Slideshow
LA FEMME NIKITA
France, 1990
Directed by Luc Besson
Starring Anne Parillaud, Jean Reno, Jeanne Moreau
Approx. 117 min. DCP.
“A hardened junkie punk (Anne Parillaud) is sentenced to life in prison, then allowed to choose between death and becoming an assassin for the French secret police. Jeanne Moreau is around long enough to give her lessons in femininity, and Tcheky Karyo plays the paternalistic government official who shepherds the young woman through her recycling, then—after she’s been released and has settled down with a pussycat boyfriend (Jean-Hugues Anglade)—calls her at odd hours to send her on murderous missions.” – Jonthan Rosenbaum, The Chicago Reader
Reviews
“Begins with the materials of a violent thriller but transcends them with the story of the heroine’s transformation.”
– Roger Ebert
“Combines hip violence, punk anomie, lavish settings and an old-fashioned paean to the power of love.”
– Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Ultra-slick and disco-lit, with big boom explosions and wild flourishes of action — neatly set off by having its punkette James Bond figure dash about in stilettos.”
– Ian Nathan, Empire