The article linked to a jpeg of a section of the script that dealt with the relationship between Mathilda and Leon in which the two become lovers.
However if memory serves the film does have an uncomfortable relationship between the young girl and the Asperger like Leon.
With the man taking her to restaurants, giving her alcohol,
sharing a bed. And having her sing 'Happy Birthday Mr President' to him in a Marilyn outfit with lipstick and make up. Marilyn famously sang this on stage to President Kennedy when they were in the midst of an affair.
Or wearing adult underwear with make up for Leon.
Mathilda even confides to a hotel clerk he is taking her upstairs to have sex in one scene.
The Americans cut all this out for fear it would effect ticket sales, this was only in the European version.
It's worth noting a few of the posters enlarge Portman, or shoot her at angles that make her look older. Look at the height difference between her and Jean Reno in this film still, versus the poster.
Her choker and silent movie star hair cut might provide some visual evidence. Leon supposedly loves old films, who can Mathilda look like?
And what is with the plant symbol Leon carries around , it seems to mirror Mathildas Teddy Bear. They both dress alike, carry a visual security blanket. Many times Mathilda and Leon seem to be reflected in mirrored surfaces.
I read director Besson had a relationship with a young girl (i will post more details) so that line of inquiry may prove enlightening.
I found out all Bessons girlfriends and juxtoposed their ages when Besson met them, his age at the time and when he dumped them. Like a lot of Hollywood rich men Besson likes his girlfriends to be no more than early two mid twenties, while he ages.
Mila Jojovich (21-24 years)- Besson 38
Mai-wenn (16-21)- Besson 33
Anne Parrillaud (26-32) 27.
Lots of fans seem to identify with Mathilda. Fan art depicts her almost always post pubertal.
In any case, this is an extremely rough draft of an idea, and over the coming days i shall investigate further to see if there is anything in all this. I shall have to watch the film , since i only saw it once on the telly.
Never knew they cut it out over here, interesting and yeah there is a lot of such innuendo to be had.
ReplyDeleteWell i shall publish a more coherent review later, to verify if Leon was a nonce or not, one must not rush to judgement.
DeleteOoo... This is kind of pushing it. No way this would ever fly in North America.
ReplyDeleteThanks DWei, i have yet to watch it, going to watch it tonight and draw conclusions, i found some great pics of Portman and the adult actors goofing on set, very different to the tone of the film. It's amazing to me how much is censored in America, i saw an American version of Ghostbusters once , they edited out Bill Murray saying 'This man has not penis' to 'This man has no twinkie'.
DeleteThe Twinkie dub must have been taken from earlier in the film, if memory serves, Spengler tells Zeddmore a twinkie metaphor.
Censorship has this long history, but it rarely comes from government, it comes from small independent mobilised groups like the Catholic League For Decency, who can garner a few hundred fanatics who start gmail campaigns and protesting, it shuts things down.
Pretty clear to me this is 100% from the mind of a bold paedophile - you don't write that as a sub-text, meaning, how the audience is intended to see it, and not as the thoughts of a sick fictional character, but literally as subtext, and not be a paedophile. This is a published version, and later published as a book as well for French audience! Not only that but the director/writer Luc Besson actually had involvement with an 11 year old girl, actually publicly going out with her when she was 15, while he was 32. Totally sickening. It also makes me question what kind of people the other people involved in the movie are, such as Gary Oldman, Jean Reno, because they must have read the unedited script, so what kind of judgement do they have about working on a project that it's clear has undertones endorsing, promoting and encouraging the false idea that children can have consensual sex, and why would you ever want to. What's up with a very young Natalie Portman playing the part like an adult. Absolutely sick.
ReplyDeleteI had the subtitles on when watching the movie while the the sone "Venus As a Boy" by Bjork came on.
ReplyDeleteHere are the lyrics ( the 1st verse was cut out of the movie):
His wicked
Sense of humor
Suggests
Exciting sex!
His fingers
They focus on her
Touches
He's Venus as a boy
He believes in a beauty
He's Venus as a boy
He's exploring
The taste of her
Arousal
So accurate
He sets off
The beauty in her
He's Venus
Venus as a boy
He believes in a beauty
He's Venus as a boy
I started cringing during the Marylin Monroe scene.
Glad I found this post.
ReplyDeleteClearly a pedophile dream movie.
Anonymous28 August 2014 at 04:56 ... this guys post smacks the nail dead center.
I watched this movie years ago and never even noticed.
Now as a man of 48 the subtext is so per-versed it's blatant
How did this film ever get passed?
Tells you so much about the industry
I use to love this movie when i was young. Rewatched it on Netflix and WHOA. I had to google search to see if anyone else felt uncomfortable watching. This movie went right over my head at age 12
ReplyDelete