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© DR - LEON de Luc Besson (1994) p2
08/01/2012 08:24
Le film reçoit un très bon accueil du public, aussi bien aux États-Unis qu'en France. Du côté des critiques professionnelles, c'est plus mitigé mais toujours globalement positif. Léon est un succès populaire puisqu'il attire en France un total de près de 3 500 000 spectateurs lors de son exploitation en salle et aux États-Unis, le film rapporte finalement 19 250 000 $.
Par ailleurs, il a été nommé à sept reprises au César (dont celui du meilleur réalisateur et du meilleur film). Léon est nommé à sept reprises durant la 20e cérémonie des César (notamment pour le César du meilleur film, du meilleur réalisateur pour Luc Besson et du meilleur acteur pour Jean Réno) mais il n'y remporte cependant aucune récompense.Le film gagne finalement deux prix : le Golden Reel Award du meilleur montage sonore pour un film étranger, délivré en 1995 par l'association Motion Picture Sound Editors, et le Lion tchèque du meilleur film en langue étrangère en 1996.
Si Liv Tyler est d'abord considérée pour le rôle, c'est finalement Portman qui obtient le rôle pour sa fraîcheur et sa sensibilité. Elle prend alors le nom de sa mère pour protéger sa vie privée et sa famille.Pourtant, le directeur de casting l'a d'abord refusé(e) pour le rôle à cause de son jeune âge. Mais Portman persévère et retourne au casting en interprétant la scène durant laquelle son personnage se lamente sur la perte de son frère. Besson est si impressionné par la profondeur dégagée qu'il lui donne le rôle.
Film après film, Luc Besson donne à Léon son unité par rapport aux précédentes œuvres qu'il a réalisées. Le réalisateur acquiert son expérience de ses précédentes réalisations, il construit tout, du scénario à la fin du générique. Il compose avec les images, les cadrages, la mise en scène, le montage, la musique ou encore les dialogues.L'univers créé impose à Besson des exigences auxquelles il doit répondre. Pour ce faire, il faut passer par le choix des acteurs — Luc Besson, en plus de les chercher, exploite ce qu'il y a de plus fascinant et d'envoûtant en eux pour leur rôle.
Il fait de plus appel une nouvelle fois à Eric Serra pour la musique, une « valeur sûre » pour son film. Par ailleurs, les tournages extérieurs de Léon se font entièrement aux États-Unis, en anglais, où Luc Besson élargit sa notoriété.Le tournage se fit d'abord à New York (du 1er juin au 23 juillet 1993) pour les extérieurs, puis aux studios Éclair d'Épinay-sur-Seine -France - du 28 juillet au 7 octobre 1993 pour les intérieurs. Certaines des scènes ont lieu à l'Hotel Chelsea.
Le réalisateur avait déjà tourné Nikita en Amérique, mais sa sortie y avait été limitée.Après Léon, Besson tournera Le Cinquième Élément et Jeanne d'Arc en anglais, mais la distribution de ces deux films sera composée de nombreux acteurs français, à la différence de Léon.
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© DR / LEON de Luc Besson (1994) p3
08/01/2012 08:28
Trivia
Showing all 40 items
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During the filming involving all of the police cars on the street, a man ran from a store he had just robbed. When he encountered the movie set by accident, he saw all of the "police" and gave himself up to a bunch of uniformed extras.
