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Revisited Leon also known as The Professional (should also be known as Quentin Tarantino's Lolita) yesterday. It's still supremely enjoyable. Glorious sequences. Technical grace-notes. Dialog of the most quotable nature. All of this we know, but one thing I never noticed before was how little Oldman's really in it.
He's chewin' up the drapes and anything else he can get his chompers on in a big way at the start (and obviously at the end as well), but he goes on the missing list during Mathilda's training sequence with Leon which makes up a good whack of the second act. By the time he resurfaces, I'd already started missing him. It's not a criticism of the film (which I love) and I suppose there's really no need for him to appear again during this "middle" section since he's already fulfilled his requirements for the story at that point - establish self as unsavory sort, prepare for comeuppance. Still, it's unusual even for a villain to take such a long leave of absence during a movie.
I don't really know about the context of the movie's production so it's entirely possible this is just a case of Besson getting Oldman to pull a Donald Pleasence, securing his services for a week or two, and making the most of that, I suppose. Then again, it might just be a case of a director knowing how much is enough and exercising the "less is more" approach. I'm inclined to suspect the latter, judging by the rest of the film.
He's chewin' up the drapes and anything else he can get his chompers on in a big way at the start (and obviously at the end as well), but he goes on the missing list during Mathilda's training sequence with Leon which makes up a good whack of the second act. By the time he resurfaces, I'd already started missing him. It's not a criticism of the film (which I love) and I suppose there's really no need for him to appear again during this "middle" section since he's already fulfilled his requirements for the story at that point - establish self as unsavory sort, prepare for comeuppance. Still, it's unusual even for a villain to take such a long leave of absence during a movie.
I don't really know about the context of the movie's production so it's entirely possible this is just a case of Besson getting Oldman to pull a Donald Pleasence, securing his services for a week or two, and making the most of that, I suppose. Then again, it might just be a case of a director knowing how much is enough and exercising the "less is more" approach. I'm inclined to suspect the latter, judging by the rest of the film.
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