I wanna be her when I grow up! (Nikita (DVD))

Member Name: miriamb

Product:	Nikita (DVD)
Date:	25/06/02 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see op

Disadvantages: it's been deleted

I do watch non-French films, honest. I just prefer the atmospherics, the lighting, the stylised sumptuousness of French drama. Nikita is no exception.

This came out in 1990, and the director and writer of the screenplay is the wonderful Luc Besson (also The Big Blue, The Fifth Element, Leon, and others). The plot is a compelling and engaging thriller, which goes a-something like this…

The film opens with a group of young drug addicts marching through the midnight streets, bathed in the almost blue-tinged glow of street lights that are reflected in the damp road and the puddles. This is a gritty, unpleasant, and barbaric world, as is shown in their arrival at their destination - a pharmacy, from where they plan to acquire their next fix. Nikita is the only female of the group and as such adopts a more passive role as the main protagonists, Rico, Coyotte, and Zap, trash the interior in their search for drugs. With headphones as a permanent fixture, her only words are almost childlike in their request for the outcome of her companion’s mission. She settles underneath a counter, minding her own business and patiently waiting.

It turns out that the pharmacy belongs to Coyotte’s father, who, upon hearing the break-in, calls the police. And the police come, and this being France, they are armed, and this being a group of drug addicts, their target is hysterical, until of course they are shot down and silenced by the police snipers. Only Nikita is left, but during the crossfire she has obtained a gun. One of the armed officers finds her, bends down to speak to hear, gently removes her headphones, and she turns to face him, calmly lifts the gun and shoots him at point blank range. So she has killed a police officer, and this is where her story begins.

Whilst being questioned, Nikita shows her wilful disrespect and contempt for authority, which clearly does her no favours. The film swiftly moves to her trial and convic
tion to life imprisonment, to which she reacts by lashing out at everything and everyone. She is ultimately only removed from the courtroom by six big strong men, who carry her as her limbs continue to flail and her screams echo down the corridor. Nikita’s strength of will has been noted, however, and is eventually what will save her.

Her destiny has been decided for her, and after an excruciatingly clinical scene in which she believes she is being put to death by lethal injection, her life begins again. To all intents and purposes, she is dead; her family and friends have been notified of her ‘suicide’, her funeral has been performed. She awakes in a starkly lit room, and is given the choice of actual death, or working for the government. What follows is the outcome of her decision for the latter, and the eventual blossoming of a beautiful, elegant, intelligent and deadly young woman, and the establishment of her new life.

The plot is vaguely reminiscent of the reclamation therapy of A Clockwork Orange, albeit in a less mentally brutal manner. The same despair that an ordinary life can never be imagined is evident, and is undoubtedly heart-breaking in parts. The Nikita at the start of the film becomes a young lady with multiple identities, walking a constant tightrope to fulfil the differing roles that have been created for her. Any will that she may have shown in the opening scenes is lost in a frustratingly complicated battle simply to survive day-to-day life, and of course the additional requirements of her role as governmental assassin. Every apparent step forward turns into a further challenge, which induce adrenalin rushes and genuine empathy in the viewer.

Eric Serra’s haunting soundtrack (although admittedly now sounding a bit dated) only emphasises the story, never detracting from it, and works excellently to develop the essence of each scene, building tension and carrying the plot even in the absence o
f dialogue.

The cinematography is exquisite, capturing the ambience of each sector of the story wonderfully, from the blue-bathed gloom of the start of the film and the clinical bright-whiteness of following scenes, to the factory-grey of her 'training'. The colourful luminosity of her life ‘outside’ is contrasted with duplicitous and secretive night-time darkness. Although this technique is put to infinitely more subtle use than the themed tones of Traffic, for example, it is still possible to identify the position of a scene within the greater structure of the story by the lighting effect.

Unless you speak French, the dialogue will have to be experienced either through subtitles or dubbing. Personally, dubbing is a no-go; it serves as a constant distraction and is generally a source of continual irritation. When watching Nikita, please go with the sub-titles. Reading them will become automatic after 5 minutes of watching, and the understated dialogue is such that you won’t be required to read lines and lines of text anyway. This isn’t to say that the dialogue is lacking in any way, simply that words are chosen carefully and serve to punctuate the scenes rather than being the sole method of conveying the narrative.

As an indicator of how appropriate the subtitles are, it’s worth mentioning the 1993 Hollywood remake of this film, The Assassin, starring Bridget Fonda. Whilst a very poor relative of Nikita as a film, the slapdash laziness of the remake is demonstrated by the fact that the script is 99% lifted directly from the subtitles of the original. Please don’t be tempted to watch The Assassin as an English-language substitute – it’s vastly inferior and pales in comparison.

The acting in Nikita is superb. Anne Parillaud (Nikita) has starred in numerous French films, but her most notable (and only?) appearance in an English language feature was in the Leonardo diCaprio
vehicle of 1998, The Man in the Iron Mask. Throughout the film her external strength is tempered by her fragile vulnerability, and this film simply would not work if this contradiction was heavy-handed or overwhelming. As Parillaud plays her, Nikita is a delicate young woman who rises formidably to each challenge and is utterly convincing as a character.

Tcheky Karyo plays her mentor, Bob, whose function seems to alternately complicate and facilitate her new life. Karyo has, like Parillaud, a wealth of credits to his name, though probably best-known outside of France for 2001’s Kiss of the Dragon starring Jet Li. Like Nikita, Bob’s stone-hearted focus is contrasted on occasion by his genuine affection for his protégéé, and their unspoken love affair that traces its way through the story.

Jeanne Moreau is the perfect choice for Amande, who teaches Nikita how to be a woman. Among the lessons in the art of make-up and flirting are the simple tools of how to smile, how to capture attention, the importance of punctuality. The scenes between Nikita and Amande are almost hypnotic, both in the sensually atmospheric music, and Moreau’s dulcet tones.

Nikita’s boyfriend Marco is played by the lovely Jean-Hughes Anglade, who as ever is a delight to watch. His charm and sparkling eyes are put to good use as the love interest, who Nikita must deceive and eventually discard. His adoration for Nikita is frustrated throughout their relationship by her very inability to share her life with him, in its entirety, and is achingly painful to watch. Anglade will be recognised from a number of films, probably most immediately for his parts in Betty Blue and Killing Zoe.

Also worth a mention is Jean Reno who plays Victor, the 'cleaner'. This role seems to be the precurser in some ways to his portayal of Leon, in the film of the same name, also directed by Besson. His brutal attention to detail, devoid of emotion and sin
gularly focussed on the task in hand, is terrifying to watch. His character is a man of few words yet of decisive action, and enables Nikita to show her delicate side in the midst of an important operation.

All in, Nikita is a truly brilliant story of sacrifice, rebirth, institutional containment, and, albeit cynically, love. It will quite literally keep you on the edge of your seat, make you laugh, and cause your eyes to well up with big salty tears, and despite the female title character, this is most definitely not a girly film. Think more Thelma and Louise than Charlie’s Angels and you’ll be following the right direction, although the characters Thelma and Louise are more overstated and vengeful than Nikita could ever be. Add to that a precise dialogue, inspired cinematography, and outstanding acting and direction, in the context of a brilliant plot, and you have a winner. In conclusion, I cannot recommend this film highly enough.



Incidentally, when I first got hold of a copy of this film, I watched it every day for about 6 weeks, and adopted Nikita as my role model… worrying really. But that may serve as evidence of how much of an impact this film made on me, particularly as no other has ever created such a dedicated obsession. Trust me, rent it. And thanks for reading.

Summary: