Taxi (1998/I)

Director:

Gérard Pirès

Writer:

Luc Besson (writer)

Release Date:

20 November 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime

Plot:

In Marseilles (France), skilled pizza delivery boy Daniel who drives a scooter finally has his dreams come true...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Marseille | Pizza Delivery Boy | Taxi | Vomit

Awards:

3 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Samy Naceri	...	Daniel Morales
Frédéric Diefenthal	...	Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec
Marion Cotillard	...	Lilly Bertineau
Manuela Gourary	...	Camille Coutant-Kerbalec
Emma Wiklund	...	Petra (as Emma Sjöberg)
Bernard Farcy	...	Commissaire Gibert
Georges Neri	...	Joe
Guy Quang	...	Pizza Joe Motorcyclist
Maurice Murcia	...	Pensioned Taxi Driver
Sabine Bail	...	Femme Préfecture
Dan Herzberg	...	Paulo
Sébastien Thiery	...	Driving Instructor
Eric Bérenger	...	Butcher (as Eric Berenger)
Philippe du Janerand	...	Passenger to Airport
Christophe Fesquet	...	Flic Radar #1
Gérard Vantaggioli	...	Flic Radar #2
Edouard Montoute	...	Alain
Tara Römer	...	Collègue Emilien
Christian Mazucchini	...	Pilote Ringard #1 (as Christian Mazzuchini)
Guillaume Lanson	...	Pilote Ringard #2
Sébastien Pons	...	Akim
Malek Bechar	...	Rachid (as Malik Béchar)
Gérard Dubouche	...	Chauffeur Gibert
Richard Sammel	...	German Gangster #1
Niels Dubost	...	German Gangster #2
Franck Libert	...	German Gangster #3
Dominique Noé	...	Ministre
Pierre Brichese	...	Chauffeur
Stephan Chrisz	...	German Gangster #4
Paul Fructus	...	Krüger Bar Patron
Grégory Knop	...	Krüger
Denis Braccini	...	Chef Pompier
Bernard Destouches	...	Flic Barrage Valises
Emilio Martínez	...	Homme Nettoyeur Banque (as Emilio Martinez)
Catherine Alias	...	Femme Nettoyeur Banque
Stéphane Algoud	...	Jimmy
Thierry Melia	...	Caissier Banque
Jérôme Leleu	...	Jean Bat
Jean-François Palaccio	...	Jeune Flic Mérris
Henri Masini	...	Vieux Flic Mérris
Jean-Baptiste Chaudoul	...	Flic Feu Rouge No. 13
Paul Silve	...	Préfet
Didier Gayral	...	Cas 1er Carton
Stéphane Eichenholc	...	Flic Radar #3

Directed by
Gérard Pirès

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Luc Besson		writer

Produced by
Luc Besson	....	producer
Laurent Pétin	....	producer
Michèle Pétin	....	producer

Original Music by
Akhenaton		(as IAM)

Cinematography by
Jean-Pierre Sauvaire

Film Editing by
Véronique Lange

Casting by
Jeanne Biras
Winny Calissoni
Djamel Ouahab

Production Design by
Jean-Jacques Gernolle

Art Direction by
Franck Schwarz

Set Decoration by
Catherine Werner-Schmidt		(as Catherine Werner)

Costume Design by
Chattoune

Makeup Department
Myriam Hottois	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Jeremy Bau	....	assistant unit manager
Bernard Grenet	....	production manager
Didier Hoarau	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sophie Davin	....	second assistant director
Stéphane Gluck	....	first assistant director
Sophie Lifshitz	....	third assistant director
Bruno Resnais	....	location assistant director
Fabien Vergez	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Fabienne Guillot	....	prop buyer
Jacky Hardouin	....	carpenter
Eric Peloy	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Vincent Arnardi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bridget O'Driscoll	....	assistant sound editor
Jacques Thomas-Gérard	....	sound re-recording mixer
Vincent Tulli	....	sound editor
Vincent Tulli	....	sound
Emmanuel Ughetto	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
Grégoire Delage	....	special effects
Georges Demétrau	....	special effects consultant
Jacky Dufour	....	special effects
Jérome Miel	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Eve Ramboz	....	visual effects

