Mathilda's abusive father attracts the ire of corrupt DEA agents, who have been paying him to stash cocaine in his apartment. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Country singer Taylor Swift and Beyoncé Knowles have once again made it to the winners list of 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. Léon killed the father out of revenge and fled to New York, where he met Tony and trained to become a cleaner. Mathilda tries to convince Tony to hire her in Leon's place, but Tony flatly refuses to hire a twelve-year-old, and tells Mathilda he had been instructed by Léon to give his money to her if anything happened to him. Lion is a 2016 Australian biographical film directed by Garth Davis (in his feature debut) and written by Luke Davies, based on the non-fiction book A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierley with Larry Buttrose. The additional material is found in the film's second act, and it depicts more of the interactions and relationship between Léon and Mathilda, as well as explicitly demonstrating how Mathilda accompanies Léon on several of his hits as "a full co-conspirator", to further her training as a contracted killer.[34]. Cannes choices lead contenders, Denmark goes with Mads Mikkelsen, and this is the first year Academy voters can watch at home. His work comes from a mafioso named "Old Tony". [15] Subsequently it was released a few times with a U.K. remastered Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD was issued by Studio Canal on 11 November 2019. Like Mathilda, her character goes to war with a drug cartel as revenge for the murder of her family when she was a child. A young F.B.I. Cynthia Erivo was also nominated for two awards: best actress and original song for "Stand Up" both for the film "Harriet." 2018 Academy Awards 1 nomination. Léon: The Professional As he is dying, Léon places an object in Stansfield's hands that he says is "from Mathilda"; Stansfield discovers that it is a grenade pin. In exchange, she runs his errands, cleans his apartment, and teaches him how to read. The film, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 10 October 2016, was given a limited release in the United States on 25 November 2016, by The Weinstein Company before opening generally on 6 January 2017. The lives of guards on Death Row are affected by one of their charges: a black man accused of child murder and rape, yet who has a mysterious gift. A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which began when five criminals met at a seemingly random police lineup. With Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello. Léon: The Professional is to some extent an expansion of an idea in Besson's earlier 1990 film, La Femme Nikita (in some countries Nikita). The presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, the events of Vietnam, Watergate and other historical events unfold through the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, whose only desire is to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart. Even further success came to the director in 1994 with the release of Leon: The Professional starring the young Natalie Portman. Mathilda quickly discovers that Léon is a hitman. The film also received seven nominations at the 20th César Awards, for Best Film, Best Director for Besson, Best Actor for Reno, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Music, and Best Sound. [10], A soundtrack for the film was released in October 1994 by TriStar Music. Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action. The extended version of Léon was shown as "version longue" in French cinemas in 1996, and then released on VHS. When Léon heads out for an apparent assignment, Mathilda fills a bag with guns from Léon's collection and sets out to kill Stansfield. The Greatest Showman received 5 major nominations in 2018, winning 1 award. Even in a finale of extravagant violence, it manages to be maudlin ... Mr. Oldman expresses most of the film's sadism as well as many of its misguidedly poetic sentiments."[22]. 42. (1994). When Mathilda returns, she realizes what has happened just in time to continue down the hall to Léon's apartment; he hesitantly gives her shelter. It was commercially successful in Japan, being certified gold for 100,000 copies shipped in December 1999. The two made plans to elope, but when the girl's father discovered their relationship, he killed her out of anger and escaped justice. Starring Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel, Rooney Mara, David Wenham and Nicole Kidman, the film focuses on Saroo Brierley, separated from his biological mother and adopted by an Australian couple, searched his biological mother via Google Earth. He praised Oldman's performance as "divinely psychotic". They go against the grain. What are the tablets which Stansfield takes twice during the course of the film? [17] At