Nikita, dura de matar

'Josephine' in her little black dress, crouched in a hotel kitchen, HUGE smoking hand-cannon swaying in her delicate little paws, not entirely sure what she's doing......equals my all-time favourite movie poster and an enduring image of a wonderfully crafted, absorbing study of love, penance and obligation. Throw in a funky, pulsing score and you have a modern classic. The film is generally slow-paced save for a couple of genuinely exciting and achingly cool set-pieces and is more an examination of Marie's transformation and rehabilitation than anything else. If you want consistent, high-octane thrills then look elsewhere because this beautiful film packs an emotional rather than physical punch. Anne Parillaud as 'Marie' (Nikita/Josephine) in the lead role is breathtaking and her failure to feature since in any picture of note baffles me. She is the centrepiece of the film: aggressive, fragile, tactile, ugly, beautiful, cold, efficient, she runs the gamut of human emotion and in doing so lingers on as one of the most complex and memorable female characters in recent movie history. Time is a central character here; much as in Gaspar Noe's 'Irreversible' it is all-powerful and destroys everything, good and bad. It's passage is portrayed regularly, symbolic of Marie's simultaneous progress and rehabilitation. The lighting here is also effective, giving the film an almost washed-out feel. Hollywood again take note, this is a REAL film about love and pain of the most excruciating kind: of having no control, identity or direction and hurting those about whom you care the most. A must-see.