by Ryan Smillie

How do you know if the person in front of you is who they say they are? In a spy movie, this question is twofold. On one level, there are the spies: deceiving, concealing, and outwitting throughout the film. On another level, however, are the actors playing these spies: expressing, suggesting, and emoting at the same time. Though their purposes seem to be at odds - one seeks to hide, the other to show - the two are more similar than they initially appear. For both, one identity is concealed in favor of a manufactured one, and whether the goal is gathering intelligence from a foreign government, committing a clandestine assassination, or simply creating a believable character, the success of the spy and the success of the actor are contingent on their ability to play with identity. Rarely is this connection explored as thoroughly as in Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita.