Wasabi (2001)

Director:

Gérard Krawczyk

Writer:

Luc Besson (writer)

Release Date:

31 October 2001 (Belgium)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Quite Possibly The Greatest French-Language, English-Subtitled, Japanese Action-Comedy Of All Time.

Plot:

Hubert is a French policeman with very sharp methods. After being forced to take 2 months off by his boss...

Plot Keywords:

Airport | Bank Robbery | Bank | Father Daughter Relationship | Hospital

Cast

Jean Reno	...	Hubert Fiorentini
Ryoko Hirosue	...	Yumi Yoshimido
Michel Muller	...	Maurice 'Momo'
Carole Bouquet	...	Sofia
Yoshi Oida	...	Takanawa
Christian Sinniger	...	Le Squale
Alexandre Brik	...	Irène
Jean-Marc Montalto	...	Olivier (as Jean Marc Montalto)
Véronique Balme	...	Betty
Fabio Zenoni	...	Josy
Haruhiko Hirata	...	Ishibashi
Michel Scourneau	...	Van Eyck (as Mikhel Scourneau)
Jacques Bondoux	...	Del Rio
Osamu Tsuruya	...	Douanier 1
Akihiko Nishida	...	Douanier 2
Anthony Decadi	...	Fils de Préfet
Yan Epstein	...	Jean Baptiste 2 (as Yann Epstein)
Ludovic Berthillot	...	Jean Baptiste 1
Elodie Frenck	...	Secretaire Banque de la Trinité (as Élodie Frenck)
Dorothée Brière	...	Hôtesse de l'air
Stefan Nelet	...	Jeune banquier (as Stefan Sao Nelet)
Karine Stoffer	...	Danseuse
Yuki Sakai	...	Miko Kobayashi
Massaro Nagahishi	...	Commissaire Avion
Makiko Kishi	...	Secrétaire Ishibashi
Kinshiro Oyama	...	Commissaire Japonais
Kiyohiko Shibukawa		(as Kee)
Hiroko Maki
Tomo Fukui	...	Receptionisste
Kazumasa Seki	...	Garde Katama 1
Seiji Mori	...	Garde Katama 2
Syuntarou Date
Furuo Geiri
Tenmei Basara
Kei Kagaya
Toshihiro Ogura
Koukhi Itagaki
Kyoshi Iwata
Koushirou Honda
Ukon Urota
Touru Edomatsu
Hiroshi Urushiyama
Kazuoki Takahashi
Hiroyuki Ootsuki
Kouji Toyota

Directed by
Gérard Krawczyk

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Luc Besson		writer

Produced by
Luc Besson	....	producer
Didier Hoarau	....	line producer
Shohei Kotaki	....	executive producer
Kanjiro Sakura	....	executive producer
Mehdi Sayah	....	assistant producer

Original Music by
Julien Schultheis
Eric Serra

Cinematography by
Gérard Sterin

Film Editing by
Yann Hervé

Casting by
Swan Pham

Production Design by
Jacques Bufnoir
Jean-Jacques Gernolle

Costume Design by
Agnès Falque

Makeup Department
Karina Gruais	....	key makeup artist
Patrice Iva	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Thierry Guilmard	....	production manager
Motoki Ishida	....	production manager
Franck Lebreton	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Stéphanie Champault	....	second assistant director
Claire Galloy	....	second assistant director
William Pruss	....	second assistant director
Hans Titze	....	third assistant director
Fabien Vergez	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Thomas Astruc	....	storyboard artist
Lionel Callari	....	property master

Sound Department
Anne Delacour	....	dialogue editor
Jean-Baptiste Faure	....	boom operator
Alexandre Hernandez	....	assistant sound editor
François-Joseph Hors	....	sound mixer
Dominique Lacour	....	daily sound mixer
Maud Lombart	....	assistant sound editor
Didier Lozahic	....	sound mixer
Didier Lozahic	....	sound re-recording mixer
Fred Mays	....	post-synchronization
Ken Yasumoto	....	sound editor
Ken Yasumoto	....	sound

Special Effects by
Philippe Hubin	....	special effects supervisor
Jean-Christophe Magnaud	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Nicolas Aithadi	....	digital artist: Duboi
Serge Anthony	....	color grader
Lucie Bories	....	digital compositor
Andre Brizard	....	digital compositor
Alain Carsoux	....	visual effects supervisor
Séverine De Wever	....	production coordinator
François Dupuy	....	I/O supervisor
Olivier Gadal	....	visual effects
Abdel Ali Kassou	....	scanning and printing
Aurelie Lajoux	....	digital compositor
Bruno Le Provost	....	3D supervisor
Malik Nahassia	....	digital effects artist
Jean-Paul Rovela	....	digital artist
Antoine Simkine	....	visual effects executive producer: Duboi
Georges Tornero	....	digital compositor
Daniel Trujillo	....	digital artist

Stunts
Arno Balenci	....	stunt performer
Philippe Guégan	....	stunt coordinator
Gregory Loffredo	....	stunts
Cyril Raffaelli	....	fight choregrapher (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alessandro Brambilla	....	camera operator
Alessandro Brambilla	....	steadicam operator
Marine Delcourt	....	assistant camera
Christophe Dural	....	gaffer
Isabel Ellsen	....	still photographer
Jack English	....	still photographer
Pierre Garnier	....	grip
Koji Kojima	....	second assistant camera: international unit
Jean-Pierre Mas	....	key grip
Benjamin Speyer	....	grip
Laurent Tangy	....	focus puller

