Nikita
Encyclopedia
Nikita is a French
thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson
; it was released in the United States
as La Femme Nikita. The film is about a young criminal who is recruited to work for French intelligence. Nikita was remade into the U.S. as Point of No Return
, as well as two TV series adaptations.
) is a teenage junkie who participates in the robbery of a pharmacy
owned by the parents of a fellow junkie. The robbery goes awry, erupting into a gunfight with local police, during which her cohorts are killed. Suffering severe withdrawal symptoms, she murders a policeman. Nikita is arrested, tried, and convicted of murder and is sentenced to life in prison.
In prison, her captors fake her death, making it appear that she has committed suicide via a tranquilizer overdose. She awakens in a nondescript room, where a well-dressed but hard-looking man named Bob (Tchéky Karyo
) enters and reveals that, although officially dead and buried, she is in the custody of a shadowy government agency. She is given a choice of becoming an assassin
, or actually occupying "row 8, plot 30", referring to her fake grave. After some resistance, she chooses the former and proves to be a talented killer. One of her trainers, Amande (Jeanne Moreau
), transforms her from a degenerate drug addict to a femme fatale
. Amande implies that she was also rescued and trained by the DGSE.
Her initial mission, killing a diplomat in a crowded restaurant and escaping back to the Centre, doubles as the final test in her training. She graduates and begins life as a sleeper agent
in Paris with her boyfriend Marco (Jean-Hugues Anglade
), a man she meets in a supermarket
and who knows nothing of her real profession.
Her career as an assassin goes well until a document-theft mission in an embassy goes awry, requiring the ruthless Victor "The Cleaner" (Jean Reno
) to destroy the mission's evidence and all corpses. During the mission, Victor is wounded and dies. Marco reveals that he has discovered Nikita's secret life, and, concerned over how her activities are affecting her psychologically, persuades her to disappear. Upon discovering that she abandoned the agency, Bob meets with Marco, and they both discuss and decide what is best for Nikita.
, the overall rating by the critics is 56%. However, on Rotten Tomatoes
the film has a rating of 87%. A number of critics, including Gene Siskel
and Roger Ebert
, positively reviewed the film.
The movie was a box office hit.
remade
Nikita in English
as Point of No Return
(The Assassin), directed by John Badham
and starring Bridget Fonda
. Nikita also inspired the 1991 Hong Kong action film Black Cat, which closely follows the original film’s storyline.
and Fireworks Entertainment
. The series ran for five seasons on USA Network
, and generated a sizeable cult following of its own. It was created by Joel Surnow
, who later co-created 24
with fellow La Femme Nikita executive consultant Robert Cochran. It starred Peta Wilson
as Nikita and Roy Dupuis
.
In 2010, the CW
network picked up a new series Nikita
, with Maggie Q
as a Nikita who has gone rogue.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson
Luc Besson
Luc Besson is a French film director, writer, and producer. He is the creator of EuropaCorp film company. He has been involved with over 50 films, spanning 26 years, as writer, director, and/or producer.-Early life:...
; it was released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as La Femme Nikita. The film is about a young criminal who is recruited to work for French intelligence. Nikita was remade into the U.S. as Point of No Return
Point of No Return (film)
Point of No Return is a 1993 American action film directed by John Badham and starring Bridget Fonda. It is a remake of Luc Besson's 1990 film Nikita.-Plot:...
, as well as two TV series adaptations.
Plot
Nikita (Anne ParillaudAnne Parillaud
Anne Parillaud is a French actress, who has appeared in 30 films since 1977.She is best known internationally for her role as Nikita in the movie of the same name.-Biography:...
) is a teenage junkie who participates in the robbery of a pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
owned by the parents of a fellow junkie. The robbery goes awry, erupting into a gunfight with local police, during which her cohorts are killed. Suffering severe withdrawal symptoms, she murders a policeman. Nikita is arrested, tried, and convicted of murder and is sentenced to life in prison.
In prison, her captors fake her death, making it appear that she has committed suicide via a tranquilizer overdose. She awakens in a nondescript room, where a well-dressed but hard-looking man named Bob (Tchéky Karyo
Tchéky Karyo
-Early life:Karyo was born in Istanbul to a Greek mother and Sephardic-Jewish father and raised in Paris, France. He studied drama at the Cyrano Theatre and later became a member of the Daniel Sorano Company, playing many classical roles.-Career:...
) enters and reveals that, although officially dead and buried, she is in the custody of a shadowy government agency. She is given a choice of becoming an assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, or actually occupying "row 8, plot 30", referring to her fake grave. After some resistance, she chooses the former and proves to be a talented killer. One of her trainers, Amande (Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director.She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
), transforms her from a degenerate drug addict to a femme fatale
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
. Amande implies that she was also rescued and trained by the DGSE.
