Yamakasi - Les samouraïs des temps modernes (2001)

Directors:

Ariel Zeitoun
Julien Seri

Writers:

Luc Besson (scenario) &
Philippe Lyon (scenario) ...

Release Date:

4 April 2001 (Belgium)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Crime

Plot:

Gravity or Police, these guys don't believe in any law. Idolised by the youth of Paris as much as they're hated by the police...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Roof | Youth | Heart Transplantation | Staircase

Cast

Châu Belle Dinh	...	Les Yamakasi - Baseball (Oliver Chen)
Williams Belle	...	Les Yamakasi - L'Araignée (Bruno Duris)
Malik Diouf	...	Les Yamakasi - La Belette (Malik N'Diaye)
Yann Hnautra	...	Les Yamakasi - Zicmu (Ousmane Dadjacan)
Guylain N'Guba-Boyeke	...	Les Yamakasi - Rocket (Abdou N'Goto)
Charles Perrière	...	Les Yamakasi - Sitting Bull (Ousmane Bana)
Laurent Piemontesi	...	Les Yamakasi - Tango (Michel Lucas)
Maher Kamoun	...	Vincent
Bruno Flender	...	Michelin
Amel Djemel	...	Aila
Afida Tahri	...	Fatima
Abdelkrim Bahloul
Nassim Faid	...	Djamel (as Nassim Faïd)
Pascal Léger	...	Commissaire Orsini
Frédéric Pellegeay	...	Fretin

Also Known As:

Yamakasi (France) (short title)

Runtime:

90 min | Denmark:91 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Denmark:11 | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIB | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Europa Corp.

Trivia:

Often mistaken for Japanese, the word yamakasi is actually taken from the Lingala language, which is spoken in the two Congos. Ya makási can mean "strong body, strong spirit, strong person", though in French usage its meaning is closer to "high energy".

Goofs:

Continuity: During the pursuit on the roofs after two Yamakasi steal the painting in the lady's apartment, their masks are repeatedly on and off between shots.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#29.6)" (2003)

Great adrenalin rush, but not a great plot.

I managed to catch this in Singapore during the screening of films during the French film festival for $7. And I'm glad I got it for cheaper then as compared to the horrible $8.50 if you catch it on weekends, though the next time I watched it for free...that was the closest I thought it was worth watching for.

This movie had the basic elements of any plot, but it seemed weak as in, there was no bang to any part of the plot. No twist, nothing. And though in the end, all they managed to auction the stolen goods for was, $38,500. Somehow they managed to claim it as, $60,000. Geez. You're like "Where'd that come from?"

I liked the opening shots but there was one shot that completely irritated me. The discontinuity car shot with the Inspector talking to his cousin, Sitting Bull. It started to rain, but only the windows on Sitting Bull's side were wet with rain droplets and the Inspector's side of the window was completely dry. I mean, hello? This is Luc Besson's work? I'm appalled.

Well, you can't win them all. But just because you made a couple of great movies for the consumer, you can afford to slack on the rest. We do pay money to watch a good movie, not for a great name.

I'd recommend this for an adrenalin rush, but don't expect too much from the story.