Editorial Department
Hervé Gouband	....	color timer
Christine Lucas Navarro	....	assistant to editor
Charlotte Rembauville	....	assistant editor
Frédéric Thoraval	....	additional editor
Nicolas Trembasiewicz	....	editorial collaborator

Music Department
Martha Argerich	....	musician: piano "Träumerei"
Karl Böhm	....	conductor: "Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, second Movement 'Adagio'"
Nadia Farès	....	composer: end title "Follow Me"
Jérôme Lateur	....	music supervisor
Didier Lozahic	....	score mixer
Tamio Okuda	....	composer: song "Kore ga watashi no ikiru michi"
Chihiro Onitsuka	....	composer: song "Rasen (as C. Onitsuka)

Other crew
Nathalie Alquier	....	script supervisor
Frédéric Cauvy	....	weapons advisor
Romuald Drault	....	administrator
Mia Frye	....	choreographer (as Mia Frye Ressiga)
Vincent Giry	....	coordinator
Colette Martin	....	administrator
David Meanti	....	making-of
David Meanti	....	production assistant
Vincent Stevenel	....	administrator
Cyril Raffaelli	....	fight trainer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Europa Corp.
• Samitose Productions
• TF1 Films Productions
• Canal+
• Victor Company of Japan (JVC)
• Destiny

Distributors

• EuropaCorp. Distribution (France) (theatrical)
• Fox Pathé Europa (2002) (France) (DVD)
• 01 Distribuzione
• A-Film Distribution (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (200?) (Netherlands) (video)
• BMG Video (Germany)
• Egmont Entertainment (2002) (Finland) (DVD)
• Europa Diffusion (France) (video)
• Hollywood Classic Entertainment (Czech Republic)
• K2 (2002) (Japan) (theatrical)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (Argentina) (VHS)
• New Films International
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2003) (Brazil) (VHS)
• TriStar Pictures (2002) (USA) (subtitled)
• Victor Company of Japan (JVC) (2002) (Japan) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• Duboi (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Akasaka Tokyu Hotel  thanks
• Ambassade de France au Japon  thanks
• Burberry  thanks
• Capitol Tokyu Hotel  thanks
• Cité de la Musique  thanks
• Europe 1  thanks
• Jacques Dessange  thanks
• Mairie de Paris  thanks
• New York Industries  thanks
• Omega  thanks
• Transpalux  titles
• Unifrance Japon  thanks
• Universal Music France  soundtrack released by

Also Known As:

Petite moutarde qui monte au nez, La (France) (subtitle)
The Professional II (South Africa: English title) (DVD box title)
Wasabi - The Japanese Dip That Kicks Like a Mule (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

France | Japan

Language:

French | Japanese

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:16 | UK:15 | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:15 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Europa Corp.

Trivia:

In the arcade, the game that all the young characters convince Hubert ('Jean Reno' ) to play is "Dance Dance Revolution". Before you see the DDR machine (it's a 5th Mix), many of the other music-related games that are shown are also part of the Bemani series, including Beatmania and many others. The song that the characters play is 'Dive' by BeForU, and Jean Reno's character does fail on the easiest difficulty level (Basic Mode, known in more recent generations of the game as Light Mode).

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Shadow of equipment (presumably the camera) visible as camera pans forward in the club during the opening. Watch the floor.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Taxi 3 (2003)

Soundtrack:

Moon Reflexion

Entertaining, with a nice blend of French/Japanese Sensibilities

As others have commented, this is certainly light entertainment, not heavy on elaborate plot lines. I actually saw this movie today on a flight from Japan, and found it delightful. It certainly is a film that was pitched to a French Audience, tossing in simplified bits of Japanese pop culture (Witness: I have never encountered so many Japanese that could speak French, as in this movie). Nevertheless this is what I liked about the movie:

1. The interplay between Fiorentino (Jean Reno) and his sidekick Momo (Michel Muller) was consistently humorous throughout, with Muller delivering the punchline, and nearly upstaging Reno throughout. My favorite scene is when Fiorentino is eating generous gobs of Wasabi (hence the name of the film), and Momo, not wanting to be outdone by his mentor, nearly gags to death on the stuff. I was laughing out loud -- maybe because it reminds me too vividly of the first time I ever ate sushi, and nearly died doing the same thing as Momo!!

2. Ryoko Hirosue, who plays Yumi, the previously unknown daughter to Fiorentini, is one of the current hot young faces in Japan, and has appeared in many TV dramas and movies. She certainly provides all the eye candy I could ever wish for in this film. But I must admit a certain new found-respect for her acting abilities, as she pulled off her lines in French flawlessly, while maintaining her trademark cuteness and capturing the carefree attitude of today's Japanese youth. She provided a foil of a different sort for Reno, her bright colors (pink hair, pink everything) offering a striking contrast to Reno's darker, demure look.

The Yakuza were portrayed as mindless goons in this film, and there are certainly better films out there if you want to know more about Yakuza, but it appeared that they played their role, which was to showcase Reno's machismo, in a humorous way, something along the lines of Jackie Chan films -- they are more like props in the film than anything else.

All in all, I was entertained by this film, which is all I was looking for during my 11 hours crossing the Pacific.