La femme Nikita(1997)

English title: Nikita

Director: Luc Besson

Country: France

This is one of those peculiar films which have me in two minds, where I cannot decide whether I like them or I don't.

A drug-addicted and convicted cop-killer is given a second chance at life by the French government. Nikita is trained at a secret government facility to become one of their top agents, a spy, an assassin. She undergoes the transformation very slowly. And when she is ready, she is given a new social identity and let loose on the streets of Paris. She juggles between love and killing foreign ambassadors and such until a mission is screwed up. Big time. Then Nikita reallizes she has paid her dues to the society and decides to run away from everything that is dear to her.

The acting throughout is top-notch. Anne Parillaud captures the different phases of Nikita's life with equal panache. The build-up, the slow transformation, the screw-up, everything is portrayed beautifully. Luc Besson does a terrific job directing the film. But still, somewhere I got a feeling that this film should have been 15 minutes longer. The dilemmas and the revelations of Nikita's life could have been made to a bit more detail. But still, this is a great film to watch and most viewers would find it very satisfying.

And do look out for Jean Reno. He is fabulous in another Leon-esque "cleaner" role. He steals those 5 minutes of screentime from the otherwise brilliant Anne Parillaud.