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During the scene when Stansfield ( Gary Oldman) 'interrogates' Mathilda's father ( Michael Badalucco), Oldman smells the father, and gets extremely physically close to him. According to Badalucco, he had no idea that Oldman was going to smell him, nor that he was going to get as close as he did. Badalucco says that in the film, his look of discomfort during the scene is completely genuine, as he felt decidedly intimidated by Oldman, and the physical proximity between the two made him very nervous. *
This is Natalie Portman's motion picture debut. She was 11 when she was cast. (ouais un coup c'est 12,un coup c'est 13...elle en avait huit 3 ans AVANT le cast...il lui est même arrivée d'être ENCORE + JEUNE au cours de sa vie !!!!)*
The scene in which Gary Oldman's character Stansfield talks about his appreciation of Beethoven to Mathilda's father was completely improvised. The scene was filmed several times, with Oldman giving a different improvised story on each take. *
Keith A. Glascoe, who played the enormous Benny, or 3rd Stansfield Man, later became a member of the New York Fire Department, Ladder Company 21 in Hells Kitchen. Courageously he died in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
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According to Jean Reno, he decided to play Léon as if he were a little mentally slow and emotionally repressed. He felt that this would make audiences relax and realize that he wasn't someone who would take advantage of a vulnerable young girl. Reno claims that for Léon, the possibility of a physical relationship with Mathilda is not even conceivable, and as such, during the scenes when such a relationship is discussed, Reno very much allowed Mathilda to be emotionally in control of the scenes. *
Natalie Portman's parents were extremely worried about the smoking scenes in the film, and before they allowed Natalie to appear, they worked out a contract with Luc Besson which had strict mandates as regards the depiction of smoking; there could only be five smoking scenes in the film, Portman would never be seen to inhale or exhale smoke, and Mathilda would give up during the course of the film. If one watches the film closely, one can see that all of these mandates were rigidly adhered to; there are precisely five smoking scenes, Portman is never seen inhaling or drawing on a cigarette, nor is she ever seen exhaling smoke, and Mathilda does indeed give up during the course of the film (in the scene outside the Italian restaurant, when Leon asks her to quit smoking, stop cursing, and not hang out with 'that guy. He looks like a weirdo.').
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Natalie Portman was originally turned down by Todd Thaler (the casting director) due to being too young, but she returned to the auditions and performed the scene where Mathilda laments the loss of her brother. Luc Besson was so impressed with the depth of emotion she summoned during the audition that he gave her the role.
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According to Patrice Ledoux, Luc Besson planned Léon as filler. At the time, he had already started working on Le cinquième élément (1997), but production was delayed due to Bruce Willis's schedule. Rather than dismiss the production team and lose his creative momentum, Besson wrote Léon. It took him only 30 days to write the script, and the shoot lasted only 90 days. Ironically, Léon is now generally considered to be a far superior film to The Fifth Element. *
Mathilda checks herself and Léon in under the name "MacGuffin". "MacGuffin" is a movie term coined by Alfred Hitchcock for a trivial element in a movie which serves no other purpose than to drive the plot forwards. *
Stansfield says he and his goons will show up at noon. At León's house we see a clock that shows 11:58. The following sequence takes exactly two minutes, and they show up exactly at noon.
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Luc Besson got the idea of doing this movie while working on his previous movie, Nikita (1990). In that film's third act, Victor the Cleaner ( Jean Reno) appears to deal with the aftermath of Nikita's botched mission. Realizing the potential of the character was underused in that movie, Besson decided to create a story that focused on the activities of such a character. Both Victor and Leon appear dressed in a long wool coat, sunglasses and a knit cap. The film's working title was "The Cleaner".
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In a 2014 Playboy interview, Gary Oldman said his screaming of the now iconic line 'Bring me everyone!' was improvised to make director Luc Besson laugh "in previous takes, I'd just gone, "Bring me everyone," in a regular voice. But then I cued the sound guy to slip off his headphones, and I shouted as loud as I could." The yelled take is the one used in the film.
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The second shot (a tracking shot traveling down a New York street without stopping) could only be accomplished after carefully studying the pattern of the traffic signals so as to insure the camera truck didn't encounter any red lights.
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All of the interiors of Léon's apartment were shot in Paris; all of the shots of the outside corridor were shot six weeks earlier in New York.
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The cut of the film had more scenes with "awkward sexual tension" between Mathilda and Léon. These scenes were later cut out for the American release dubbed "The Professional", but were included in the 1996 European release, as well as in the deleted scenes of the special edition DVD. They were reintegrated back into the film for the 'International Cut', which is now available on DVD.
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Natalie Portman stated that the scene in which she dressed up as Marilyn Monroe was inspired by a scene she saw in Wayne's World (1992). She admitted that at the time Léon was filmed she actually had never watched any movie starring Monroe.
