"La Femme Nikita" (1990)

Edgy French director Luc Besson's 1990 overseas hit "La Femme Nikita", could be said to be the catalyst for the many lone femme fatale action heroines that we have come to see in many Hollywood films since. Hollywood had even adopted "Nikita" for an American version three years later titled "Point of No Return" starring Bridget Fonda. And it had even been made into a short lived television series by the late '90s. "Nikita"'s success marked the jump overseas for Besson, who went on to direct memorable, hit American films such as "The Professional" (starring Nikita's own Jean Reno) and "The Fifth Element" starring Bruce Willis. While masculinity dominated the muscle-bound, testosterone-laden blockbuster actioners of the 80's, Nikita would be the film to kickstart the decade where much of that began to change. The female-empowered era of the 90's saw many films with the classic "shoot-em-up" action heroine remniscent of Besson's breakthrough hit.

In "Nikita" Besson creates a noirish, Europunk world that we are instantly introduced to in the film's kinetic opening. It is here where we meet the eccentric and feral Nikita (energetically played by Anne Parillaud), who is a strung out junkie involved in a botched drug store robbery, which in turn ends up in the slaying of a police officer at the hands of our eponymous heroine. Facing capital punishment, she is surreptitiously taken in by a secret government agency, and one man who had seen potential in her wild, violent personality. As Nikita's new government boss, Bob gives her an opportunity for a new life. He has the old Nikita written off; she is officially dead now. And so his prospect for Nikita, in exchange for her dismal conviction, is for her to be reborn as a deadly assassin, working for him under this underground, covert organization. What is interesting is that this beggining is remniscent of "Pygmalion", in that a man of authority and stature takes a scruffy, feral young women under his wing and proceeds to mold her into a lady, though in the case of "Nikita", not only a lady, but a trained killer. And also similiar is the subtle love affair between Nikita and her mentor.

Nikita immediately undergoes a training program that hones her skills as an assassin, though she is quite difficult and rebellious at first. She plays ball, however (as she has no choice) and she soon learns that just as important as it is for her to become adept at utilizing a vast assortment of weapons, hand to hand combat, and technical and computer skills, it is just as important for her to learn to be a lady. And so after the training regiment scenes we finally see her being coached by a woman in the department of femininity. And as we watch Nikita applying her makeup, we notice just how beautiful she really is, and a further connection to the character is made, as we now see her human, "femme" side, and she is no longer the tantrum throwing wild child that we had gotten to know up until this point. When Bob reluctantly sends her off to be on her own into French society under a new name, Nikita openly admits to him, "I'm scared". This upped the likeability factor for me, because I like and am able to relate to characters who are vulnerable and imperfect, as most moviegoers do. Nikita is particularly charming when she's out on her own shopping for groceries, trailing a woman and buying a whole lot of whatever she buys. She then happens upon Marco, the store clerk (amused by her great stockpiling of ravioli), whom she immediately develops a romantic relationship with and winds up living with her in her shoddy, impoverished apartment. We see, through this, that after all she is indeed a real woman, sensitive, with desires and a longing for normality and security and partnership. Though despite this, she is still engaged to her reborn self as the assassin "Josephine", having to recieve a call from the agency in regards to a new hit, always, of course, when she's at her most comfortable with Marco. There is no way out of these fatal assignments; she is inexorably stuck in this life. And we see how Nikita's boss intends to keep her their, as he clearly loves her. This is evident in the scene where Bob is invited to her place for dinner with Marco, when he covers for Nikita when the gullible Marco presses about her past, particularly her childhood. And in turn we see the tell-tale expression of gratefullness and love in her own way for Bob on Nikita's face.

Nikita particularly excells in it's well edited and choreographed action scenes, complimented by a throbbing synth soundtrack that really pumps up the atmosphere and energy. There is a particularly tense scene in which Nikita must execute a target right from her Venician hotel room. Room service is on the way when she gets the call at the most inoportune moment, interupting some romantic play between Nikita and Marco. So she must suddenly drop what she's doing, locate and assemble her previously planted weapon in the bathroom, get into sniping postition from the window, while corresponding with intelligence to get the target update via headset, as Marco questions her from just outside the bathroom. It's a well shot, nerve-racking sequence and we can see the tremendous stress and strain that is being put on Nikita, as she is trying to be what she is and live a normal life with her man, all the while keeping her true occupation a secret from him. Finally taking its toll, this leads to her inevitable attempts to get out of the life, and of course Marco gets wise to her secret after a particularly botched job where a cleaner (the always reliable Jean Reno) is called into play. And so the film ends with Marco confronting Bob in person, with the materials from the botched job that Bob requires, as he had already intended on hunting Nikita down for them. So the two men from both sides of the line ultimately lose their love; Nikita is left to simply walk the earth, as the audience is left to surmise for themselves once the end credits abruptly appear.

Besson's "Nikita" is not your typical French fare in which people sit around in cafe's, puffing on cigarettes, contemplating their existential dilemmas. Here we get tight action sequences, a wild, compelling, and even sexy heroine, tension, drama, love, and even some subtle humor. The photography is nice to look at, with interesting cyber-punk hues, and some subtly European dutch shots. The editing is not overly kinetic and ostentatious; it is tight and restrained. We see very clearly the action that is happening, and combine that with a pulsing industrial soundtrack that gives the film a gritty, unique feel, and you have a solid Euro action drama that is by no means an excellent film, but definitely a competent one. I admit, a lot of the quirkiness I find in many French films I don't particularly get, and I can even say sometimes annoy me. In the case of "Nikita", I found some of her behaviors in the film a little obnoxious, as in when she'd have one of her over the top outbursts. I'd find myself asking, "was that just really corny or is it a Euro thing that I'm just not hip to?" I felt some parts of the film were slightly pedestrian, but I can see why this film made America take notice of Luc Besson. I give the film a thumbs up overall.