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Films

Leon

Is Leon a good guy? Mike Parker analyses the character of the eponymous anti-hero through the moral philosophy of Schopenhauer.

The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer is notorious for his endemic pessimism and general misanthropy. While this assessment is hard to counter, we should not take this to be a negative trait: far from it. My aim in this review is to look at one aspect of his work, his understanding of a good moral character, and to use this as a practical tool for analysing the fictional character of ‘Leon’.

In Leon, The Professional (1994 Luc Besson) the eponymous central figure is a ruthless assassin; a monastic individual whose life outside of his role as hit man for the local mafia is desolate. The only adult relationship Leon has is with the Italian mobster Tony, who Leon mistakenly regards as a protective paternal figure.

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