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Course requirements
-Regular attendance. If you have to be absent, make sure you obtain
notes from another student in the class.
Summary:
Internationally acclaimed director Luc Besson delivers a tour de force with his action-
packed story of Nikita (Anne Parillaud), a ruthless street junkie whose killer instincts
could make her the perfect weapon. Recruited against her will into a secret government
organization by a sadistic man known only as Bob, Nikita is broken and remade. In three
years, Bob transforms her into a sexy, sophisticated 'lethal weapon' named Josephine.
Released from the training compound, Nikita is caught in a web of intrigue and murder-
trapped in a double life as Marco's lover and Bob's hired gun. The thrilling provocative
climax makes La Femme Nikita one of the most shocking and intelligent espionage
adventures ever.
Filmography (selected):
Director
•The Messenger: the Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
•The Fifth Element (1997)
•The Professional (1994)
•Atlantis (1991)
•La Femme Nikita (1990)
•The Big Blue (1988)
•Subway (1985)
•The Final Combat (1984)
Producer
•Revolver (2006)
•Bandidas (2006)
•Transporter 2 (2005)
•High Tension (2005)
•Unleashed (2005)
•Taxi (2004)
•The Truth About Charlie (2002)
•The Transporter (2002)
•Wasabi (2002)
•Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
•The Dancer (2000)
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•Taxi 2 (2000)
•Nil By Mouth (1998)
•The Professional (1994)
•Subway (1985)
Screenwriter
•Bandidas (2006)
•The Crimson Rivers 2: Angels of the Apocalypse (2005)
•Transporter 2 (2005)
•Unleashed (2005)
•The Transporter (2002)
•Wasabi (2002)
•Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
•The Dancer (2000)
•Taxi 2 (2000)
•The Messenger: the Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
•The Fifth Element (1997)
•The Professional (1994)
•The Big Blue (1988)
•Subway (1985)
REVIEWS:
Read the following two reviews of the film Nikita (1990):
1. Commercial success notwithstanding, Luc Besson has never really lived up to the
promise of his quirky imaginative debut feature, The Last Battle. In Subway, he spent the
first half hour setting up a great concept and a host of appealing characters, and then
proceeded to systematically waste every opportunity he had created for himself, while
The Big Blue had nothing much to say and devoted an awful lot of time and ocean to not
saying it and The Fifth Element, which looked as stylish and elegant as you'd expect a
Besson film to, also suffered from having nothing to tell. With Nikita, and afterwards
Leon, he found his touch again, producing a fast-moving, violent, desperately stylish
thriller that rarely puts a foot wrong. The opening battle in the drugstore is carried off
with real aplomb, as are all the succeeding set-pieces, and in Anne Parillaud the film has
an actress who is equally convincing as both pathetic, nihilistic waif of the early
sequences, and the sophisticated, guilt-ridden killer she later becomes, and who brings
some real emotion to a production which might have otherwise seemed dangerously
hollow.
Besson's storyline does become more ludicrously improbable as the film progresses, but
on this occasion his direction more than compensates for any deficiencies as a
screenwriter, and there's a glorious cameo from regular collaborator Jean Reno, who
shunts the film onto another plane entirely just when it seemed in danger of running out
of steam; fast, furious and oddly moving, Nikita may well be Besson's finest
achievement.
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2. As the shogun of the second French New Wave (Cinema Du Look), Luc Besson was
expected to dish out another international hit to follow the huge success of The Big Blue -
La Femme Nikita delivered. Basically, this movie was written/co-produced/directed by
Besson as an ode to his wife, actress Anne Parillaud, and her feminist values. Originally
released in France 1990, the film's success and Besson's international recognition carried
La Femme Nikita to the States in 1991.
Luc Besson's motion picture has strong tones of 1990s feminism. Nikita possesses all the
ideal qualities of the woman of the 90s: independent, intelligent, feminine yet powerful,
etc. Marco is the male version of a housewife; cooking, cleaning, and providing
emotional support for Nikita when she gets home from work. The reversing of
stereotypical female/male roles is absolutely integral to the feminism flavor of the film,
and quite frankly, fun to watch. Considering that this movie was created at the dawn of
the 1990s feminist movement, Besson shouldn't be seen as kneeling to political
correctness. On the contrary, one gets the feeling that they're watching something new
and refreshing, perhaps... foretelling.
The actors are familiar faces in familiar roles. Jeanne Moreau and Phillipe Leroy (first
French New Wave actors) are superbly cast in their oldschool roles of the ultra-feminine
woman of power and the hardnosed bossy guy, respectively. Besson also casts second
New Wave regulars Tcheky Karyo (Bob), Jean-Hugues Anglade (Marco), and
international star Jean Reno (Victor the Cleaner) in their typical roles as well. Besson's
casting is an obvious attempt at trumpeting the similarities between the two French New
Wave movements and uniting GenX with the Baby-Boomers.
La Femme Nikita has picked up an enormous following. This popularity is mainly due to
the recently dropped cable television show of the same name, featuring a Baywatch-type
chick battling it out with baddies in her thong and bra. Another contributing reason could
be that viewers of the Hollywood remake (Point of No Return) saw some potential in the
terrible Bridget Fonda flick and decided to watch the far better original. Or possibly, the
adolescent girls of Generation-Y are discovering a feminist role model in Nikita - the role
model that Generation-X created and left for them.
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also shared subject matter (young people in urban and/or alienating surroundings).
c) Conclusion.
In the end, the strong aesthetic component of the cinema of the “look”, the synthesis of
high and low art and its engagement with the problems of alienated protagonists (outside
of family structures), have become the predominant values of the “look” that pointed to a
creative renewal in French cinema.
4. How is Nikita “feminized”? Which shots are being used? What type of
composition? Colors? Music?
7.What makes the new Nikita a “feminine ideal”? How does the camera highlight this
aspect of Nikita?
8. With the arrival on the scene of Victor, “the cleaner,” the film unleashes the true
violence of a thriller with farcical brutality. Explain how this two aspects are
represented in the film.
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9. Does Nikita remain a beautiful and cool assassin through the end?
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FRENCH 171. Spring 2008
shot
scene
a segment in a narrative film that takes place in one
time and space (or that uses crosscutting to show two or
more simultaneous actions).
sequence
a term commonly used for moderately large segment of a
film, involving one complete stretch of action and
consisting of one or more scenes. Comparable to a chapter
in a book.
diegetic sound
any voice, musical passage, or sound effect presented
as originating from a source within the film's world.
nondiegetic sound
sound represented as coming from outside the space of
the narrative, such as mood music or a narrator's
commentary.
nonsimultaneous sound
diegetic sound that comes either earlier or later than
the accompanying image of the source.
jump cut
an elliptical cut that appears to be an interruption of
a single shot. It occurs within a scene rather than between
scenes, to condense the shot.
iris
a round, moving mask that contracts to close down to
end an scene (iris-out) or emphasize a detail, or opens to
begin a scene (iris-in) or to reveal more space around a
detail.