Metacritic, the film received an average score of 64 based on 12 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews". Anthony Minghella and Saul Zaentz. Get the latest updates, photos and videos for the 89th Academy Awards. Rated R for scenes of strong graphic violence, and for language, Tony puts out his cigarette in an ashtray, ‘City On A Hill’ Casts Leon; Jackie Seiden Joins ‘Call Your Mother’, Natalie Portman Says ‘Being Sexualized’ as a Child Star ‘Made Me Afraid’, ‘One Night in Miami’ Stars Leslie Odom, Jr. and Aldis Hodge on the Burden of Playing Iconic Figures, Top 100 Movies as Rated by Women on IMDb in 2016, The Top 200 Movies as Rated by Women on IMDb in 2018. And it is well acted." It is not to be confused with, "How Luc Besson's 'LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL' created a new type of action movie", "The Professional (1994) - Luc Besson - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related", "The Professional (1994) - Box Office Mojo", "Leon â€“ The Professional filming locations", "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 1999å¹´12月度", "Léon Blu-ray United Kingdom Special Edition", "Leon: The Professional Blu-ray, Léon / Theatrical and Extended Versions", He May Be a Killer, But He's Such a Sweetie, "OFCS Top 100: Top 100 Villains of All Time", "100 Greatest Movie Villains: Norman Stansfield", "Exclusive: Olivier Megaton Says Sequel to 'The Professional' Unlikely", "Olivier Megaton Admits 'Colombiana' Inspired By Luc Besson's Unmade 'The Professional' Sequel Script", "Besson on: His promise to make only 10 films, Working with Natalie Portman, Jacques Mayol, directing", "Leon: Version Integrale â€“ The Professional (Director's Cut)", The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Léon:_The_Professional&oldid=991321676, Fictional portrayals of the New York City Police Department, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 29 November 2020, at 13:11. Taylor Swift has bagged two awards for her album Fearless. An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston. Léon and Mathilda form an unusual relationship, as she becomes his protégée and learns the hitman's trade. It was first released in the United Kingdom in 2009 as the "Director's Cut". Abdi, which was composed for film and concert, Grant McLachlan, is part of Leon Bosch’s latest album The South African Double Bass. He is also a singer and film producer. Mathilda lives with her dysfunctional family in an apartment down the hall, and has stopped attending class at her school for troubled girls. The Perfect Couple. 66 of 72 people found this review helpful. View production, box office, & company info. He is best known for his roles in films like ‘The Last Picture Show’ and ‘Crazy Heart.’ Bridges, who comes from a prominent acting family, started appearing on screen as a toddler. [3], The film was originally released on VHS and LaserDisc. She begs him to take care of her and to teach her his skills, as she wants to avenge the murder of her four-year-old brother. Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives. Oscars Best Picture Winners Best Picture Winners Golden Globes Emmys STARmeter Awards San Diego Comic-Con New York Comic-Con Sundance Film Festival Toronto Int'l Film Festival Awards Central Festival Central All Events Lion is nominated for Best Picture for Oscars 2017. I have two reasons: 1994 was a year with some of the best films: Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption, while Leon: The Professional is a big film, it doesn’t measure up to the critical receptions of the best picture films. Léon: The Professional received positive reviews from critics. Léon: The Professional (French: Léon), titled Leon in the UK and Australia (and originally titled The Professional in the US), is a 1994 English-language French action-thriller film[5][6][7][8] written and directed by Luc Besson. One day, Léon meets Mathilda Lando, a lonely 12-year-old girl. 7th Avenue and W 54th Street, New York City, New York, USA. Mathilda goes to Tony, as Léon had told her to do earlier. Remi Weekes‘ film “His House” also earned 16 nominations, with nods for Best Actress and Best Actor for Wunmi Mosaku and Sope Dirisu respectively. At Metacritic, the film received an average score of 64 based on 12 reviews, indicatin… Léon was Besson's first foray into international film production. Mini Reel. Here are some of our picks to get you in the spirit. The final scene at school was filmed at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. The lives of two mob hitmen, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption. Music: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. [14] Sony Pictures released it in the United States in November 2009. He then opens Léon's vest to find a cluster of active grenades, which promptly detonate, killing Stansfield. A former neo-nazi skinhead tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same wrong path that he did. