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IMDbPro

Wasabi

  • 2001
  • R
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
6.6/10
41K
YOUR RATING
Wasabi (2001)
Home Video Trailer from Columbia Tristar
Play trailer2:26
1 Video
22 Photos
ActionDramaComedy

In Japan for the funeral of his long-lost love, a tough French detective learns that he also has a teenage daughter and that her life is in danger from the Yakuza.In Japan for the funeral of his long-lost love, a tough French detective learns that he also has a teenage daughter and that her life is in danger from the Yakuza.In Japan for the funeral of his long-lost love, a tough French detective learns that he also has a teenage daughter and that her life is in danger from the Yakuza.

  • Director
    • Gérard Krawczyk
  • Writer
    • Luc Besson
  • Stars
    • Jean Reno
    • Ryôko Hirosue
    • Michel Muller
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.6/10
    41K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Gérard Krawczyk
    • Writer
      • Luc Besson
    • Stars
      • Jean Reno
      • Ryôko Hirosue
      • Michel Muller
    • 109User reviews
    • 43Critic reviews
    • 53Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Wasabi
    Trailer 2:26
    Watch Wasabi

    Photos22

    Jean Reno in Wasabi (2001)
    Jean Reno in Wasabi (2001)
    Jean Reno in Wasabi (2001)
    Jean Reno in Wasabi (2001)
    Jean Reno and Ryôko Hirosue in Wasabi (2001)
    Jean Reno and Ryôko Hirosue in Wasabi (2001)
    Michel Muller in Wasabi (2001)
    Jean Reno and Ryôko Hirosue in Wasabi (2001)
    Jean Reno, Ryôko Hirosue, and Michel Muller in Wasabi (2001)
    Wasabi (2001)
    Wasabi (2001)
    Jean Reno and Ryôko Hirosue in Wasabi (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jean Reno
    Jean Reno
    • Hubert Fiorentini
    Ryôko Hirosue
    Ryôko Hirosue
    • Yumi Yoshimido
    Michel Muller
    Michel Muller
    • Maurice 'Momo'
    Carole Bouquet
    Carole Bouquet
    • Sofia
    Yoshi Oida
    Yoshi Oida
    • Takanawa
    Christian Sinniger
    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
    Akihiro Nishida
    • Douanier 2
    Anthony Decadi
    • Fils de Préfet
    Yan Epstein
    • Jean Baptiste 2
    • (as Yann Epstein)
    Ludovic Berthillot
    • Jean Baptiste 1
    • Director
      • Gérard Krawczyk
    • Writer
      • Luc Besson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Ryoko Hirosue didn't know a word of French; she learned all of her lines phonetically.
    • Goofs
      After arriving in Tokyo, Hubert asks Momo to drive him to Shinjuku district to meet the lawyer. However, the following scene shows Hubert getting out of the car at Akihabara (the famous electronics shopping district) which is on the other side of Tokyo. This is evident by the iconic Akihabara pedestrian crossing under the green train bridge where he gets off. Later on, Hubert again leaves "Shinjuku" from what is clearly Akihabara and its electronics shops in the background.
    • Quotes

      Maurice 'Momo': How wonderful, Hubert. Let me look at you. You look good man, just arrived and already in deep shit.

    • Connections
      Featured in Rental Reviews: Underrated Action Movies (2019)
    • Soundtracks
      Korega Watashino Ikirumichi
      Written by Tamio Okuda

      Performed by Puffy AmiYumi

      Remixed by Yasuharu Konishi

      ©Sony Music Artists Inc.

      administré par Sony Music Publishing France

      ©1999 Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.

      avec l'aimable autorisation

      de Sony Music Entertainment (France) S.A.

    User reviews109

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    not as cool as it wants to be but Reno is wonderful
    `Wasabi' is a high-spirited French action comedy with a Japanese name. This Luc Besson production stars Jean Reno in a wonderful performance as a tough-guy French cop who is as quick to use his tongue as his overeager fists. One day, out of the blue, Detective Fiorentino discovers that he has a 19 year-old daughter by a Japanese woman who left him almost 20 years ago, breaking his heart in the process. The girl, Yumi, turns out to be an orange-haired free spirit who hates cops and has been led to believe that her father raped her mother. Much of the film is spent with Hubert and Yumi getting to know one another, as they uncover secrets about her mother's past that seem to have made the young woman the target of some rather unsavory characters.

    The plot is the least of the matter in this film. As directed by Gerard Krawczyk, `Wasabi' is really all about style. Besson's screenplay is fitfully amusing, doling out cleverness and cutesyness in roughly equal measure. Cinematographer Gerard Sterin brings out the colorful richness of the urban Japanese landscape and editor Yanne Herve doesn't linger longer on the jokes and sight gags than is absolutely necessary. These elements help to compensate for the somewhat desperate air that afflicts the screenplay from time to time.

    The prime asset of `Wasabi' is Jean Reno's performance. Reno perfectly mines the comic potential inherent in the material through the tone of weary cynicism and superiority to all around him that he conveys throughout. As an actor who has played this type of rogue-cop character many times in his career, Reno obviously relishes this opportunity for a little good-natured self-ribbing. And he does a splendid job.

    `Wasabi' is little more than a piffle when all is said and done, but Reno makes it worth seeing.
    helpful•39
    7
    • Buddy-51
    • Jul 29, 2003

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 25, 2002 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • Japan
    • Languages
      • French
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Wasabi - The Japanese Dip That Kicks Like a Mule
    • Filming locations
      • Tokyo Jumbo Golf Center, Adachi, Tokyo, Japan(location)
    • Production companies
      • EuropaCorp
      • Samitose Productions
      • TF1 Films Production
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • €15,300,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $97,220
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $17,560
      • Sep 29, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $10,366,360
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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