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According to Luc Besson, the role of Léon was always intended for Jean Reno and no one else. However, according to the Fact Track on the Deluxe Edition DVD, both Mel Gibson and Keanu Reeves were extremely interested in the role. *
When the film was first tested in LA, the version that was screened incuded a short scene where Mathilda asks Léon to be her lover. However, the audience became extremely uncomfortable and began to laugh nervously, completely destroying the tone of the film. The film received terrible test scores at the screening, and as such, producer Patrice Ledoux and writer/director Luc Besson decided to cut the scene for theatrical release. *
In the original script, Mathilda (aged 13 or 14) and Léon became lovers. Besson reportedly altered the script to remove this aspect of the story (possibly due to pressure from Natalie Portman's parents). *
According to actress Maïwenn, part of the film is based on her romantic relationship with director Luc Besson. Le Besco (who plays the blond prostitute in the opening scene) was engaged to writer/director at the time the film was made. Le Besco had met Besson when she was 11, and had fallen in love with him when she was 15 (Besson was 32 at the time). Oh là là ces frenchys quand même ! *
Liv Tyler was considered for the part of Mathilda but, at age 15, she was deemed too old.
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According to Luc Besson's first script-draft, Léon's full name is Leone Montana. *
Both Mathilda and Danny refer to Leon as a "cleaner". The front window of the bodega in Leon's apartment building prominently displays various cleaning products such as Brillo pads, bleach, Ajax, and soap.
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The potted plant Léon nurtures, and which Mathilda replants at the end of the movie, is an aglaonema, pronounced "ag-leon-ema".
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The pistols that Léon use in the film are Beretta 92FS's with AL-GI-MEC compensators added on. In some scenes, he affixes them with sound suppressor, with threads that extend past the compensator cuts to cancel out the escaping gases that could potentially escape and produce a loud gunshot. In the final firefight, one of Léon's Berettas is seen with a stainless or "Inox" frame.
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The character played by Willi One Blood is named only '1st Stansfield Man' in the script, but during the course of the film, Malky refers to him as 'Willi', and Stansfield calls him 'Blood'. *
The music in the American trailer is "The Dark Side of Time", the theme from Luc Besson's previous film Nikita (1990) which is about a girl trained to be an assassin. *
French actor Samy Naceri has in this film one of his first roles. He plays a bit part, a SWAT, and was only ten days on the set. As Luc Besson wrote the screenplay for the film Taxi (1998), he always wanted Samy for the lead role, because he was much impressed by the short cooperation with him.
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Composer Eric Serra wrote the song "The Experience of Love" for the end of the film. However, the filmmakers decided to use Sting's "The Shape of My Heart" instead. Serra would re-use the song in the end credits of his next project, the James Bond film GoldenEye (1995) and it appears on the film's soundtrack. The basic melody of the song can still be heard in the film and on the soundtrack, via the cue "The Game is Over." *
When the villains are turning Mathilda's home upside down, the crook with the dreadlocks finds a reggae album in the record collection. The record he is holding up and referring to as "cool" is "Marcus Children" by Winston Rodney (aka Burning Spear) from 1978. *
Stansfield is never seen wearing anything besides his trademark beige suit and white shirt.
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Léon Gaumont was a French inventor developing cinematographic techniques in the late 19th century alongside with the Lumière brothers. Gaumont is the name of the production company that made this film.
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About 27 minutes into the movie Stansfield picks up a bottle of bourbon. The brand name is Ezra Brooks.(Et ?)
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The code that Leon gives Matilda to knock on the door when she returns from getting more milk is two knocks, then one, then two knocks again. This is the telephone area code for Manhattan, which is where the story takes place.
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Mathilda wants Stansfield dead in order to avenge the death of her brother, which was the only member of her family that she cared about. Although Stansfield kills the rest of Mathilda's family, her brother is actually killed by Stansfield's henchman Willi (you can hear Malky scolding him for it when Mathilda walks by the entrance to the apartment, right after the raid). This means that she is actually present to witness the death of her brother's killer, as she is in the room when Léon shoots him.
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Director Cameo
Luc Besson: in the "International Cut", he's the guy shooting back when at Léon and Mathilda, who Léon kills by using the 'ring trick'.
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Spoilers
The trivia item below may give away important plot points.
The original script had a much darker ending. After Stansfield shoots Leon, Mathilda performs the grenade ring trick (seen in one of the restored scenes of "Version Integrale") and opens her jacket to reveal the live grenades. It was changed by Luc Besson, fearing that the audience would not accept Mathilda's transformation from innocent girl to crazed juvenile killer. Besson had never intended such a transformation for the character.