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soapmaker form an underground fight club that evolves into something much, much more. It was released in Australia on 19 January 2017 and in the United Kingdom on 20 January 2017. [1] In France overall, it sold 3,330,703 tickets. Léon ambushes the ESU team and rescues Mathilda. It appeared as the "international version" on Region 1 DVD in North America in 2000, and was re-issued in 2005. She then walks onto a field near the school to plant Léon's houseplant, as she had told Léon that he should "give it roots". "The Professional (1994 film)" redirects here. A Polish Jewish musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto of World War II. An Essay on … Leon Russell, renowned multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who collaborated with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, the Rolling Stones and Elton John … The film holds a 74% positive aggregate rating based on 65 critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 6.91/10. Léon, after discovering her plan in a note left for him, rescues Mathilda, killing two more of Stansfield's men in the process. It was subsequently released as "version intégrale" on LaserDisc and later Region 2 DVD in Japan. The 2020 Mar del Plata Festival doled out its top prizes to “The Year of the Discovery,” “Los Conductos” and “The Lost Time.” She bluffs her way into the DEA office by posing as a delivery girl, only to be ambushed by Stansfield in a bathroom; one of his men arrives and announces that Léon had just killed Malky, one of the corrupt DEA agents, in Chinatown that morning. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade. In time, the pair form a close bond. [21], Roger Ebert awarded the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, writing: "It is a well-directed film, because Besson has a natural gift for plunging into drama with a charged-up visual style. She used to rent her room; Brierley has spent 300,000 rupees (£3,600) to buy it for her. [20] Richard Schickel of Time magazine lauded the film, writing, "this is a Cuisinart of a movie, mixing familiar yet disparate ingredients, making something odd, possibly distasteful, undeniably arresting out of them". [32], There is also an extended version of the film, referred to as "international version", "version longue", or "version intégrale". It stars Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and Natalie Portman (in her film debut). Mathilda looks up to Léon and quickly develops a crush on him, often telling him she loves him, but he refuses to reciprocate. When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence. The Boston Society of Film Critics awards is the precursor season “kickoff” for critics awards this year. Sony Pictures first release on DVD titled as The Professional was on 24 February 1998 with the original U.S. theatrical cut. Your wedding is a love story, and future generations will want to cherish it. ... Short Film (Live Action) - Kim Magnusson, Anders Thomas Jensen. An enraged Stansfield confronts Tony, who is violently interrogated for Léon's whereabouts. The New England based group showed tremendous love for Chloé Zhao’s ̶… [11], Léon: The Professional was released in France on 14 September 1994. The film, and her son’s fame, have altered her life to some extent. See the list of 2020 Oscar Nominations including best picture, best actors and actresses, and more. With the nominations for the 86 th Academy Awards being revealed January 16, we started thinking about some of our favorite films with zero Oscar nominations. [33] According to Besson, this is the version he wanted to release, but for the fact that the extra scenes tested poorly with Los Angeles preview audiences. It includes most of the special features combined from previous releases. The British band Alt-J released a song about the film, titled "Matilda" [sic]. Prime Video has you covered this holiday season with movies for the family. After they discover he has been stealing the cocaine, DEA agents storm the building, led by sharply dressed drug addict Norman Stansfield. Léon: The Professional won the Czech Lion Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – Foreign Feature. The first line in the lyrics, "this is from Matilda", refer to Léon's last words to Stansfield, shortly before the grenades detonate and kills them. In August 1972, John Wojtowicz, 27, a married Brooklyn man and Vietnam vet with a stream of gay lovers on the side, decided to rob a bank to … Written by Leon Films is a wedding videography company based in Las Vegas that serves couples who want to preserve the memories of their wedding day by creating captivating and beautiful wedding films. Leon (1994)Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. During the raid, Stansfield murders Mathilda's