There’s an entire scene where Adele is in the bath, and nothing is hidden as it plays out. I can’t remember the details, I think she wears a semi-transparent robe too, and it does go on for about five minutes.
I didn’t realize it was based on the graphic novels until it was mentioned here.:smack:
Oh, I won’t deny that Leon was great. But I don’t think that Besson had any clue as to why it was great. What made that movie what it was was the conflict in Leon’s character: His job is inherently evil, and yet, when he finds himself stuck with a little girl, he does the absolute best job he’s capable of at being a good father figure to her.
Besson wanted to put in a sex scene between them. He was only stopped by Portman’s parents, who (quite rightly, on multiple levels) put their foot down and absolutely refused to allow it.
If Besson had had his way, it would have been a movie about a professional evildoer who’s also evil in his personal life, a literal child-raper. There’s absolutely nothing compelling about that story. That one scene would have completely destroyed the entire movie. And Besson had no idea.
You have some the details wrong, but you’re right on how it would have altered the perception of Leon and destroyed the film.
Test screenings did include the bit where Matilda tells Leon she wants him to be her first, but audience reaction caused an immediate drop to the cutting room floor of said footage (and a few other bits were cut as well). Most, if not all, of this was restored in the Director’s Cut (Which Besson refers to as “The Long Version”) and International releases.
I just tried to find my copy to watch it again, but I either loaned it out or it’s still in a box, so I’m going by memory.
Heh, I had no idea Besson wanted a sex scene, and I agree that would have been horrible.
Part of what makes the movie great is that both Leon and Matilda are very damaged individuals, which is what makes the relationship between them so poignant.
Matilda’s never had a positive role model - her father is a scumbag and her stepmom and sister not much better; she’s beaten a lot by her family. She equates love with sex, which I understand is not uncommon with victims of childhood abuse. So she’s constantly making advances on Leon, who fends them off as deftly as he can without hurting her feelings too much.
His tragedy is that he’s trying to do the best he can for Matilda, but as a damaged individual himself, he’s not sure how - the only thing he really knows is how to kill people. Sort of like Matilda, he’s caught in a dysfunctional, abusive pseudo-parental relationship (with Tony, who uses Leon to kill people while ‘holding onto’ Leon’s money). Leon eventually he comes to realize that the best thing for Matilda is to avoid becoming like him (although that appears to be all she wants for herself).