The Professional

[another48hrs]

The funny thing was I watched The Professional yesterday and had to critique it for class and then saw this thread. So here is my take on the movie. In a technical stand point this is an awesome movie. Every shot is superbly filmed with depth and camera movement. At first I thought the camera never moved, but looking closely, the movements are so slight that it is earie. This is most notable when Stansfield is in the bathroom waiting for Mathilda and as he moves closer the camera slowly moves closer to him, if done improperly it will take people out of the movie, but done right gives Stansfield a looming presence almost devil like. There are some shots that may be considered flawed, where a character will move out of frame while acting or heads get cut off, but this can't really be judged as problems because that is a part of European film style.

Any way down to the point why we joined THR in the first place. The firearms. This movie is a hodge podge of favorites. Berettas, Sigs, Rugers, S&Ws, and HKs. There is not really any good gun handling or really any tactics in this film. Most guns are just used for eye candy(What precinct's swat team needs a heavy machinegun to shoot a grenade!) and everybody has trigger on the finger, but it doesn't really bother you if you get into the movie.

A big plus of this movie, I feel, which even I find strange is that it was a great action movie, because of the lack of action every 5 minutes. Instead of a linear amount of action most of it happens in the beginning and then towards the end. The stuff in between is about Leon and Mathilda and builds characters and relationships. This helps to make the ending so much more exciting, because you begin to feel for this character and want him to survive and live a happy life.

Even though I have seen this movie many times I could never figure out one thing (And no it is not the relationship between Mathilda and Leon which is not sexual), but what the heck does Gary Oldman use? It looks like a Smith N-Frame, but the exact model has always been a mystery. Is it a PC gun, dealer special, production model, or Hollywood gun?

 

[goon]

I thought that Oldman's gun was a S&W M-66.
Also, I think that the GPMG that they used to launch the grenade was a
M-60.
It seemed excessive to me that they would use an MG for that when they could have used one of the many assault rifles running around there or used the grenade launchers on the M-16s.
But then again, there is no way that a police force would get away with using a rifle grenade like that. They get in trouble just for using too much 9mm to bring a guy down so the AT weapons are out.

 

[artherd]

Funny, I just remenber thinking "Darn, she'll be hot in a couple of years!"

I was right, too.

Good movie, one of Luc's best.

Except for the phrase 'nine mill-ie' Aargh!

 

[Schuey2002]

Jean Reno was/and is about the only French actor that I like...

.. I liked him better in Ronin, though.

(Trying to forget the poor job of acting he did in Rollerball.)

 

[Cosmoline]

A better film is "Crimson Rivers," also with Reneau.

 

[axeman_g]

paintball

I just assumed the rifle was firing simunitions.

Anybody?

Good movie and the undercurrent of sexual tension is definetly girl to man, a young lady trying to woo in the way she has seen street smart women act all her young life. Its creepy because of the age at which she is trying to use sex as her power, which is a large part of her characters being.

to many guns to name ...

 

[Cosmoline]

AFAIK, the simulitions only go out to about fifty or 100 feet max before they fall out of the sky. My recollection was of a much, much longer shot.

Besides this, the whole film was creepy. Why is he teaching her to kill? It struck me as irresponsible. Then there's the whole Euro-sex thing. Weird.

 

[Steel]

with an undertone of pedophilia

I didn't read any such dark undertones into the film. Rather, more of a puppy love or father figure scenario....?

Oldman's dirty-psyco cop character was well done

 

[TheOtherOne]

Question: Am I the only one who wonders if the "paintball" marker was actually a real bullet? Something about Leon's reaction almost makes me wonder if it wasn't the real thing, despite what the girl may think.

I think his reaction is just because he realized the person they had just hit with the paintball was someone of uber-importance (I thought he was the Mayor for some reason).

 

[gripper]

"The Professional"

I did like it,both for the over the top Gary Oldman character(sort of a murderous hedonisT),and for J.Reno;he is just plain cool.I even liked the comedies he did,like "Just Visiting"(or was it "Only Visiting").
I did catch sime of the vibe on N. Portman's interaction,but it was,as you say;appropriately reacted to by the main character,
As far as Portman goes,I remember a wierd interview with her, regarding the MMM/Brady?gun grabber groups;I could be wrong ,but I think she may be an anti.

 

[JShirley]

Besson also wrote and directed The 5th Element, my favorite movie.

This is an enjoyable flick, though ultimately, sad in many ways. The dynamic between the two main characters is that of essentially honorable- though naive in some ways- hitman, with a confused, traumatized, and abused child just starting the change toward womanhood. Leon likes being loved, dislikes being vulnerable, and is baffled by how to deal with the girl just finding her first big crush.

 

[Bahadur]

Although Jean Reno has become a "French" actor, his birthname was Juan Moreno. He was born to Spanish (Spaniard, not Hispanic) parents in what was Spanish Morocco.

I was somewhat angry that the American-cut of the film ("The Professional" in the US) was shorter by 30 minutes than the international version ("Leon"). Apparently, there was a concern that the longer version would be deemed more "sexual" (or pedophilic as someone else called it here). It was hoped that the American version would be seen in a more paternal light.

The goofy thing about that -- for me in any case -- is that the longer international version was much better in explaining Leon's motivations and history, and went further to make him a more moral character (not to mention explaining why Reno's character wears grenades all the time -- as in the "ring trick"). I was angry because I thought the American cut was condescending in a way, as if we Americans couldn't "get" complexity of human relationship (including sexual tension).

Either way, the sexual tension is there -- for a purpose. It is, as others put it, an exploration of the relationship between a moral man (simplistic, and not particularly "legal," but moral nonetheless) and a pubescent girl experiencing inklings of sexual feeling for the first time. I don't think there is anything immoral or gratuitious there - it is in someways a reflection of what sometimes occurs in real life (a young girl in puppy love with an older man, and the older man declining such affection and counseling the younger person). In that regard, I thought that the "Mathilda, I am glad your stomach is feeling better" comment was priceless.

