. All in all…a good job here as well.
Supplements: What are the extras?
All that is included is a trailer in a forced anamorphic format (if you have your TV set to anamorphic, it shouldn’t matter), but it’s clear that the trailer is shown in 2.35:1 format, and it appears “squished” on the screen. Odd, but hey…it’s better than nothing, right?
