When this film first came out, I was 19 and dismissed it as "oh no, the French are at it again, trying to out-Hollywood Hollywood through depictions of mindless violence..."
Now that I'm 50, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed re-watching it. Given that most of the story is set in Paris, the director made the wise choice of letting the mayhem play out in beautiful, glamorous settings, rather than the smoky grit of Brooklyn the viewer is accustomed to with this genre. The acting is naturalistic where it needs to be and understated where that's the more effective tone to take. Other reviewers have praised the score, and I agree with them.
The story line and the relationships it portrays are, the 50-year-old me believes, not at all as far-fetched as some might think. The theme of mental trauma and resulting multiple personalities - as Nikita morphs into Joséphine and Joséphine alternates as Marie - is strong yet it doesn't become self-serving. It gives in to deeper themes of what it is to be human at the time of the new millennium, and of loving the unlovable and in fact unknowable.
I confess that during the final scenes at the embassy (where people seemed to speak Polish?), I got momentarily lost - but this may have had to do with watching the movie late at night and home alone, more than anything else.
All in all, a timeless, stylish and oddly uplifting film experience. Recommended.
Now that I'm 50, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed re-watching it. Given that most of the story is set in Paris, the director made the wise choice of letting the mayhem play out in beautiful, glamorous settings, rather than the smoky grit of Brooklyn the viewer is accustomed to with this genre. The acting is naturalistic where it needs to be and understated where that's the more effective tone to take. Other reviewers have praised the score, and I agree with them.
The story line and the relationships it portrays are, the 50-year-old me believes, not at all as far-fetched as some might think. The theme of mental trauma and resulting multiple personalities - as Nikita morphs into Joséphine and Joséphine alternates as Marie - is strong yet it doesn't become self-serving. It gives in to deeper themes of what it is to be human at the time of the new millennium, and of loving the unlovable and in fact unknowable.
I confess that during the final scenes at the embassy (where people seemed to speak Polish?), I got momentarily lost - but this may have had to do with watching the movie late at night and home alone, more than anything else.
All in all, a timeless, stylish and oddly uplifting film experience. Recommended.