Nikita - Well worth watching (Nikita (DVD))

Member Name: xalala

Product:	Nikita (DVD)
Date:	05/11/04 (120 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Directed by Luc Besson, Compelling and stylish film

Disadvantages: In French (with subtitles), More expensive on VHS/DVD cos it's foreign

Nikita is an early film from Luc Besson, who has since moved onto major Hollywood productions, including Léon and The Fifth Element among others (less said about Jeanne d'Arc/Joan of Arc the better though).

I've been a fan of Luc Besson's directing skills for years, and Nikita is one of the first of his films that I saw (leant to me by my A-level French teacher, no less). It probably remains the one I like best, too.

At the age of 19, Nikita (played by Anne Parillaud) is a drug addict and child of the streets. Representing a generation with an uncertain future, she has no control in her life, and is running wild. Along with a couple of friends, she sets out to raid a chemist, and ends up shooting and killing a policeman. Her friends are both killed in the shoot-out, but Nikita survives. She's tried and put in prison.

Suddenly, we discover that according to the government, Nikita is dead, buried in "allée 8, numéro 30, Maisons-Alfort", killed by a huge overdose of drugs.

All this happens within the first few minutes of the film, so what is the other 90 minutes to be filled with? Nikita herself believes that she has been given a deadly injection in prison, but she wakes to find herself in a strange, entirely white room - and it isn't heaven, although she believes so at first.

Nikita is, in fact, in a specialised training centre for producing deadly assassins. Bob, her mentor, informs her that becoming an assassin is her only choice, and, rather than die for real, Nikita sets out on the training programme.

The premise so far sounds exactly like many other action/adventure/thriller films available. Where this one differs, however, is the way that it's presented. Rather than have people running around like maniacs, lots of shooting, killing people, competition between assassins a la James Bond or similar, this is very much a psychological thriller. And it has a female lead - highly unusual in an action flick even now.

The viewer is drawn into the situation Nikita finds herself in (assuming you can suspend enough disbelief to be OK that the French government have a secret school for assassins), and gradually warms to her over time. She is, admittedly, a highly unsympathetic character, at least at first, but I for one found that over time I sympathised with her predicament and her actions.

The soundtrack for the film is provided by Eric Serra, long-time collaborator with Luc Besson - he also provided the soundtracks for The Big Blue, Subway, The Fifth Element and Joan of Arc (among others). As in those films, he has done an outstanding job. The music doesn't interfere with the progress of the film, or seem out of place at any point. Rather, it helps carry the plot along nicely.

The acting, similarly, is excellent for the most part. Anne Parillaud puts in a fantastic performance in the title role, convincingly portraying both a drug addict, a drug addict going through cold turkey, and an uncertain, scared girl becoming an assured, confident woman. Tcheky Karyo puts in a fine showing as mentor and assassin handler Bob, and Jean-Hughes Anglade is fine as Marco.

Perhaps the best, and most understated (or underused) acting is that of Jeanne Moreau, playing Amande. She is convincing as an older mother-figure for the anti-heroine, and one that knows loads about make-up, clothes and other girly things too.

The lighting throughout it typically French - stylish, tending towards dark, and quite stark at times, effortlessly heightening the mood of the film throughout.

There are touching moments in the film, such as where Jeanne Moreau as Amanda teaches Nikita how to act a women - apply lipstick and other girlie things - and above all how to act appropriately, with good manners and breeding (which apparently can be taught after all). There are moments where it is clear that Nikita is being manipulated and controlled at every step, given no choice (or a Hobson's Choice) over her actions. Some of this feels uncomfortable to the viewer, as it reflects our society and the fact that we all expect people to conform to our expectations, and can make life difficult for those who either won't or can't.

After years of training, Nikita is permitted to leave the school and begin carrying out assassinations, as given to her by Bob, now her handler. But not long after leaving, she meets a man and the story takes a turn. Rather than simply staying on the path of thriller/action films, it instead becomes a study of love and self-awareness, whether Nikita can drag herself away from the path imposed on her by others, and finally make her own choices. It's about Nikita's personal values, and other people's perceptions of them - shown when Bob and Marco, the man she met on leaving the training school and now loves, discuss her actions - and whether she really can escape the role she has been forced to fulfil.

The film takes place in modern times, a world where violence has become normal and expected. The action might appear more realistic if it was set slightly into the past - during the second world war, for example - since the subject is rather unbelievable. Similarly, Nikita's tranformation from drug addict and accidental killer to slick, groomed, sophisticated deliberate killer is hard to swallow.

Despite this, the film is entirely worth watching. It's reminiscent of Tarantino, in the way opening, full of seemingly random violence. It speaks of love, in conflict with work, and ultimately, realism just isn't the point of this film. It's a fantastic, well executed and stylish drama that stands up well to similar Hollywood films, and deserves to be more widely known than perhaps it is.

Go see it!

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Running time 115 minutes. The VHS copy I have is certificate 18, I assume for the violence, drugs and bad language. However according to IMDB.com, it's a 15 certificate in the UK. Note that my copy is an imported French video though.

Remade in the US as Point of No Return in the early 90s, starring Bridget Fonda (OK but not great). And then there was La Femme Nikita, the TV series. Please, don't bother!

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