A rare example of a movie that is less known than (most of) its remakes, Luc Besson’s Nikita (also known as La Femme Nikita), released in 1990, has spawned an American big screen adaptation (1993’s Point of No Return, starring Bridget Fonda and Gabriel Byrne), as well as two popular television series: Joel Surnow’s show, centred around Peta Wilson, ran for five seasons starting in 1997; while another version began airing on The CW in 2010, lasting four years, with the heroine this time brought to life by Maggie Q. The only version, hinted at above, that is lesser known than the original feature is a 1991 Hong Kong action remake titled Black Cat.
An influential French/Italian co-production from one of the modern masters of action (think Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element, and Taken – which he wrote and produced), Besson transports us into a strange world, feeling almost dystopic, with a Mad Max-of-the-city type feel. In this landscape we find four hoodlums walking the streets, breaking into a drug store to feed their drug fix. Challenged by a brave store owner (who lives above the shop) and the heavily armed police, the only one of the quartet left alive is Nikita (Anne Parillaud), a wild card punk – she is a violent junkie sociopath with the ear biting skills of Mike Tyson and the unflappable hand of a master marksman.
Putting a bullet in an officer’s head, she is sentenced to life in prison. This is where things take an unexpected turn, as a shady government group makes it look like she has overdosed – instead, she awakens in a top secret underground facility, and despite her best attempt, there is no escape.
Her handler is Bob (Tchéky Karyo), an unreadable man who will attempt to mould the wayward young woman into a well rounded sleeper agent (able to walk, talk and schmooze with grace, while also having the skills to kill at a moment’s notice). Not conforming (Besson has a riot with the scenario – Mozart playing in the background while her rough and tumble attitude meets the structure of the academy), she is given an ultimatum – shape up in two weeks, or she will find herself in the grave her family believes she is already in.
Flash forward three years, and she has thrived thanks to Bob, her etiquette coach (Jeanne Moreau), and her own hard work. Given her first task, it is a wholly unexpected assignment with its own set of tricky twists. Passing, she is sent out into the world once more, reborn with a fake identity, job and pay cheques that will keep her afloat while she waits for those dreaded calls.
Meeting charming, very ordinary Marco (Jean-Hugues Anglade), their relationship thrives, something that is at odds with the job. Nikita finds herself struggling with the secret, called on for a multitude of unscrupulous military gigs that do not fit in with her private life that has bloomed thanks to her having something worth holding onto. It is almost like having an affair, her hidden life with Bob a betrayal to Marco. Will Nikita be able to balance the two worlds, or will things come crashing down?
Not to be misleading, for a French film, La Femme Nikita was a success worldwide – even reaching a decent audience in the United States. A stylistic mix of action and existential queries, when we first meet Nikita, her viewpoint is utterly nihilistic – a disoriented youth floundering in what she deems a meaningless world. Transformed into a killing machine, one would think that this would be the perfect avenue for someone with Nikita’s perspective, though upon meeting Marco, things change, as love carves out a meaning, an existence worth living and nurturing. The film really is Parillaud’s vehicle, and with Besson’s deft direction, the audience is provided with a female driven action film that transcends violence and murder, her quandaries bringing forth thoughtful character driven topics well worth analysing.
A still featuring Jean Reno as Victor utilizing his skills of persuasion
Intriguingly, in La Femme Nikita, a character named Léon is mentioned several times. . . while Jean Reno (who would play Léon four years later) also stars as a ‘cleaner’, though named Victor – it is almost as if this is the precursor to his persona in Léon: The Professional. He has the same killer instinct (and sunglasses) in both movies, a flair for murder. . . though, without Matilda’s (Natalie Portman) softening touch in the later 1994 feature, he is more violent, menacing and dangerous in this one.
With touches of film noir, spy craft, 80’s punk aesthetic, and romantic thriller, Luc Besson’s action flick transcends the medium, a multi-layered movie that, for the most part, works. Adding to the picture, Éric Serra’s quality score – sounding metallic (its fusion of rock, quirky sounds and Bond-like intrigue), will remind many of his 1994 composition that backs Léon: The Professional. So, don’t flee from this early Besson work, or you’ll miss the conflicted Nikita and her secret life.
This film is in French and Italian with English subtitles