The gunplay is obviously unrealistic in the extreme, but you do get to see a lot of artistically well-done scenes WITH guns. I also would like to know what make that 1911-type pistol Reno's character used on the SWAT guy looking around the corner was.

My favorite line in the film was uttered by Gary Oldman's character:

"Death is... whimsical today."

 

[Hugo]

Coolest line......

Benny... Bring me everyone.

What do you mean

EVERYONE!!!!!!!



I heard a rumor Luc Besson wants to get Natalie Portman to be in a sequel to the Professional. Won't be the same without Leon but I hope she does it if it's true. She's a great actress and is beautiful. I just realized she looks a lot like Audrey Hepburn.

 

[Frohickey]

I didn't see a whole lot of realistic gun scenes in The Professional.

If you want realism in gun scenes, I suggest that you go get another Natalie Portman movie... no, I did not mean Star Wars, Attack of the Clones... I meant H.E.A.T., with Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro.

 

[DigMe]

The Coen Brothers were recently being interviewed for an article that I read in the Austin American Statesman about their new movie and they made an interesting comment on 'realism':

"We don't do realism, and if that's what you go to the movies for, you're not necessarily going to like our stuff," says Joel.

"But who goes to the movies for that?" Ethan says. "Mainly, people go to movies for kind of the Hollywood pablum, which isn't the real world, either."

"Right, they go for what they think is realism," Joel says. "They see 'Heat,' Michael Mann, cops. It's gritty realism, when in fact it's just obviously not."

I completely agree. While the shooting and gun scenes may be more realistic in Heat than your average movie, most of the movie is just not. I don't care though...it's a great movie. Who gives a damn if a movie is realistic. Even most movies that people consider 'realistic' aren't really very realistic if you really look at it objectively. If I want realism I'll sit at home in my underwear eating chips and salsa and watching my dog lick herself. That's not near as entertaining though. Give me entertainment, not dog-licking 'realism'.

brad cook

 

[Bahadur]

If "realistic gunplay" is what you want, the best film is probably "The Way of the Gun" with Ryan Phillippe, Benicio del Toro, James Caan and Juliette Lewis.

Of course, the unrealistic thing about that particular movies is that the two protagonists (of sorts) who are just thugs move like Navy SEALs! It turns out that the brother of the director WAS a Navy SEAL and choreographed many of the gunplay scenes.

 

[Yowza]

Regarding "Way of the Gun", it's been a while since I've watched it, but as I recall the movie never really gets into the background of the two main characters. It's really difficult to tell what their history or even their motivation might be. Pretty cool movie, though.

Rick

 

[Joe Demko]

If I want realism I'll sit at home in my underwear eating chips and salsa and watching my dog lick herself.

Yes, but what is the symbolism of chips and salsa juxtaposed with your dog licking herself? I mean, if you don't want to attempt a pomo deconstruction of dog-licking, okay...but you are the one who brought it up.

 

[Cosmoline]

I don't think the Coen bros. were talking about gunplay. "Heat" *is* pretty silly on a number of levels, in that it doesn't accurately represent any known methods of criminal investigation. They have coffee together for the love of mike! Not likely.

But it's a cool movie.

 

[Killerofgiants]

"Leon" is one of my favorite movies and while "The Professional" is good on it's own, I like the extended version better. Good action, not necessarily realistic but there aren't many films with realistic gun sequences anyways. The rifle that Leon used to train Mathilda was an AR-15 with a thumbhole stock. I, too, found it a questionable that a paintball could fly that far without causing actual damage. I do like the next sequence that follows with Bjork's "Venus as a Boy" music playing, it just really fit.

In the extended version, there's a scene where Leon puts his silenced Beretta in a bad guy's mouth and you can see that the safety is on! His guns were Beretta's with BATS compensators on them. They attached via the recoil rod or something like that, they aren't bolted on tight but they are supposed to work well if you can find one. In the movie, it says, "AlGemec" from what I can see.

One of my fav scenes is the very beginning where he puts the knife to that guy's throat.

 

[Hugo]

Zombie thread time! Also Jean Reno has made another movie with lots of guns called "Wasabi" and yes another, young 18 year old girl, this time the daughter he didn't know he had in Japan. Very funny too so I recommend you Netflix or Blockbuster it.

 

[FoMoGo]

what the heck does Gary Oldman use? It looks like a Smith N-Frame, but the exact model has always been a mystery. Is it a PC gun, dealer special, production model, or Hollywood gun?

It is a 3" S&W Model 629 with unfluted cyl.

Jim

 

[alohachris]

My personal favorite gun scene:
Leon at his apartment door, looking through the peep hole. A Goon on the other side trying to listen through the door, keeps moving his head around. All the while Leon has a 1911(?) pointed through the door and is moving it around, following every move of the the goon's head...too cool

 

[expvideo]

Umm, if you're into twisted violent movies with an undertone of pedophilia

More like a pubescent girl's crush on an older man than pedophilia. She hits on him, not the other way 'round, and it wierds him out (as you'd hope it would).

Yeah. In the American version. Rumor has it that Natalie Portman's parents are the reason that they didn't have sex in the movie, because I'm told that they did in the book.

This is a seriously messed up movie. That's not to say it's not a good movie, because it is. But it is seriously messed up.

 

[Zach S]

Except for the phrase 'nine mill-ie' Aargh!

I thought his character was funny. A white, Bob Marley wannabe, that works for the DEA and uses a TEC9 for a duty pistol. You dont see any humor in that?

"Careful Blood, might be poisioned."
"No, there's no anchovies on this."