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© DR - LEON de Luc Besson (1994) p4
08/01/2012 08:37
| Index |
792 reviews in total |
Lien vers toutes les reviews
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110413/reviews?ref_=tttrv_ql_op_3
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Gripping story with well-crafted characters
Luc Besson's movie Léon (The Professional) gives us an intense story which is maximized in potential by the casting of the movie done by Todd Thaler. Every aspect of the movie delivers to the audience and makes an impressive overall package. Jean Reno plays a character named Léon who has learned to repress his emotions in order to perform his job as a "cleaner", or hit-man. His secluded world is shattered by the young girl named Mathilda who lives on the same floor as he does in an apartment building. When she turns to him for help, he learns about living a normal life, even if the circumstances which unite them are far from normal.
The performance delivered by then twelve-year old Natalie Portman as Mathilda is nothing short of brilliant. Her ability to relate to others with body movement and facial gestures is matched by few, she really brings raw emotion and believability to a difficult role. Mathilda and Léon are unexpectedly thrown together, but learn to value life from their chance encounter, and how valuable a friendship can be.
Jean Reno as Léon gives us a solemn and calculated character who sets all of his energy on his assignments until her is given something else to care about. Mathilda gives him the daughter that he never had, while Léon serves as a father and friend to her. Gary Oldman, as the corrupt DEA Agent Norman Stansfield, offers the viewers an amazingly wired and electrical performance which pushes the envelope. He moves the story along by his actions. Oldman offers us a memorable portrait of a sadistically obsessed man who stops short of nothing to get what he wants.
The Professional is what movie-making is all about. Without the overuse of special effects, a large shooting location, or a commercially star studded cast, we are given all that could possibly be asked for in a movie. Portman, Oldman, and Reno, along with Danny Aiello as the hit-contractor Tony remind us that there is no substitute for great acting. There are elements of comedy, drama, and action, and great original music by Eric Serra adds to the energy the film already encapsulates. The most impressive thing about the movie is its story which is basic but is maximized by all the other elements which go into the making of the movie. Simply put, an intense and impressive movie.
With enough blood and gore to please any fan of action movies, and a unique love story to please the ladies, this is a great movie for couples to watch together. However, to truly comprehend the beauty of this film, you must see the European Cut.The U.S. version is still a great movie, but it cuts out 24 minutes which contain much of the heart of the movie and most of what makes the film a work of art instead of the usual action fodder. Elements of the story which are only hinted at in the U.S. cut become the centerpiece of the story when the un-cut version is seen.
The two main characters are a recently-orphaned girl who is wise beyond her years and a hitman who is still an innocent. Their relationship unfolds against a backdrop of murder and revenge as director Luc Besson explores issues of age and maturity, good and evil, and the interplay of life, death and love.The acting in this film is superb. Reno has an expressive face which conveys a myriad of emotions with great sensitivity and few words. He is cold as ice as the almost super-human 'professional', but his performance is most moving when he reveals his sensitive side. Watching as his wounded soul slowly begins to heal is enough to touch the heart of any woman, but it is handled so subtly that it never becomes too 'sappy'.
In her film debut, Natalie Portman turns in a performance that is beautiful beyond belief. She manages the transition from a frightened child to a woman capable of killing so convincingly that it makes the relationship between she and Leon not only believable, but understandable.Gary Oldman is just the best psycho there is, and it is kind of nice to see him without all the strange makeup for a change. As a dirty cop in this film he personifies evil, and it is a joy to watch him do his thing.The special effects are all you could hope for. Besson does great actions scenes - especially the explosions. There is also a lot of humor and when you throw in the tender love story - this picture has it all!
 Author: cdsmith-2 from Colorado Springs, CO
27 August 2000
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This film was absolutely amazing. I have spent hours re-watching various scenes and noticing all the perfection with which they are acted and directed. It's not the violence or action sequences that make this movie so great (although they are well done...), but rather moments like where Mathilda knocks on Leon's door. It would be so easy to just film the door opening, but instead we see light illuminating Natalie Portman's face, symbolizing something angelic. And the moment has so much more meaning.I know a lot of people who have seen this film because they are action fans. I'm not. But I'm glad I finally found it, because it's a wonderful film in so many other ways.