entire family while she is out shopping for groceries. [18], Mark Salisbury of Empire magazine awarded the film a full five stars. Both the central protagonists attempt to come to terms with their dysfunctionality, to society, against a background of violence, which they both continue to act upon as the agent of someone else. "[8]The New York Times' Janet Maslin wrote, "The Professional is much too sentimental to sound shockingly amoral in the least. (Updated November 28, 2020.) South Korean comedian Park Myeong-su and singer-songwriter IU released and performed a song inspired by the film, "Leon", for a bi-annual music festival of South Korea's highly popular variety show, Infinite Challenge, in 2015. The plot follows Léon (Reno), a professional hitman, who reluctantly takes in 12-year-old Mathilda (Portman), after her family is murdered by corrupted Drug Enforcement Administration agent Norman Stansfield (Oldman). Later, while Mathilda returns home from grocery shopping, a NYPD ESU team sent by Stansfield captures her and attempts to infiltrate Léon's apartment. IMDb users revisited lots of old TV favorites this year — from "Friends" to "The Office," these were the most binged shows of 2020. He said, "Oozing style, wit and confidence from every sprocket, and offering a dizzyingly, fresh perspective on the Big Apple that only Besson could bring, this is, in a word, wonderful". [1] On its first week in Paris, the film sold 243,285 tickets and a total of 797,939 tickets in Paris on its initial theatrical run. Latin Grammys 2020 Winners: The Complete List At the 2020 Latin Grammy Awards, Ozuna, Bad Bunny and more Latinx stars joined together to celebrate an incredible year of music. [25] The character Norman Stansfield has since been named as one of cinema's greatest villains.[26][27][28]. This time he's more human. The site's consensus states, "Pivoting on the unusual relationship between seasoned hitman and his 12-year-old apprentice—a breakout turn by young Natalie Portman—Luc Besson's Léon is a stylish and oddly affecting thriller". The nominations for the 2020 Tony Awards were revealed October 15. The nominees for the 61st Grammy Awards were announced Friday morning, with Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Brandi Carlile leading the pack Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. "[9], While most of the interior footage was shot in France, the rest of the film was shot on location in New York City. In what is essentially an exercise—a slick urban thriller—it seems to exploit the youth of the girl without really dealing with it. [1] The film was a commercial success, grossing over $45 million worldwide on a $16 million budget. In the chaos that follows, Léon sneaks out of the building disguised as a wounded ESU officer; he goes unnoticed except for Stansfield, who follows him and shoots him in the back. [24] In 2014, Time Out polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films; Léon: The Professional was listed at No. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims. Use the HTML below. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. 2 Nominations Music (Scoring of a Musical Picture) - Charles Wolcott, Edward Plumb, Paul J. Smith Sound Recording - Walt Disney Studio Sound Department, C. O. Slyfield, Sound Director In La Femme Nikita, Jean Reno plays a similar character named Victor. After her father, step-mother, step-sister and little brother are killed by her father's employers, the 12-year-old daughter of an abject drug dealer manages to take refuge in the apartment of a professional hitman who at her request teaches her the methods of his job so she can take her revenge on the corrupt DEA agent who ruined her life by killing her beloved brother. Directed by Luc Besson. Jeffrey Leon Bridges, popularly known as Jeff Bridges, is a popular ‘Academy’ award-winning American actor. At first, Léon is unsettled by her presence, and considers murdering her, but he eventually trains Mathilda and shows her how to use various weapons. Léon Awards and Nominations. Filmaka.com, is a Online short film making competition platform that rewards talent by providing aspiring filmmakers with professional opportunities. In the 2013 book, Poseur: A Memoir of Downtown New York City in the '90s, Marc Spitz wrote that the film is "considered a cult classic". [19] Mark Deming at AllMovie awarded the film four stars out of five, describing it as "As visually stylish as it is graphically violent", and featuring "a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman". The similarities, or parallels, between Nikita and Léon are undoubted. This is it.I love them. [31], In 2011, director Olivier Megaton told reporters that he and Besson used the script for Mathilda as the basis for Colombiana, a film about a young cleaner played by Zoe Saldana. Search for "Léon: The Professional" on Amazon.com, Title: