Directed by: Luc Besson
Starring: Gary Oldman, Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello
Visible crew/equipment: When the SWAT team fires the grenade into the apartment at the end, the guide wire along which it is traveling is very obvious. It's actually easier to see in normal speed. (01:29:25)
Visible crew/equipment: Near the end of the film Leon tells Mathilda to grab the axe. As she opens the glass door to get it you can see the camera and its operator filming reflected in it.
Continuity mistake: Before the dreadlocked man starts looking at the vinyl records in the apartment, he places his uzi down with the butt facing the camera. In the next shot the barrel is facing the camera, and switches back again in the next shot.
Trivia: In the shot outside of Tony's restaurant, before the scene where we see him celebrating his birthday and being interrupted by Stansfield, you can see someone walking past the restaurant. That person is Luc Besson, the director of the movie.
Answer: No specific reason is given; it's most likely intended to highlight that her family are bad people (they are drug dealers after all) and to show in contrast that Mathilda and her little brother are not, so we feel badly for them.
Purple_Girl