Author: jay from Perth, Australia
16 July 2002
This movie is rated 63 on the imdb top 250 movie list, showing that people obviously like this movie, and with good reason.But why the hell didn;t this movie garner at least one single oscar or golden globe nomination?natalie portman's performance was terrific as the emotionally ravaged matildha - best actress nomination for sure.jean reno should have been nominated for a best actor nomination. the fact that the audience is led to feel sympathy and sorrow for a hitman speaks words enough about his performance.gary oldman is fantastic as the corrupt and psychotic cop. his character is so repulsive and chilling, but at the same time so quirky and interesting to watch. (jamais les majuscules après les points?)
best supporting actor nomination.luc besson. when this man will get some kudos for his work i never know. the professional, in my opinion, is his greatest achievement as a director and, considering the fact he has helmed classic cult films such as nikita and the fifth element, the professional must rate highly as one of the best films of the 90's atleast! best film and best director nominations should have been given.but no, it was all too easy to heap praise on the feel good movie forrest gump, and shun the movie that, through its intensity and tragedy, better highlights the value of life and love.
Luc Besson's "The Professional" is sort of a companion piece to his international breakthrough hit "La Femme Nikiti", and in many ways it's an even better film. It raises the stakes of Besson's playful women-with-guns theme by making the heroine a 12-year-old, played by a then unknown Natalie Portman. Jean Reno is excellent as her assassin trainer and surrogate father. Oldman is completely over the top in one of his best bad-guy roles, obsessed with both Beethoven and butchery. As a gritty, suspenseful thriller, this film won't leave action fans feeling cheated, but the film is so much more than that. At the center of "The Professional" is a wonderful father and daughter-like relationship between two damaged strangers who find solace in each other.
Author: Insincere Dave from Maidenhead, England
21 December 1999
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Leon (Jean Reno) is a tortured soul. He lives in squalor and misery, never truly happy or at peace with himself. After all, he is a hitman. He lives quietly from kill to kill, harming no-one whom he has not been paid to assassinate. He is a simplistic, childlike man who lives by his own set of morals but is troubled by them. The one thing he seems to fear above all else is change.Mathilda (Natalie Portman) is Leon's neighbour. A young girl, she lives with her father, step-mother, half-sister and half-brother. As unhappy as Leon, she lives in awe of the dark stranger, unaware of his true profession. Beaten by her parents and sister, she has abandoned school and instead spends the day watching cartoons and trying to escape from the real world.
When Mathilda's family is brutally murdered by a drug crazed Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman), her only chance for survival is to hide with her neighbour. When she learns of Leon's true identity, she becomes infatuated with both him, and the grim world he inhabits.This stark portrayal of humanity and inhumanity is produced with the style and finesse that one expects from Luc Besson. In addition, the combined talents of Jean Reno, Natalie Portman and Gary Oldman provide not only an unmatched on-screen chemistry, but also three perfectly created characterisations, the like of which are rarely seen in today's cinema.
This film has my personal recommendation of being the best piece of cinema that I know of. I have not seen anything that matches it in terms of intensity or emotion - and believe me, I've looked. I found myself caring for the characters involved, an unique experience in itself. This is not the type of film for a night in with your mates, but nevertheless, it is an unforgettable piece of cinematic history.
Leon is one of the most emotionally intense movies ever made. French director Luc Besson uses everything: actors, music, camera angles, lighting to create an unique experience - "It's not realism, it's not naturalism - it's heightened reality" as Gary Oldman very well put it.In "The making of The Professional" Besson says "If I imagine somebody in the street try to knock on my daughter, I kill the guy, in five seconds. I kill him, and I think "It's in me, I'm a beast!" On this part we can't forget that a part of us, the genetic things inside are much, much older than The Ten Commandments".
He certainly uses visceral scenes to create very strong emotion in the movie - the blood running from Mathilda's nose or Stansfield's unforgettable "EVERYONE!" are just a couple of examples. The music and the sound are excellent and are used in a masterly fashion - you can hear Fatman's heart beating desperately or a low claustrophobic sound when Stansfield turns to look at Mathilda's father.
However Leon does not work only on this primary level, it also has an intelligent story. It may seem to be almost a fairy-tale, but don't be fooled - just like his character Besson is serious. This movie has a message: without love we are dead, even if we don't see it. Only true love give meaning to our lives: "everything else reminds me a big yogurt: warm and rancid" as Mathilda says in the original script, which is available on the net under the name Leon Version 1. Is this true in "real life"? I don't know but this movie can make you wonder.
Then of course there's the sensuality. It's hypocritical to deny it, the camera interacts with Mathilda in a mesmerising fashion. It's not sick and it's not degrading: it's art, subtle and beautiful.Leon is not perfect but it has so many great moments that all its flaws can be forgiven. It's a movie that really should not be missed, unless you are concerned with its amorality. And don't be - Leon is less violent than many action movies and the unusual relationship between the main characters is handled mostly with genuine feeling and tact.
