Framing the Professional

Most have probably seen The Professional from the perspective of watching a movie. I invite you to see the film again from the perspective that this is Natalie Portman's first film at the age of thirteen. This picture offers a deeply compelling example of how a development at its time has no idea of the context that can be created for it in the future.

To understand what I am saying requires a true understanding of context. At the time the film was produced, Portman was completely, totally, utterly unknown. This was six years before her leading role in Star Wars, her further advancement in V for Vendetta, her escalating career as an advocate for animal and human rights.

Yes, you've already seen the film, but I invite you to watch again through the lens that the film is totally about Natalie Portman. Learn about Portman, her roles in pictures that include the above as well as Closer, Cold Mountain, and Heat, and then see this gem again. At thirteen, she plays a twelve year old going up against the likes of Gary Oldman and Danny Aiello in a creative and completely original piece of not only must see cinema, but must see again cinema.