It may have taken me 30 years to watch Luc Besson’s Leon; but what better way to watch it than Studio Canal’s new ‘definitive edition’ Blu-Ray.
While some of its themes feel dated, Besson’s masterpiece has lost none of its potency; mixing brutality with sincerity.
We follow the titular hitman Leon, whose neighbour Mathilda’s whole family is wiped out by a blood-soaked, bullet ridden tidal wave from Gary Oldman and his goons. From here Mathilda teams up with the hitman, looking to find new purpose and potentially shed her human skin for something more emotionless and with a killer instinct.
On the flipside Leon finds a shred of humanity from his encounter with Mathilda, as he ponders life beyond contract killing for him and his ‘best friend’, his plant.
New York City is the perfect setting for this gritty thriller, with the city starting to undergo its change from the grimy setting of many crime and horror films of the 1970s and 80s, into the NYC we know today.
The chemistry between Reno and Portman is the glue that holds things together, and while unconventional, more in suggestion than execution – it is a unique relationship you rarely see anymore between an adult and a young person.
Gary Oldman, on the other hand, is an absolute delight as the film’s chief bad, carrying a level of psychosis where you feel he could blow away an entire room depending on his mood.
A special mention too for DOP Thierry Arbogast who lenses’ the hell out of Leon, with intimate, yet brutal action action sequences. It’s no surprise the duo would work together again on another visually arresting film of the 90s; The Fifth Element.
This edition allows viewers to see both the theatrical and director’s cut, both in glorious 4K plus watch a host of interviews with Arbogast, technical director Andre Labbouze plus editor Sylvie Landra and journalist Alain Kruger.
Leon may have hit the big 30, but it hasn’t lost any of its edge.
Leon – The Definitive Edition is available now on Blu-Ray and 4K.
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