 Author: Gjay2 from manchester
25 April 2003
luc besson will never top this movie. This is his benchmark, his classical composition. Look at the precise, intricate scenes. It's a symphony in cinema. Straight off, it's action. Intelligently shot, and scripted. It makes everything that follows hard to live upto. But it does so easily. It's stylish without being showy, it's deep without being sentimental. And it's just hugely enjoyable. Seeing the friendship between newly orphaned mathilda and skilled assasin leon bloom, is tenderly done. At risk of slipping into a sappy bond, besson keeps it easy on the emotions, without coming off as shallow.
The actors are all spot on, most notably the debut from a young natalie portman as mathilda. Showing an angry, sad, pent up, in love girl is no simple task but she breezes through it, touching all the right notes. And jean reno as the title character, is minimal but very effecting. Hard to understand, but easy to relate too. But gary oldman steals it, with his glorious overacting. He's as scary as he is determind. His line delivery is almost perfect. And his fate is very fitting. If only they made more intelligent action movies, then they could contend with this film. But as it stands right now, leon is one of the best action dramas ever made.
Author: Sickfrog from Norfolk, VA
14 August 1998
This film, better known in the U.S. as "The Professional", is a wonderful and intense film. Jean Reno plays his role as a "cleaner" with incredible subtlety. Leon tries to keep his emotions completely suppressed, yet Matilda (in an extraordinary performance by a young Natalie Portman, who is destined to become a very powerful actress into her adult life) bring out in him a new-found joy for life that accompanies his growing paternal instincts. But, the most dynamic element of this film is undeniably Gary Oldman's performance as a wildly sadistic and crooked DEA agent with his own narcotic-induced demons. His obsessions eventually lead him to the brink of absolute madness in his hunt for the cleaner. Truly, this is Oldman's finest performance to date, worthy of Oscar glory, though sadly forgotten. And so, Luc Besson did indeed top his triumph of "La Femme Nikita" by far with this masterpiece. Though, I cannot exactly praise his most recent effort with the sci-fi misfire, "The Fifth Element."
Author: schmoove from London, England
5 August 1999
An interview with Anne Parillaud, in the Evening Standard, 24.8.90, it was said that the message of Nikita is not one of violence but the idea is that people who are full of despair and missing love are not alone.This idea continues in Léon. Léon was Besson's first foray into international film production.
The similarities, or parallels, between Nikita and Léon are undoubted. Both the central protagonists attempt to come to terms with their dysfunctionality, to society, against a background of violence, which they both continue to act upon as the agent of someone else. There is no clean difference (we may also include Le Dernier Combat for comparison.) The only difference is gender.
I always found that until obtaining the "Version Integral" there was a character hole in the plot. The original cut released for US audiences was felt, by Besson, had an "offending" scene cut which ruined later scenes. The American test audiences hated it, seeing it as perverse and paedophiliac. The film was still panned by US critics as quasi-child pornography on general release. What it to be understood about this film, and this is what infuriated Besson, is that the film is about pure love. Not sex, which is all the Americans, could see.
And so we have ascertained that the characters in Besson's films are, simply, great. Then there is the action which is all the grace and style of Nikita. Typical of Besson's style with fast action-shooting and violent characterisation. This has to be one of Jean Reno's and by far Natalie Portman's best screen performance. To me, Gary Oldman plays his part to the tee, said by some magazines to be the best screen bad guy - it is one of his best performances.
Stylisation and excess are hallmarks of Besson's work. Characters are larger than life. Décors are in excess of realism. Besson's characters lack psychological depth. "The sumptuous and the ornate cohabit with the violent or the vulgar." Besson's use of excess is also extremely playful mixing violence with humour. Besson's work appeals to the tastes of popular culture and may not please that of the elite - arguably a reason for the rejection of his work by many intellectual film journals.
I have yet to hear of a person putting a bad word against this film. There is nothing I can personally fault so I give this film 10/10, a score only two other somewhat different films hold in my IMDb list of 345 films - "The Wizard of Oz" and "La Cité des Enfants perdu". If you like French Cinema or consider yourself a cinephile you must see the latter.
