La Femme Nikita ★★★ 1991 (R) Stylish French noir version of Pygmalion. Having killed a cop during a drugstore theft gone awry, young French sociopath Nikita (Parillaud) is reprieved from a death sentence in order to enroll in a government finishing school, of sorts. Trained in etiquette (by Moreau) and assasination (by Karyo), she's released after three years, and starts a new life with a new beau (Anglade), all the while carrying out agency-mandated assassinations. Parillaud is excellent as the once-amoral street urchin transformed into a woman of depth and sensitivity—a bitterly ironic moral evolution for a contract killer. Remade as "Point of No Return." 117m/C VHS, DVD, Wide. FR Anne Parillaud, Jean-Hugues Anglade, Tcheky Karyo, Jeanne Moreau, Jean Reno, Jean Bouise;
Director:
Luc Besson;
Writer:
Luc Besson;
Writer:
Thierry Arbogast;
Cameo:
Eric Serra. Cesar '91: Actress (Parillaud).
