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VARIETY October 10 1994
A GAUL IN HOLLYWOOD
NAME : Luc Besson
DESCRIPTION : French director of Columbia's upcoming "The Professional."
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING : He could be A-list in Hollywood; does he care? (*)
NEXT PROJECT : A movie sans shootouts.
By MAX ALEXANDER
Luc Besson could be the first French filmmaker whose U.S. opening was moved to
avoid confusion with a Sylvester Stallone pic. But then Besson, best known for
1990's ultraviolent "La Femme Nikita", is a paradox in the French cinema.
The tousle-haired 35-year-old is a dedicated auteur in the Gallic tradition, rising at 5 a.m. to write and produce his own films -
yet his movies are unabashedly commercial. He battles with the French press over his privacy, which he zealously guards -
yet he gladly goes on 30-city tours in France to promote his film openings, thrilling exhibitors and fans.
He excoriates the French film industry as "lazy", but he has used it to great advantage. And althought he loves
working in Hollywood, as he awaits the Nov. 18 opening of his first American film, Columbia's "The
Professional," he's not sure he wants to "put on the sunglasses" full-time.
Yet for all his intensity, Besson is disarmingly agreeable in person.
"Directors are the modern equivalent of medieval bards," he says over tea
(outdoors, no sunglasses) at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont Hotel. "We are obliged to go
around the world to tell stories. I don't feel like a 'French' director."
"The Professional" doesn't feel like a French film, either - nor is it exactly
American, despite its New York setting and violent tableau. Financed by Columbia, Gaumont and JVC in a split-rights deal, the
pic stars French actor Jean Reno, Brit Gary
Oldman and American Natalie Portman. Reno
plays an ****** I've missed those few words, sorry *******aged Mob enforcer whose empty life changes with the arrival of
12-year-old truant Portman.
Columbia shifted the film's planned October so it wouldn't be confused with Warner Bros.' Stalonne actioner "The Specialist."
Now the studio's challenge will be to seize turf in the crowded holiday season.
Ironically, the film is working against Columbia in France, where it is being distributed by Gaumont under the title
"Leon." The film is No. 1 and handily beating Columbia's "Wolf" as both
films head into week four.
Ever since he was turned down by France's national film school at age 17 - the end of his formal education - Besson
has been somewhat an outsider. Now he can afford to be outspoken as well.
On French actors : "They are lazy. You can go to Les Bains Douches (a trendy club in
Les Halles) on any night, most of them are there."
On French films : "In France there is a great conclusion between entertainment and culture.
Culture is a mission of the minister of culture; the rest is just entertainment."
"The big enemy in movies is ego," he says. "I
don't want to have a big expensive structure where I'm obliged to produce two or three films a year - just the one I really
love."
In short, Besson doesn't see what all the fuss is about. He says he just wants to
make films and raise his family - a subject he refuses to discuss. (He reportedly has a wife and a small child, as well as an
earlier child with Anne Parillaud, his "Nikita"
star.)
He says he doesn't know what his next film will be, just that it won't involve gangsters or guns. "My
films are like the change of seasons. The next one will be different."
Une petite explication...
A Hollywood, les réalisateurs sont classés dans plusieurs listes : A, A+, B, B+, ..., suivant un
pourcentage qui est censé indiquer la résussite probable de leur futur film. Ainsi la 'A-list' contient
les quelques réalisateurs (3 ou 4 en général) comme Steven Spielberg qui ont 100% : on estime ainsi que quelque soit le scénario et
les acteurs de leur prochain film, celui-ci sera forcément une réussite, de par le 'nom' du réalisateur.
Ces listes sont publiées dans Hollywood Reporter chaque semaine, et des listes séparées tiennent
compte de la même chose pour les femmes.
Cette Page Web a été conçue par
Cédric Gérot
et Patrick Mevzek
( URL de cette page = http://www.oocities.org/Paris/4206/leon/presse7.htm )