Her initial mission, killing a diplomat in a crowded restaurant and escaping back to the Centre, doubles as the final test in her training. She graduates and begins life as a sleeper agent
Sleeper agent
A sleeper agent is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but rather to act as a potential asset if activated...
in Paris with her boyfriend Marco (Jean-Hugues Anglade
Jean-Hugues Anglade
Jean-Hugues Anglade is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as Eric in Killing Zoe, Zorg in Betty Blue and Marco, the boyfriend of Nikita, in Nikita....
), a man she meets in a supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
and who knows nothing of her real profession.
Her career as an assassin goes well until a document-theft mission in an embassy goes awry, requiring the ruthless Victor "The Cleaner" (Jean Reno
Jean Reno
Jean Reno is a French actor. Working in French, English, Spanish and Italian, he has appeared not only in numerous successful Hollywood productions such as The Pink Panther, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, Ronin and Couples Retreat, but also in European productions such as the...
) to destroy the mission's evidence and all corpses. During the mission, Victor is wounded and dies. Marco reveals that he has discovered Nikita's secret life, and, concerned over how her activities are affecting her psychologically, persuades her to disappear. Upon discovering that she abandoned the agency, Bob meets with Marco, and they both discuss and decide what is best for Nikita.
Cast
- Anne ParillaudAnne ParillaudAnne Parillaud is a French actress, who has appeared in 30 films since 1977.She is best known internationally for her role as Nikita in the movie of the same name.-Biography:...
as Nikita - Jean-Hugues AngladeJean-Hugues AngladeJean-Hugues Anglade is a French actor, film director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as Eric in Killing Zoe, Zorg in Betty Blue and Marco, the boyfriend of Nikita, in Nikita....
as Marco - Tchéky KaryoTchéky Karyo-Early life:Karyo was born in Istanbul to a Greek mother and Sephardic-Jewish father and raised in Paris, France. He studied drama at the Cyrano Theatre and later became a member of the Daniel Sorano Company, playing many classical roles.-Career:...
as Bob - Jeanne MoreauJeanne MoreauJeanne Moreau is a French actress, singer, screenwriter and director.She made her theatrical debut in 1947, and established herself as one of the leading actresses of the Comédie-Française...
as Amande - Jean RenoJean RenoJean Reno is a French actor. Working in French, English, Spanish and Italian, he has appeared not only in numerous successful Hollywood productions such as The Pink Panther, Godzilla, The Da Vinci Code, Mission: Impossible, Ronin and Couples Retreat, but also in European productions such as the...
as Victor "The Cleaner"
Reception
Nikita received mixed reviews by critics both in France and abroad. On MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, the overall rating by the critics is 56%. However, on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
the film has a rating of 87%. A number of critics, including Gene Siskel
Gene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
and Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, positively reviewed the film.
The movie was a box office hit.
Remake
In 1993, Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
remade
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
Nikita in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as Point of No Return
Point of No Return (film)
Point of No Return is a 1993 American action film directed by John Badham and starring Bridget Fonda. It is a remake of Luc Besson's 1990 film Nikita.-Plot:...
(The Assassin), directed by John Badham
John Badham
- External links :...
and starring Bridget Fonda
Bridget Fonda
Bridget Jane Fonda is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in films such as The Godfather Part III, Single White Female, Point of No Return, It Could Happen to You, and Jackie Brown...
. Nikita also inspired the 1991 Hong Kong action film Black Cat, which closely follows the original film’s storyline.
TV series
A TV series based on the film, titled La Femme Nikita, was created in 1997. It was produced in Canada by Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
and Fireworks Entertainment
Fireworks Entertainment
Fireworks Entertainment was founded by Jay Firestone in 1996 to produce, distribute and finance television shows and feature films. Fireworks was acquired by Canwest Global in May 1998, and was later sold to ContentFilm, a British company, in April 2005...
. The series ran for five seasons on USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, and generated a sizeable cult following of its own. It was created by Joel Surnow
Joel Surnow
Joel Surnow is an American writer and producer best known for being the creator of the television series 24 and La Femme Nikita. He also produced the Fox News Channel The 1/2 Hour News Hour.-Biography:...
, who later co-created 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
with fellow La Femme Nikita executive consultant Robert Cochran. It starred Peta Wilson
Peta Wilson
Peta Gia Wilson is an Australian actress and model. She is best known as Nikita in the television series La Femme Nikita.-Early life:...
as Nikita and Roy Dupuis
Roy Dupuis
Roy Dupuis is a Canadian actor best known for his role as counterterrorism operative Michael Samuelle in the television series La Femme Nikita...
.
In 2010, the CW
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
network picked up a new series Nikita
Nikita (TV series)
La Femme Nikita is a Canadian action/drama television series based on the French film Nikita by Luc Besson. The series was co-produced by Jay Firestone of Fireworks Entertainment and Warner Brothers. It was adapted for television by Joel Surnow...
, with Maggie Q
Maggie Q
Margaret Denise Quigley , professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American-born actress and former fashion model. She currently stars as the titular character on the action-thriller TV series Nikita.-Early life:...
as a Nikita who has gone rogue.