Stunts
Philippe Alliot	....	stunt driver
Francis Auguy	....	stunts
Eric Baronne	....	stunts
Gilbert Bataille	....	stunts
Patrick Bernaud	....	stunts
Christian Bonnichon	....	stunt technician
Philippe Guégan	....	stunts
Jean-Claude Houbart	....	stunts
Jean-Pierre Jabouille	....	stunt driver
Jean-Pierre Jarier	....	stunt driver
David Julienne	....	stunts
Michel Julienne	....	stunt coordinator
Jean-Claude Justice	....	stunts
Jutta Kleinschmidt	....	stunt driver
Christophe Moindreau	....	stunts
Henri Pescarolo	....	stunt driver
Jean Ragnotti	....	stunt driver
Christophe Roblin	....	stunts
Michel Romestaning	....	stunt mechanic
William Rubio	....	stunt motorcyclist
Loïc Saintilan	....	stunts
Jean-Louis Schlesser	....	stunt driver
Raymond Touroul	....	stunt driver (as Raymond Touroule)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alain Dutartre	....	focus puller

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sandrine Langen	....	assistant costume designer
Sylvie Ong	....	wardrobe mistress

Music Department
Didier Lozahic	....	score mixer

Other crew
Michèle Andreucci	....	script supervisor
Esperanza Casero	....	production accountant
Patrice Guillain	....	assistant armorer
Philippe Letode	....	location scout
Christophe Maratier	....	weapons
Jean-Claude Pruniaux	....	helicopter pilot
John Sakas	....	helicopter ground coordinator
Véronique Zimmer	....	production secretary

Thanks
Gérard Krawczyk	....	thanks

Production Companies

• ARP Sélection
• TF1 Films Production
• Canal+
• Europa Corp.
• Cofimage 9
• Studio Image 4

Distributors

• ARP Sélection (1998) (France) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (1998) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Comstock (1998) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Tobis Filmkunst (1998) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Distribution Company (1998) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• RCV Film Distribution (1998) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Lions Gate Films (1998) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cine Company S.A. (1999) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Entertainment (1999) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Cecchi Gori Group (1999) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Metrodome Distribution (1999) (UK) (theatrical)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2000) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Filmes Castello Lopes (2000) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• RCV Film Distribution (199?) (Luxembourg) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (199?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• BMG Video (2000) (Germany) (VHS)
• PlayArte Filmes (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• TF1 Vidéo (199?) (France) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (DVD)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2000) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Medialab

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | German | Korean | Portuguese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Italy:T | Netherlands:16 | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 (video rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 (original rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Ireland:12

Filming Locations:

Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Company:

ARP Sélection

Trivia:

Luc Besson wrote the script in 30 days while waiting for Columbia Pictures to commit to the production go-ahead for The Fifth Element (1997).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Emilien is supposed to be naked under the towel after he was in the shower, he drops the towel when Petra walks in to his office - you can see that he is using a pair of white boxers.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Commissaire Gibert: Émilien...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in JCVD (2008)

Soundtrack:

Le Permis

Proves that the French just do it better.

This movie is fantastic. It is simply an all action car chase romp set in the French city of Marseilles. The acting is highly convincing, the direction is fresh and modern and the film is easily the best car movie in years. Followed by two sequels, the film makers have kept the film very French without resorting to American-style CGI effects or bland super star actors. As a French speaker, I watched the film in its original language with subtitles in english incase I got lost. I would recommend watching the film in French to everyone, it's much better than the dubbed version. One of France's biggest films of the modern years, let's hope they keep the sequels rolling on!