Nikita

'Josephine' in her little black dress, crouched in a hotel kitchen, HUGE smoking hand-cannon swaying in her delicate little paws, not entirely sure what she's doing......equals my all-time favourite movie poster and an enduring image of a wonderfully crafted, absorbing study of love, penance and obligation. Throw in a funky, pulsing score and you have a modern classic. The film is generally slow-paced save for a couple of genuinely exciting and achingly cool set-pieces and is more an examination of Marie's transformation and rehabilitation than anything else. If you want consistent, high-octane thrills then look elsewhere because this beautiful film packs an emotional rather than physical punch. Anne Parillaud as 'Marie' (Nikita/Josephine) in the lead role is breathtaking and her failure to feature since in any picture of note baffles me. She is the centrepiece of the film: aggressive, fragile, tactile, ugly, beautiful, cold, efficient, she runs the gamut of human emotion and in doing so lingers on as one of the most complex and memorable female characters in recent movie history. Time is a central character here; much as in Gaspar Noe's 'Irreversible' it is all-powerful and destroys everything, good and bad. It's passage is portrayed regularly, symbolic of Marie's simultaneous progress and rehabilitation. The lighting here is also effective, giving the film an almost washed-out feel. Hollywood again take note, this is a REAL film about love and pain of the most excruciating kind: of having no control, identity or direction and hurting those about whom you care the most. A must-see.

I think I probably watched this film at the wrong time. I first saw the American-language remake 'Assassin' back in the early nineties and have only just got round to watching the film it was based on, 'Nikita' (or 'La Femme Nikita' to be precise). Therefore, it's hard to accept that the French version is the original source material and not the remake. Both stay pretty much on the same story-telling path, telling the tale of a down-and-out, drug-addled young woman, killing a police officer in a burglary gone wrong, but eluding the death penalty in favour of working for a secret government agency to 'off' those who need disappearing. Yes, the plot is possibly a little far-fetched, but, if you can suspend your disbelief long enough, you'll find that it's well worth it.

What you get is the story of a tortured soul who's trying to make a fresh start of her life and yet keeps finding herself dragged back into the covert ways of the spy agency to do their dirty work. You will definitely feel for the lead and the writing is pretty solid for her and all those she encounters. It's one of those rare films where there isn't a discernible 'baddie' to take on. The 'bad-guy' (if it can be considered so) is the situation she's found herself in and her attempts to - once again - change her life for the better and truly escape the shackles she's found herself in - whether a slave to drug abuse or the government's whims.

I think the best thing about Nikita is its realism (yes, I know I've already said you have to suspend your disbelief to appreciate it, but hear me out...) - in many modern films where the lead is a female action hero who spends her time beating up dozens of burly men who stand in her way, you feel that - although cool to look at - it may not happen that way in real life. However, in Nikita she never uses her physical strength to overpower and take-down her targets. Instead, she uses her wits and deadeye with a sniper's rifle to get the dirty job done (and get home in time for tea with her new fella).

I'm glad I've watched the original. It's a decent film which blends action with genuine emotion for the characters, plus it's worth noting that it was good enough to inspire whoever greenlit its American remake NOT to change it so much that it's barely recognisable and remained true to what made it great in the first place.

Anne Parillaud is phenomenal as a terrifyingly vulnerable, beautiful and human young anti-hero with an incredible talent for violence. A drug-addict murderous teen is given a second chance by a government agency looking to exploit her penchant for conscience-less killing. Mentored by a man whose compassion for her is only matched by his ambition and Machiavellian sadism, Nikita ventures on a roller-coaster ride leading a double-life as assassin and clean-living young woman in love. Her passionate affair with Marco and the clarity of her un-drugged consciousness, combine to promote the development of a conscience - a dangerous thing in her line of work. Nikita is, nevertheless, a victim of her circumstances, and like the rest of the characters on both sides, seems stuck in a very bad situation. In addition to the artistry with which this story is told, this film has a very nihilistic sense of justice and not-so-subtly points out the fact that state authorized murder is still murder.

Jean Reno fans will enjoy his brief typecast cameo as "the cleaner".

This is one of the best, if not the best, of Besson's films. It is extremely well paced, starkly and beautifully shot, and features some of the best acting and writing of the entire action genre. The script is just a little better in French than English. Nikita does not have the feel of an action film, but rather, feels like a fatalistic drama riddled with almost continuous tragedy and heartbreak, and spiced with just a tad of hope. Parillaud's multi-layered and complex construction of her character is so mesmerizing that it is frankly difficult to think of anything else while attempting to reflect on this film.

"You could say I work...for the government. We've decided to give you another chance."

I've been wanting to see La Femma Nikita for ages, as I used to be quite the fan of the TV show based on it when I was a kid. It's nice to be able to say that the movie was just as exciting and entertaining as I remember the show being.

The plot is about a young drug addict who kills a cop when she and some guys are caught robbing a pharmacy. The French government fakes her death, and she's given little alternative but to join a training program to become an agent in the government's employ. The stress of living a violent life that she doesn't want and having to keep it secret from her fiancé eventually becomes too much for her to cope with.

La Femme Nikita has several impressive action sequences, but it's more than just an action movie. Nikita transforms over the course of the story from a drugged-up junkie with nothing to live for to a capable and dangerous woman who wants control over her own life.

All in all I thought La Femme Nikita was a solid blend of assassination and drama. The heroine is probably one of the most interesting female action protagonists ever put up on the big screen, and it's hard to overstate the impact Nikita has had on other female protagonists in these kinds of movies in the last twenty years. Recommended.

This 1989 French film was justifiably so popular that an American re-make followed later and then a cable television series followed after that.

In this - the original - you see "Nikita" at its beginning and, most people agree, at her best. Anne Parillaud, an actress I've always found fascinating, is riveting as the lead character. Jean-Huges Anglade, Tcheky Karyo and Jean Reno provide a very strong supporting cast.

The characters were believable and it was refreshing to see a no-nonsense approach to a murder story, meaning if someone had to be killed, they were shot quickly with no questions asked. Some of the action scenes are brutal.

Parillaud's character is memorable. She can change appearances, from a hard- nosed hysterical animal to a real lady. It's also interesting to see Reno in a familiar role as a "cleaner," a role he made famous four years later in "Leon: The Professional."

The DVD provides either easy-to-read subtitles or a well-done dubbed version. If sound is important to you, you'll hear better stereo with the subtitled version.