Taxi (1998)

To work off his tarnished driving record, a hip taxi driver must chauffeur a loser police inspector on the trail of German bank robbers.

Director:

Gérard Pirès

Writer:

Luc Besson (scenario)

Stars:

Samy Naceri, Frédéric Diefenthal, Marion Cotillard

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

In Marseilles (France), skilled pizza delivery boy Daniel who drives a scooter finally has his dreams come true. He gets a taxi license. Caught by the police for a huge speed infraction, he will help Emilien, a loser inspector who can't drive, on the track of German bank robbers, so he doesn't lose his license and his dream job.

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Plot Keywords:

woman with a gun | kiss | man wrapped in a towel | female police officer | taxi | 

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Did You Know?

Trivia

110 cars were used during the making of the film.

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Goofs

In the taxi license scene, the clerk on the left side acts as expected as long as she's onscreen, but stops when the camera pans left. Her reflection on the glass pane shows her doing nothing for quite some time.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Commissaire Gibert: Émilien...

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Connections

References Ne nous fâchons pas (1966)

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Soundtracks

Apparitions allemandes
by Akhenaton, La Cosca

User Reviews

Not much plot, but gob-full of jokes. See it!

This is a very Gallic film indeed, but as a fan of French cinema - and of the French in general - I have to say that I enjoyed this film very much indeed. The plot is, I admit, weak in places. That doesn't matter though - this film isn't about cerebral entertainment, it's about car chases and jokes, and humour is something the French do very well. The car chases are spectacular - and far better, for my money, than the car chases featured in Gone in 60 Seconds, The Matrix Reloaded or The Fast and the Furious. Hollywood could do a lot worse than look over the Atlantic to see how car movies are made. Unfortunately, it now seems that they have but I didn't mean that they should copy the French, they need original ideas, but they also need to imitate the French flair. The jokes come thick and fast, and had me howling with laughter - it takes a lot of humour for me to forgive an absence of plot - this film has it in spades. So there you have it. Ignore the American rip off. Watch the original. You won't regret it.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French German Korean Portuguese

Release Date:

8 April 1998 (France)

Also Known As:

Taksi

Filming Locations:

Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Box Office

Budget:

FRF53,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ARP Sélection, TF1 Films Production, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1