Lessons On Movies.com
  Free Handout + MP3 + 8 Online Quizzes on Leon - The Professional

  GAMES:

  • Fill-in-the-blank
  • Matching
  • Hangman
  • Flash cards
  • Sentence jumble
  • Missing words
  • No letters
  • Crossword puzzle

Léon: The Professional is a 1994 English-language French thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno as the mob hitman and Gary Oldman as corrupt DEA agent Stansfield. It also stars a young Natalie Portman, in her feature film debut, as Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl who is taken in by the hitman after her family is murdered by assassins. The movie follows the developing and at times strange relationship between Leon and Mathilda. Léon does his best to look after Mathilda and keep her out of trouble but is unsuccessful as she starts learning the tools of the assassin trade and becomes his apprentice. The movie is a stylish and engrossing thriller with some fantastic action scenes.

Léon: The Professional received favourable reviews from critics. Mark Salisbury of Empire magazine awarded the film a full five stars. He said: "Oozing style, wit and confidence from every sprocket, and offering a dizzyingly, fresh perspective on the Big Apple that only Besson could bring, this is, in a word, wonderful". Mark Deming at Allmovie.com awarded the film four stars out of five, saying it was "as visually stylish as it is graphically violent", featuring "a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman". The character Stansfield has been named by multiple publications as one of cinema's greatest villains.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on:_The_Professional

  TRAILER AND POSTER

LEON - THE PROFESSIONAL POSTER

1. SIX WORDS: Look at the poster and write down six words (more if you like) that you think of as you look at it. Share the words with your partner(s). Why did you choose them?

2. STORY: Talk about what you think the story of the movie is – the start, beginning, end, etc. Change partners and share stories.

3. CREDITS: Look at the credits on the poster (the actors, director, producer…) and talk about them with your partner(s).

4. MUST-SEE: Talk with your partner(s) about whether the poster and movie title are good and make you want to see the movie.

5. STARRING YOU: Imagine you are one of the stars of the movie. Talk about your role with your movie star partner(s).

LEON - THE PROFESSIONAL TRAILER

1. RETELL: Watch the trailer and retell what you saw to your partner(s).

2. CHUNKS: Watch 10-to-15 second chunks of the trailer and retell what you saw to your partner(s).

3. QUIZ: Watch the trailer and write down some quiz questions for your partner(s). Watch a second time to find the answers to the questions.

4. VOCABULARY: Make a note of words in the trailer that you see or hear. Talk about them with your partner(s).

5. GOOD / BAD: Watch the trailer and write down why you think the film might be good or bad. Share your ideas with your partner(s).

  MATCHING

SYNONYM MATCH

1.	mob	a.	dishonest
2	corrupt	b.	wonderful
3.	assassins	c.	bad guys
4.	apprentice	d.	view
5.	fantastic	e.	killers
6.	reviews	f.	given
7.	awarded	g.	Mafia
8.	perspective	h.	assessments
9.	striking	i.	trainee
10.	villains	j.	impressive

PHRASE MATCH

1.	It stars Jean Reno as the mob	a.	and confidence
2	her feature film	b.	strange relationship
3.	the developing and at times	c.	violent
4.	learning the tools	d.	favourable reviews
5.	The movie is a stylish and	e.	of the assassin trade
6.	Léon: The Professional received	f.	hitman
7.	Oozing style, wit	g.	villains
8.	fresh	h.	debut
9.	graphically	i.	engrossing thriller
10.	one of cinema's greatest	j.	perspective

  LISTENING / READING GAP FILL

Léon: The Professional is a 1994 (1) ____________________ thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. It stars Jean Reno                              (2) _______________________ Gary Oldman as corrupt DEA agent Stansfield. It also stars a young Natalie Portman, in her                              (3) ____________________ Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl who is taken in by the hitman after her family is murdered by assassins. The movie follows the (4) ____________________ strange relationship between Leon and Mathilda. Léon does his best to look after Mathilda and                              (5) ____________________ but is unsuccessful as she starts learning the tools of the assassin trade and becomes his apprentice. The movie is a stylish and (6) ____________________ fantastic action scenes.

Léon: The Professional received (7) ____________________ critics. Mark Salisbury of Empire magazine awarded the film a full five stars. He said:  "(8) ____________________ confidence from every sprocket, and            (9) ____________________ perspective on the Big Apple that only Besson could bring, this is, in a word, wonderful". Mark Deming at Allmovie.com awarded the (10) ____________________, saying it was "as visually stylish as it is graphically violent", featuring "a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, (11) ____________________, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman". The character Stansfield has been named by multiple publications as (12) _________________________.

  CORRECT THE SPELLING

Paragraph 1
1.	French tlerrhil
2.	her family is uddmreer
3.	strange ehoplisrnita
4.	learning the tools of the iasasnss trade
5.	becomes his epcianerpt
6.	lytshis and engrossing
Paragraph 2
7.	favourable viesrew
8.	Oozing style, wit and ieoecncfnd
9.	fresh ptcspvreiee
10.	graphically vlietno
11.	a gitknsir debut
12.	one of cinema's greatest liasnliv

  PUNCTUATE & PUT CAPITALS IN THE TEXT

léon the professional is a 1994 english-language french thriller film written and directed by luc besson it stars jean reno as the mob hitman and gary oldman as corrupt dea agent stansfield it also stars a young natalie portman in her feature film debut as mathilda a 12-year-old girl who is taken in by the hitman after her family is murdered by assassins the movie follows the developing and at times strange relationship between leon and mathilda léon does his best to look after mathilda and keep her out of trouble but is unsuccessful as she starts learning the tools of the assassin trade and becomes his apprentice the movie is a stylish and engrossing thriller with some fantastic action scenes

léon the professional received favourable reviews from critics mark salisbury of empire magazine awarded the film a full five stars he said "oozing style wit and confidence from every sprocket and offering a dizzyingly fresh perspective on the big apple that only besson could bring this is in a word wonderful" mark deming at allmoviecom awarded the film four stars out of five saying it was "as visually stylish as it is graphically violent" featuring "a strong performance from jean reno a striking debut by natalie portman and a love-it-or-hate-it over-the-top turn by gary oldman" the character stansfield has been named by multiple publications as one of cinema's greatest villains

