La Femme Nikita begins with an attempted robbery of a pharmacy by a small group of drug addicts. The heist ends in tragedy and the only survivor is a young girl.
After faking her death, the government forces her to train to become a spy, otherwise threatening to kill her seriously.
Once she becomes a spy, they release and give her a fake life working as a nurse.
Falling in love with a young supermarket clerk, she must hide her secret life. The lies become more difficult each time, hiding her fear about his dangerous tasks for the government.
Finally, when her most important mission ends in a massacre, she has no choice but to fight for her freedom.
La Femme Nikita is a magnificent noir with an American action rhythm and European cinema’s most intimate soul.
The movie moves along a dark and cold Paris, where the protagonist moves like a shadow leading her secret life.
Anne Parillaud is young and enchanting to transform from an aggressive drug addict into an elegant and refined spy.
Her character is exceptionally ambiguous, strong and delicate at the same time.
She’s an unfortunate girl who never got to choose about her life until she became strong enough to fight a world that never accepted her.
Tchéky Karyo is his recruiter, initially detached, who will inevitably fall in love with the girl.
Despite his feelings, he continuously lies and orders jobs and murders in the worst moments of her life.
A life that she tries, despite the lies, to build together with the young and candid Jean-Hugues Anglade, a humble salesman unaware of his real story.
The romantic moments between the two lovers are very touching and expertly constructed together with the girl’s ruthless job as a killer.
Finally, Jean Reno has a small cameo as a professional eliminator.
His character closely resembles the famous Mr. Wolf from Pulp Fiction, which makes me wonder if Quentin Tarantino takes inspiration for his movie.
Luc Besson sculpts one of the female characters destined to remain in the public’s imagination all over the world.
Her epic journey from human wreck to government warrior is funny and ironic, sweet and romantic, spectacular and hyperkinetic.
La Femme Nikita is a movie that, from the 90s to today, has lost nothing in its visual and narrative power.
This character continues to live in TV series and video games such as Resident Evil or Tekken, a sign of his immovable place in the cinema myths’ immortality.
It is an absolute must-watch that any action movie lover should see, again and again, loving its sweet and fierce protagonist, majestically exciting today as yesterday.
