Leon

                                    Is Leon a typical thriller?

The protagonist/s deals with death (their own or someone else's)

Main characters –

Jean Reno – Leon

Gary Oldman

Natalie Portman – Mathilda 

He doesn’t have a death but he has someone who has a hold over him so he is forced to kill for money.

The main storyline for the protagonist is usually some sort of quest

He is a ‘cleaner’, he basically a trained killer, he has this job as a man called ‘Tony’ has his money and only pays him when he does a job.

The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved

The plot of this story is Leone "Léon" Montana (Jean Reno) is a hitman (or "cleaner", as he refers to himself) living a solitary life in New York City's Little Italy. His work comes from a mafioso named Tony (Danny Aiello), who operates from the "Supreme Macaroni Company" restaurant. Léon spends his idle time engaging in calisthenics, nurturing a houseplant that early on he describes as his "best friend", and (in one scene) watching old Gene Kelly musicals. One day, Léon sees Mathilda Lando (Natalie Portman), a twelve-year-old girl who is smoking a cigarette and sporting a black eye. Mathilda lives with her dysfunctional family in an apartment down the hall.  Mathilda's father (Michael Badalucco) attracts the ire of corrupt DEA agents, who have been paying him to stash cocaine in his apartment. After they discover some of the drugs missing, DEA agents storm the building, led by sharply dressed drug addict Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman). During the raid, Stansfield quickly becomes unhinged and murders Mathilda's entire family one by one, except for Mathilda, who was missing only because she was out shopping. Mathilda returns from her shopping trip as the group clean up the carnage, and realizes what happened just in time to continue down the hall, where a reluctant Léon gives her shelter.

The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view

Most of this film is in the point of view of Leon as he is the main character but it is also in Mathilda’s point of view as well. It is seen in the point of view of these characters as it effectively shows us how they see other people and the action but also shows the relationship between the two characters and how the interact with each other but it also shows us the contrast between the two lives and how they are brought together.     

All action and characters must be credibly realistic/natural in their representation on screen

Natalie plays the little girl who has a very realistic plot of some families that are real, abusive, drug dealers etc…

Leon isn’t as natural when he is being a killer as not many people go around and kill people but when he is going about on his normal life it is more realistic.

The two major themes that underpin the Thriller are the desire for justice and the morality of individuals

Leon has a religious picture in his flat; it shows that he thinks that he is doing it for god. This film plays on the fantasies of what we would do if we took the law into our own hands. The desire for justice in this film at the start is mainly bad guys trying to scare someone who has done them wrong, it isn’t justice in a sense as we think but as bad guys think.   

One small but significant aspect of a great thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world [Binary opposition]

In this the innocence is the girl (Natalie) as her family is murder she has no one left. The way her family treats her, she has bruises and bloody noses and is beaten you know that she is just an innocent. She has no role model and has no one but her little brother. She is happy that she can help Leon out as she watches him and knows that she is useful for something.  

Leon perfectly fits the conventions of a thriller. It does not try to challenge the conventions.

Explain how far you agree with this statement.

It doesn’t try to challenge them as it doesn’t need to; if it did the film wouldn’t meet very good standards and would be unsuccessful. It has the right conventions as it uses the right music; it sets the mood and gives the film an overall feel which all thrillers have. It uses camera shots to create mystery, drama etc… which is needed in all thrillers as it sets the scene. It also uses lighting to set the mood, it has all the mise –en –scene that all typical thrillers have.