If you were responsible for recruiting highly sophisticated secret agents, what would you do with a drug-addled, out-of-control 19-year-old criminal who’s just blown the head off a cop? Why sign her up, of course!
If you can accept this rather far-fetched premise, then you’ll probably love La Femme Nikita, a fast-moving, violent and surprisingly affecting movie about a woman whose life is ended and then started anew, all in the name of international espionage and dirty tricks.
We first meet Nikita (Anne Parillaud) in a near-catatonic state, as she and an erratic band of fellow addicts break into a pharmacy to satisfy their need for a fix. When confronted by the proprietor and then the police, they open fire and kick off a bloodbath – one that consumes several cops and all of the gang members, save Nikita, who sits on the floor in a near-stupor throughout. She shows just enough brain function to become an active participant in the carnage, and the next thing we know, she’s dragged off to jail.
Through all this, Bob the spy recruiter (Tcheky Karyo) has seen what we haven’t. Nikita isn’t just an addict and lunatic. She’s also a perfect candidate to become a secret assassin. So, she is pronounced dead and buried and given the option of rebirth as a government agent. Most of the film is spent following her erratic path through training and then her work in this new role.
Something strange happens amidst the action and violence that permeates La Femme Nikita. Our heroine meets a mild-mannered grocery store clerk and falls in love. The second half of the film is as much about their relationship and Nikita’s struggle to hide her true vocation, as about the action. It’s a remarkable blend of violence and relationship development. A driving soundtrack (original music by Eric Serra, with a little Mozart thrown in for good measure) helps keep things moving along, but Parillaud’s performance is what makes this film. Whether she is huddled on the floor in a mess, shrieking at the top of her lungs, struggling with her relationship or coolly going about her secret agent business, Parillaud is utterly believable as the complex Nikita. We feel for her pain as she tries to reconcile her two dramatically different lives.
There’s something here to satisfy just about everyone. Just get past that questionable premise, and this film is very hard to dislike.
Whether she is huddled on the floor, shrieking, struggling with her relationship or doing her secret agent business, Anne Parillaud is utterly believable.- Brian Webster
