As the shogun of the second French New Wave (Cinema De 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.

Nikita (Anne Parillaud) is a crazy young female punk who gets arrested following an introductory shootout. Due to the severity of her crimes including killing a few cops and shoving a pencil through the hand of the Police Chief, Nikita gets sentenced to life in prison. Fortunately for her, a covert government agency is looking for an expendable new recruit.

After Nikita is drugged at the prison and taken to the agency's facility, she meets Bob (Tcheky Karyo) who gives her the option of joining up. A montage of training ensues, highlighted by lessons in grace from Amande (Jeanne Moreau), who tells Nikita that a woman's most powerful weapon is "femininity and the means to exploit it." It seems that Amande was also street punk before becoming an agent; a bonding similarity between teacher and student that is deeply examined in the original cut of the film, yet given a full two minutes of screen-time in the USA cut.

Three to four years of being cooped up inside the facility pass by and Nikita is now perfectly sane, intelligent, feminine, and powerful (ideal woman). Bob invites Nikita outside the facility for her birthday dinner, which she soon finds out is actually her first assignment - a restaurant assassination. Much like the rest of Nikita's missions, she is left with the minimum information necessary to do her job. Much to Luc Besson's credit, the audience is left in the dark along with her.

With training complete and a successful first mission under her belt, now-Agent Nikita is released from the facility and instructed to start up a cover life. She meets her lover Marco (Jean-Hugues Anglade) and the story plays out with Nikita trying to balance her love life with her duties as a covert agent... no, this is not a comedy like "True Lies."

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 "La Femme Nikita" 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; however, Leos Carax does this with more success in "Bad Blood."

Eric Serra, Besson's regular musician, ruins the movie with a horridly 1980s-sounding score. Usually Serra creates his scoring with some degree of elusiveness, but those fake gate-reverb drums, Casiotone keyboards, and robotic screeching guitars are too bubblegum to NOT notice. The first rule of soundtrack composing: never use the pop music style of your current period - the soundtrack will age like it's living canine-years. Instead of complimenting the near future atmosphere of "La Femme Nikita," Serra warps the modern audience back to the late '80s. I couldn't help but sense a false premonition that Paula Abdul was going to jump onscreen and start singing, "ooo baby I think I love ya, from head to toe."

Despite the fact that this film doesn't compare to the better movies of the second French New Wave, "La Femme Nikita" has picked up an enormous following. This odd resurgence in 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.

I'd recommend "La Femme Nikita" to espionage fans, Besson enthusiasts, feminists, and anyone who hasn't seen the repulsive remake "Point of No Return." If you can overlook the distracting soundtrack, you'll enjoy it. Some of the other famous Cinema de Look films to check out are: "Boy Meets Girl" (Leos Carax), "Leon/The Professional" and "The Big Blue" (Luc Besson), and "Betty Blue" (Jean Jacques Beineix).

NOTE: Due to the popularity of "La Femme Nikita," most VHS versions you find will be dubbed English. As always, avoid dubbed language at all costs. I have seen both the French version (reel) and American cut (VHS) although I have yet to watch the DVD.












Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older