  INSERT THE VOWELS

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Lé_n: Th_ Pr_f_ss__n_l r_c__v_d f_v__r_bl_ r_v__ws fr_m cr_t_cs. M_rk S_l_sb_ry _f _mp_r_ m_g_z_n_ _w_rd_d th_ f_lm _ f_ll f_v_ st_rs. H_ s__d: "__z_ng styl_, w_t _nd c_nf_d_nc_ fr_m _v_ry spr_ck_t, _nd _ff_r_ng _ d_zzy_ngly, fr_sh p_rsp_ct_v_ _n th_ B_g _ppl_ th_t _nly B_ss_n c__ld br_ng, th_s _s, _n _ w_rd, w_nd_rf_l". M_rk D_m_ng _t _llm_v__.c_m _w_rd_d th_ f_lm f__r st_rs __t _f f_v_, s_y_ng _t w_s "_s v_s__lly styl_sh _s _t _s gr_ph_c_lly v__l_nt", f__t_r_ng "_ str_ng p_rf_rm_nc_ fr_m J__n R_n_, _ str_k_ng d_b_t by N_t_l__ P_rtm_n, _nd _ l_v_-_t-_r-h_t_-_t, _v_r-th_-t_p t_rn by G_ry _ldm_n". Th_ ch_r_ct_r St_nsf__ld h_s b__n n_m_d by m_lt_pl_ p_bl_c_t__ns _s _n_ _f c_n_m_'s gr__t_st v_ll__ns.

  MARK THE SPACES

Léon:TheProfessionalisa1994English-languageFrenchthrillerfilmwrittenanddirectedbyLucBesson.ItstarsJ
eanRenoasthemobhitmanandGaryOldmanascorruptDEAagentStan
sfield.ItalsostarsayoungNataliePortman,inherfeaturefilmdebut,asM
athilda,a12yearoldgirlwhoistakeninbythehitmanafterherfamilyismu
rderedbyassassins.Themoviefollowsthedevelopingandattimesstran
gerelationshipbetweenLeonandMathilda.Léondoeshisbesttolookaft
erMathildaandkeepheroutoftroublebutisunsuccessfulasshestartslea
rningthetoolsoftheassassintradeandbecomeshisapprentice.Themov
ieisastylishandengrossingthrillerwithsomefantasticactionscenes.Lé
on:TheProfessionalreceivedfavourablereviewsfromcritics.MarkSalis
buryofEmpiremagazineawardedthefilmafullfivestars.Hesaid:"Oozin
gstyle,witandconfidencefromeverysprocket,andofferingadizzyingly
,freshperspectiveontheBigApplethatonlyBessoncouldbring,thisis,in
aword,wonderful".MarkDemingatAllmovie.comawardedthefilmfour
starsoutoffive,sayingitwas"asvisuallystylishasitisgraphicallyviolent
",featuring"astrongperformancefromJeanReno,astrikingdebutbyNa
taliePortman,andaloveitorhateit,overthetopturnbyGaryOldman".Th
echaracterStansfieldhasbeennamedbymultiplepublicationsasoneof
cinema'sgreatestvillains.

  DISCUSSION (Write your own questions)

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
1.	__________________________________________________________________
2.	__________________________________________________________________
3.	__________________________________________________________________
4.	__________________________________________________________________
5.	__________________________________________________________________
6.	__________________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
1.	__________________________________________________________________
2.	__________________________________________________________________
3.	__________________________________________________________________
4.	__________________________________________________________________
5.	__________________________________________________________________
6.	__________________________________________________________________

  LEON - THE PROFESSIONAL SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about Leon - The Professional in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	Student 1 __________	Student 2 __________	Student 3 __________
Q1.
Q2.
Q3.
Q4.
Q5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

  WRITING

Write your own movie review. Show your partner your letter. Correct each other's work.

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

  HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET INFO: Search the Internet and find more information about "Leon - The Professional". Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write a magazine article about "Leon - The Professional". What are (did) critics and moviegoers saying (say) about it? How good were the actors' performances? What was good and bad about the movie? Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your articles.

4. "LEON - THE PROFESSIONAL" POSTER: Make a poster about "Leon - The Professional". Make sure you put tag lines, audience and critics' reviews, why people should see it, etc.  Show it to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback on your posters.

5. MY PREQUEL / SEQUEL: Make your own prequel or sequel for  "Leon - The Professional". Make sure there is a good mix of things to do. Find some good online activities. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback.

6. CHARACTER STORY: Choose one of the characters from the movie. Imagine you are that character. Write your story about what you did in the movie. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Give each other feedback.

7. ONLINE SHARING: Use your blog, wiki, Facebook page, Twitter stream, or any other social media tool to get opinions on "Leon - The Professional". Share your findings with the class.

  ANSWERS

SYNONYM MATCH

1.	mob	a.	Mafia
2	corrupt	b.	dishonest
3.	assassins	c.	killers
4.	apprentice	d.	trainee
5.	fantastic	e.	wonderful
6.	reviews	f.	assessments
7.	awarded	g.	given
8.	perspective	h.	view
9.	striking	i.	impressive
10.	villains	j.	bad guys

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Please check for yourself by looking at the movie review article at the top of the page.
(It's good for your English ;-)