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© DR -Natalie Portman / Bio
08/01/2012 08:44
A gauche dans "OU LE COEUR NOUS MENE"
à droite dans RETOUR A COLD MOUNTAIN que j'adore
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Natalie Hershlag est une actrice israélo-américaine. Elle nait le 9 juin 1981 à Jérusalem.Elle est l’enfant unique de Shelley Stevens, une femme au foyer américaine et d'Avner Hershlag, un médecin israélien spécialiste de l’infertilité. Son grand-père paternel était à la tête du mouvement de la jeunesse juive en Pologne et sa grand-mère paternelle est née en Roumanie. Ses arrière-grands-parents paternels sont morts à Auschwitz ; son arrière-grand-mère paternelle était espionne pour le Royaume-Uni. Enfin, ses arrière- grands-parents maternels viennent de Russie et d’Autriche.
Natalie quitte Israël à l’âge de quatre ans pour le Maryland, aux États-Unis car son père souhaite continuer sa formation médicale et sa mère veut se rapprocher de son père atteint d’un cancer. Ils déménagent trois ans plus tard à New Haven quand son père termine sa résidence et doit commencer ses études postdoctorales.Ils déménagent de nouveau, cette fois là où son père obtient son poste de médecin : à Long Island dans l’État de New York ; Natalie a alors neuf ans. Là, elle va dans une école dispensant des cours à la fois juifs et laïcs jusqu’à l’âge de treize ans puis étudie au Syosset High School. Natalie , qui parle déjà couramment anglais et hébreu, y apprend un français et un japonais scolaires.
Elle a fait ses débuts au cinéma dans Léon de Luc Besson, aux côtés de Jean Reno en 1994.et accède au statut de célébrité internationale en 1999 avec la sortie de Star Wars, épisode I : La Menace fantôme dans lequel elle joue Padmé Amidala. Elle conserve ce rôle dans les épisodes II et III, respectivement sortis en 2002 et 2005. En 1996 sortent Heat — Natalie Portman y joue la belle-fille de Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) — et Beautiful Girls. Dans Beautiful Girls, elle tient le rôle de Marty, une jeune fille particulièrement mûre, dont Willy Conway (Timothy Hutton) a l’impression de tomber amoureux.
Elle tourne en 1997 avec Woody Allen dans Tout le monde dit I love you et Tim Burton dans Mars Attacks! où elle incarne la fille du président (Jack Nicholson). Toujours en 1997, elle se retire - au profit de Scarlett Johansson - de la distribution du film L'Homme qui murmurait à l'oreille des chevaux de Robert Redford, pour jouer Anne Frank dans l’adaptation de Broadway du Journal d’Anne Frank. Elle a découvert le livre pendant le tournage de Léon, lors d’un voyage à Amsterdam. Elle explique que jouer cette pièce tous les jours sur une longue période est quelque chose de fort, ses arrière-grands-parents étant morts à Auschwitz et étant elle-même juive.
Elle est également le premier choix pour jouer le rôle de Juliette dans la pièce de William Shakespeare Roméo et Juliette, mais les producteurs trouvent que son âge ne convient pas.Natalie termine ses études aux Syosset High School en 1999. Le travail de recherche qu’elle y réalise en 1998 (« Une méthode simple pour démontrer la production enzymatique d’hydrogène à partir du sucre ») lui permet d’être finaliste avec son équipe à l’Intel Science Talent Search.
Après le secondaire, Natalie Portman poursuit des études supérieures en psychologie et entre à l’Université Harvard en septembre 1999. Elle est résidente à la Maison Lowell, une des douze résidences pour les élèves de première, deuxième ou troisième années. C’est la première fois qu’elle se retrouve si loin de ses parents ; c’est une expérience libératrice pour elle mais elle se sent en même temps comme une enfant gâtée car elle ne sait pas se débrouiller seule, contrairement à ses camarades de chambre.
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© DR -Natalie Portman / Bio 2
08/01/2012 08:49
LES FANTOMES DE GOYA -
je n'ai pas aimé,mais elle est très bien dans ce film...euh... pénible
*
Natalie obtient son premier rôle au cinéma en 1994 avec Léon de Luc Besson ; elle a treize ans lors de la sortie du film (douze ans lors du tournage). Elle y joue une enfant qui se lie d’amitié avec un tueur à gages et cherche à venger la mort de son petit frère.
