Nikita Review (from PiB)

Warning - SPOILERS!

A film all about transforming a single character, namely Nikita (played excellently by Anne Parillaud), shows us in several places that perhaps she is not the only one who changes. To be more precise, she is a woman who cannot help but affect those around her.

Shocking, highly tense and dark; this foreign language film has time and time again been chosen over its American re-make. Is it really any wonder why?

Explosive from the start, emotive until the end and the characters never let you believe anything other than what they truly portray. Ripped straight out from her core by the apparently sadistic Bob (played to perfection by Tcheky Karyo) she is thrust into training under threat of being thrown into a coffin, which the real world already believes she's in. A mentor who shoots her in the leg just for her own good surely cannot be a mentor who will look after her and guide her along the path which will ultimately save her?

However, we are certainly proven wrong after a scene where Bob waits for Nikita to return after a traumatic mission, who after being lied to attacks Bob for nearly getting her killed. This leads to a scuffle and Bob restrains Nikita for perhaps a second too long until he gets up and tells her angrily that she must calm down. Upon his exit, they share a solitary kiss - one perhaps that they should not have had, whereupon Nikita informs him that she shall never kiss him again. Apparently torn between duty and some other feeling for the girl he has altered beyond recognition, the camera lingers on Bob who can do nothing but allow his body to be held up by the corridor.

We have already been informed that Nikita is free to go, that her transformation is complete and she is now an agent to be called on whenever her employers see fit. Perhaps we never really see the entire effect Bob has on Nikita until further on in the film after she runs back out to Victor (a superb pre-Leon Jean Reno) when a mission has gone badly awry and starts telling him to calm down. A sentence in echo of her former mentor maybe?

A suitably constructive soundtrack (by Eric Serra, an frequent collaborator with director Luc Besson) lends itself superbly to the mood throughout the film.

As for script, this is a film you must watch in French with English (or whatever your preference) subtitles, to capture its essence. The style that Luc Besson has been so noted for is very much prominent here. The in-your-face camera style, as well as confined shots to give you obscure angles simply add to the disorientating feeling that you associate with Bob and his twisted mind games for Nikita.

The final scene between Marco and Bob leaves you somewhere amid wanting more and feeling content with the story. You feel as though you'd like Bob to chase Nikita to see where they'd end up but you also share the underlying sentiment that Nikita should be allowed to live her own life.