Wasabi (2001)

Director:

Gérard Krawczyk

Writer:

Luc Besson

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:

Japan | French | Opening Action Scene | Father Daughter Relationship | Elevator

Cast

Jean Reno	...	Hubert Fiorentini
Ryôko 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
Kiyoshi Iwata
Koushirou Honda
Ukon Urota
Touru Edomatsu
Hiroshi Urushiyama
Kazuoki Takahashi
Hiroyuki Ootsuki
Kouji Toyota
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lukas Delcourt	...	Clubber
Junko Murakami	...	Miko Kobayashi (voice)
Takashi Ishii	...	Rebel #2 (uncredited)

Directed by
Gérard Krawczyk

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Luc Besson

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
Sylvie Greco	....	makeup artist
Karina Gruais	....	key makeup artist
Patrice Iva	....	key hair stylist

Production Management
Thierry Guilmard	....	production manager
Motoki Ishida	....	production manager
Yasumasa Kutami	....	office production assitant
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 re-recording 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 mixer
Ken Yasumoto	....	supervising sound editor

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
Ludovic Davidian	....	digital effects artist
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
Alain Barbier	....	stunts
Jean-Marc Bellu	....	stunts
Vincent Bersoulle	....	stunts
Christian Bonnichon	....	stunt driver
Thong Bui	....	stunts
William Cagnard	....	stunts
Ken Chung	....	stunts (as Marc 'Ken' Chung)
Yannick Derrien	....	stunts
Sylvain Gabet	....	stunts
Pascal Garnier	....	stunts
Alain Gaudiard	....	stunts
Pascal Guégan	....	stunts
Philippe Guégan	....	stunt coordinator
Marc Hoang	....	stunts
Emmanuel Lanzi	....	stunts
Gregory Loffredo	....	stunts
Florent Mismetti	....	stunts
Patrick Médioni	....	stunts
Hajime Nariyoshi	....	stunts
Pierre Nguyen	....	stunts
Dara-Indo Oum	....	stunts
Varin Pitch	....	stunts
Cyril Raffaelli	....	stunts
Frederick Renard	....	stunts
Olivier Schneider	....	stunts
Wing Tat Shek	....	stunts
Hervé Sok	....	stunts
Thierry Thia	....	stunts
Michaël Troude	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Stéphane Birzin	....	grip
Alessandro Brambilla	....	Steadicam operator
Alessandro Brambilla	....	camera operator
Marine Delcourt	....	assistant camera
Dominique Delguste	....	additional first assistant camera
Christophe Dural	....	gaffer
Isabel Ellsen	....	still photographer
Jack English	....	still photographer
Jan Gagnaire	....	grip
Pierre Garnier	....	grip
Koji Kojima	....	second assistant camera: international unit
Laurent Martin	....	grip
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)
Mehdi Sayah	....	assistant music supervisor

Other crew
Nathalie Alquier	....	script supervisor
Frédéric Cauvy	....	weapons advisor
Romuald Drault	....	accountant supervisor
Mia Frye	....	choreographer (as Mia Frye Ressiga)
Vincent Giry	....	coordinator
Hugo Gélin	....	director: making-of featurette
Mitsuko Jurgenson	....	production coordinator
Emilie Maison	....	press attache france
Colette Martin	....	administrator
David Meanti	....	making-of
David Meanti	....	production assistant
Vincent Stevenel	....	administrator
Vincent Dragusseau	....	making-of director (uncredited)
Cyril Raffaelli	....	fight trainer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• EuropaCorp
• Samitose Productions
• TF1 Films Production
• Canal+
• Victor Company of Japan (JVC)
• Destiny

Distributors

• EuropaCorp. Distribution (France) (theatrical)
• Fox Pathé Europa (2002) (France) (DVD)
• A-Film Distribution (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• K2 (2002) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Victor Company of Japan (JVC) (2002) (Japan) (theatrical)
• 01 Distribuzione
• A-Film Home Entertainment (200?) (Netherlands) (video)
• BMG Video (Germany)
• Egmont Entertainment (2002) (Finland) (DVD)
• Europa Diffusion (France) (video)
• Hollywood Classic Entertainment (Czech Republic)
• 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)

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:

"The Professional II" - South Africa (English title) (DVD box title)
"Wasabi - The Japanese Dip That Kicks Like a Mule" - International (English title) (informal title)

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:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

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 | UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Iceland:12 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

EuropaCorp

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:

Factual errors: There is a scene where Hubert tips the bellhop. Tipping is not customary in Japan, and unless they have worked with Westerners for a long time, most Japanese feel uncomfortable receiving gratuities.

Quotes:

Yumi Yoshimido:I never spend more than I have.
Hubert Fiorentini:That's a good principle.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Weakest link: Hitori gachi no hôsoku: Episode #1.1" (2002)

Soundtrack:

Atomic Mushroom

Thoroughly Enjoyed this Drama, Action, Comedy

I agree with Jordan above... if you don't like it, than you just don't get it. I actually laughed out loud during the scene which depicts the title of this film, and I don't laugh out loud at anything in films.

Someone compared this to Austin Powers? I don't think so... they don't compare at all. It's no Leon (The Professional), then again, what is? As a huge fan of that film, I was skeptical, but quickly let go when I became involved with the characters. It's more of a comedy than anything else, perhaps somewhat satirical, especially in the "night club". Music? You have to respect the culture, the group it represents, the tone it's trying to set, mainly the daughter's generation.

To me this was an interesting example of how you can take the same story and execute it in a different way. Just relax and have fun with this one!