Peu après avoir obtenu le rôle, elle prend le nom de jeune fille de sa grand-mère, « Portman », comme nom de scène,pour protéger sa vie privée et celle de ses parents (même si dans la version Director’s cut du film sortie en DVD, elle est citée en tant que Natalie Hershlag).
Ses parents sont très protecteurs lors du tournage et négocient certains aspects du film avec Luc Besson, par exemple le nombre de cigarettes qu’elle tient au cours du film ou encore la sexualité sous-entendue de certaines scènes. On peut la voir la même année dans le court-métrage Developing, diffusé sur Sundance Channel uniquement.
La famille de Natalie Portman, bien que modeste, est très intéressée par la culture et l’art. Natalie passe ainsi beaucoup de temps au cinéma, au théâtre, à des opéras ainsi que dans des musées. Dès quatre ans et jusqu’à ses douze ans, elle prend en outre des cours de danse moderne plusieurs fois par semaine.
Elle est repérée à l’âge de dix ans dans une pizzeria : un agent de la marque Revlon souhaite la recruter pour une campagne de publicité. Cependant,plutôt que mannequin, elle explique qu’elle aimerait être actrice et les agents de la marque lui permettent alors de trouver et participer à diverses auditions. Elle explique dans une entrevue : « J’étais différente des autres enfants. J’étais plus ambitieuse. Je savais ce que j’aimais et ce que je voulais et je travaillais très dur. J’étais une enfant très sérieuse. »
Elle auditionne notamment pour Ruthless!, une pièce à propos d’une fille se préparant à commettre un meurtre pour obtenir le rôle principal dans une pièce de son école ; elle est choisie comme doublure de Laura Bell Bundy.
À seize ans, elle a déjà joué dans six films. Les personnages qu’elle a interprétés étant enfant ont en commun d’être particulièrement mûrs pour leur âge. Bien qu’ayant joué dans plusieurs films à gros budget, elle est surtout reconnue pour ses rôles dramatiques et la justesse de son jeu..
À la fin des années 90, elle obtient le rôle de Padmé Amidala dans la pré-trilogie Star Wars. Elle n’avait jamais vu aucun des trois premiers films, mais elle s’est dit impressionnée par le niveau d’imagination et de fantastique présent dans la saga.
Elle a seize ans lors du tournage du premier épisode qui se déroule à Londres et en Tunisie, en 1997, et le réalisateur George Lucas lui permet d’avoir ses amies avec elle pour ne pas qu’elle se sente seule. Star Wars, épisode I : La Menace fantôme(pas aimé) sort au début de l’année 1999 ; le film rapporte plus de 900 000 000 de dollars et permet à l’actrice d’accéder à la notoriété internationale.
Selon DVDrama, elle « confère une réelle dimension tragique au personnage »ell est « l’une des rares [figures] à apporter profondeur et émotion » au film ; elle dit cependant dans une entrevue avoir reçu un bon nombre de critiques négatives pour son rôle dans la saga.
Elle se voit proposer un des rôles principaux dans Ma mère, moi et ma mère, mais commence par le refuser en apprenant qu’il implique une scène sexuelle. Cependant, Susan Sarandon insiste auprès du réalisateur Wayne Wang pour obtenir une réécriture du script.On lui montre donc une nouvelle ébauche et elle rejoint le projet.
Le film sort fin 99 ; à la suite de ce film, elle est sélectionnée pour le Golden Globe de la meilleure actrice dans un rôle secondaire pour son rôle d’Ann August. La critique Mary Elizabeth Williams de Salon, qualifie Natalie Portman de « stupéfiante » et précise que « contrairement à d’autres actrices de son âge, elle n’est ni trop pleurnicharde, ni trop insensible ».(Voyez..il n'y a pas que moi qui soit difficile avec les chiards)
Après le film de Wayne Wang, Natalie Portman continue dans le registre de la comédie dramatique et tourne Où le cœur nous mène de Matt Williams(sympa ce film). Le film sort en 2000 aux États-Unis et en 2001 en France.
Elle continue ses études à l’Université Harvard et doit par conséquent tourner Star Wars, épisode II : L’Attaque des clones pendant les vacances d’été, de juin à septembre 2000. Le tournage se déroule à Sydney et la production supplémentaire à Londres. L’Attaque des clones connait une sortie mondiale le 16 mai 2002 et obtient 650 000 000 de dollars de recette. (celui là j'aime bien)
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