However, in the meantime, Besson left Gaumont Film Company to start his own movie studio, EuropaCorp. View trailers, photos and detailed information about the 92nd Academy Awards nominees. Short Film (Live Action) - Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. After that, in 1997, The Fifth Element became the highest-grossing French film at the international box office and … However, he was not entirely complimentary: "Always at the back of my mind was the troubled thought that there was something wrong about placing a 12-year-old character in the middle of this action. All of these Disney Academy Awards nominees are absolutely perfect, and we're glad the Academy agrees. [30], Besson wrote a script for a sequel, Mathilda, but filming was delayed until Portman was older. We are so excited for the Academy Awards because the list of nominations is full of Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, and Marvel Studios nominees! Original song. Contact Now. The film launched at Karlovy Vary 2019 and has received 13 nominations in Lithuania’s national film awards, for which the results are pending. See below for the list of nominations… Besson described Léon as "Now maybe Jean is playing the American cousin of Victor. As Mathilda and Léon recover from the ordeal, Léon tells her about how he became a cleaner; when Léon was young in Italy, he was in love with a girl from a wealthy family. Was this review helpful to you? 1 Nomination. Esposados. After her father, step-mother, step-sister and little brother are killed by her father's employers, the 12-year-old daughter of an abject drug dealer manages to take refuge in the apartment of a professional hitman who at her request teaches her the methods of his job so she can take her revenge on the corrupt DEA agent who ruined her life by killing her beloved brother. Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul "This is Me" Nominee. Best Song. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Fes… Documentary Feature winners Leon Gast and David Sonenberg with Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. [13] A Léon special edition (2 cuts) Blu-ray Disc was released in the United Kingdom by Optimum Home Entertainment on 14 September 2009 with four special features including three featurettes "10 Year Retrospective: Cast and Crew Look Back", "Natalie Portman: Starting Young", "Jean Reno: The Road to Leon" and theatrical trailer. Music: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. He is best known for his roles in films like ‘The Last Picture Show’ and ‘Crazy Heart.’ Bridges, who comes from a prominent acting family, started appearing on screen as a toddler. Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl, is reluctantly taken in by Léon, a professional assassin, after her family is murdered. The film holds a 74% positive aggregate rating based on 65 critical reviews on Rotten Tomatoes with an average rating of 6.91/10. He is also a singer and film producer. An unusual relationship forms as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade. J. S. Golden. Léon creates a quick escape for Mathilda by smashing a hole in an air shaft; he tells her to meet him at Tony's place in an hour, and tells her that he loves her, moments before the police blow up the apartment. Containing 25 minutes of additional footage, it is sometimes called the "Director's Cut" but Besson refers to the original version as the Director's Cut and the new version as "The Long Version". The site's consensus states, "Pivoting on the unusual relationship between seasoned hitman and his 12-year-old apprentice—a breakout turn by young Natalie Portman—Luc Besson's Léon is a stylish and oddly affecting thriller". [12] It debuted on Blu-ray in Germany by Kinowelt in 2008. [16], Léon: The Professional received positive reviews from critics. view films . Jeffrey Leon Bridges, popularly known as Jeff Bridges, is a popular ‘Academy’ award-winning American actor. Léon is an Italian hitman (or "cleaner", as he refers to himself) living a solitary life in New York City's Little Italy. In the script, Mathilda was described as "older" and "more mature", and was working as a cleaner. [29] The Bollywood film Bichhoo was inspired by Léon: The Professional. 2018 Critics' Choice 1 nomination. He gives Mathilda $100 from Leon's funds as an allowance, and sends her back to school, where the headmistress re-admits her after Mathilda reveals what had happened to her. Please note: If a film received any kind of Oscar nomination (even in a lone technical category, like Fight Club), it is NOT eligible for this list. They show the middle finger to convention and busy bodies and the law and the closed-minded.They are lovers unspoken and true.And like every great film there is violence too. Unhappy at Besson's departure, Gaumont Film Company "has held The Professional rights close to the vest – and will not budge".