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Lé-on: The Grudge Match (Patreon)

Published:
2020-08-27 21:38:38
Imported:
2022-10

Content

After appearing in multiple showdowns over several months, The Professional finally emerged victorious this week in a close race against Buñuel's Viridiana, landing 51% of the vote. I've never seen this film and am unsure whether I should watch the theatrical cut or the extended version. (My track record with Besson suggests that I'm fairly unlikely to watch it a second time.) If you have a strong opinion on the subject, let me know. Though when I polled people on Twitter re: Almost Famous/Untitled I got pretty much a 50-50 split.

Comments

Anonymous

I've seen both versions, though neither was in the past decade. My recollection is that the extended version left me uncomfortable because of the way it messed with my appreciation for the theatrical cut. (I don't want to get into the reasons before you've seen it.) The extended cut is more controversial -- so maybe you'd prefer to watch that, but I liked the theatrical cut better.

Anonymous

Directors cut is weirder and better

Anonymous
>>42961646

Off-topic, I guess... but I liked this movie better than pretty much anything else Besson has done since. But I wouldn't say I loved anything he's done, including this.

Anonymous
>>42961781

Besson refers to the theatrical cut as the director's cut. The extended cut is what he calls 'the long version,' or something like that.

Anonymous
>>42961646

Of course, more than ten years later, maybe my opinion would change. I may watch it again this weekend.

Anonymous

With the same caveat Russ made that it's been 10+ years since I've seen them: I don't think you're going to particularly like either version, but the "long version" has more of a Sundays and Cymbele vibe that's more "interesting" perhaps, but also more off-putting. The 25 additional minutes are of interest for fans, but anyone who's only going to watch the movie once I think should watch the less bloated theatrical cut.

Anonymous

I vote for Theatrical.

Anonymous

Theatrical, no question.

Anonymous

Extended. No doubt. It fleshes out a central relationship.

Anonymous

Less Besson is Best Besson.

Anonymous

Theatrical for sure. There’s a delicate balance to the main relationship that isn’t wholly successful in the theatrical version but becomes way more perplexing in the extended cut (and not exactly in productive ways either)

Motyka

FWIW, Besson apparently prefers the Extended Cut: http://thisorthatedition.com/leon-1994/

Anonymous

I bounced this question off of my wife, who I should say is a much bigger fan of Besson than I. (She loved THE FIFTH ELEMENT, for example.) She wishes she never watched the extended edition of THE PROFESSIONAL because it changes her understanding of the two main characters' relationship in a way that spoils her memory of the theatrical cut. (Which is sort of how I feel about it, just not to the same extent.) I guess it depends on how one perceives different cuts of a film — are they different films? Is one canonical and the other an easily-dismissed curiousity? For my wife, watching the extended cut hurt her enjoyment of both cuts, because now the theatrical cut seems more like an abridged version of the ‘true’ story rather than a story unto itself. This isn't always a negative -- she likes some films *more* after watching the deleted scene supplements, because the story is sometimes expanded in a way she likes. But for THE PROFESSIONAL, some of the extended scenes made the story worse for her.

Anonymous

I feel like the uncomfortable elements aren't fully excised in the theatrical cut, they just seem oddly abridged. I'd say the extended cut is closer to his vision of the story as a whole, for right or wrong, so I'd go with that.

Anonymous
>>43083837

I just rewatched the theatrical cut. Best I can figure, it's been more like 15-16 years since I saw either version. I guess it depends on how you define "uncomfortable elements," but there isn't anything in this cut that conflicts with my preferred interpretation of events. I’ll save any additional commentary until after Mike’s seen it.

Anonymous
>>43083837

I haven't seen the theatrical cut in forever, possibly the theaters, so I'll totally admit that my feelings on it here stretch back 20+ years. I know that friends and I had discussions about what *felt* missing and that the extended cut (which is all I've watched since, probably 3-4 times because my wife likes the movie) seemed to align with that. However, I'll totally cop to it all being hazy. Looking forward to seeing what he thinks!