León:

The Professional

Recently watched it again. But before I did, I could have sworn two things. One, that the story took place in France (naturally, I thought Paris—being that I remembered happenings taking place around a city-like environment). And two, that Leon was, of course, French. In both instances, I was wrong. One, the story takes place in New York—in my defense, all the interiors were shot in France, and it shows. And two, Leon is Italian—which for some reason I found quite funny (given that both Jean Reno and Luc Besson are French).

This is not bad or good, and it takes nothing from the film. Which l've watched three times or so, and each time I do, I dig it more. These days I watch films in intervals, alternating the viewing with playing guitar, while I rest my fingers. But with this one, that was a hard task; in that I couldn't hit pause and go back to strumming, I was glued. The movie became the central purpose of my evening, the six strings ceased to be a priority. That's not to imply the film is fast-paced. It's not slow, but it ain't fast either—it takes its time with it, in the best possible way. My favorite thing about it? Luc's direction. Unimpeachable. Just wow! A few frames are tattooed on the walls of my skull.

That said, I can't stop myself from commenting on Gary Oldman. In a genius decision, his character wears the same suit the whole picture; in doing so, the attire becomes the villain's set costume as the narrative develops. The moment I love the most from his performance is when after the killing spree of the denouement commences, he asks his lackey to bring him everyone, to which the lackey, puzzled, asks back what he means by "everyone", to which he replies, "EVVVERYYYONE!" Hysterical, in a humorous kind of way. Superb, in a Gary Oldman kind of way. And right on the mark, in a Leon kind of way.