Marion Cotillard is playing Lilly Bertineau
English title: Taxi

Directed by Gérard Pirès Written by Luc Besson Genre Action / Comedy Tagline Theatrical Release France: 08/04/1998 DVD Release Starring Daniel used to deliver pizzas. Now he’s a taxi driver. He’s a demon at the wheel and drives a very powerful car. He is forced into making a deal with the police when he has a run-in with Emilien, a cop who’s just failed his driving test for the eighth time. If Daniel wants to hold on to his license, he has to help break up a gang of fast-driving German bank robbers who are plundering the city’s banks.

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Daniel used to deliver pizzas. Now he’s a taxi driver. He’s a demon at the wheel and drives a very powerful car. He is forced into making a deal with the police when he has a run-in with Emilien, a cop who’s just failed his driving test for the eighth time. If Daniel wants to hold on to his license, he has to help break up a gang of fast-driving German bank robbers who are plundering the city’s banks.

She plays Lilly Bertineau, who becomes Daniel's girlfriend during the course of the movie. She is afraid for him but at the same time also becoming more and more annoyed at his escapades as a Daredevil-Taxidriver. She looks absolutely gorgeous as a free-spirited and somewhat rebellious young woman. That, the quick scene of her getting out of bed without any clothes on, and most importantly the film being the summer blockbuster #1 in 1998's France made Marion famous over night. However, it'd take some years and many more film roles until she had shaken off the image of the pretty little girlfriend from 'Taxi' and was taken seriously by professionals.

• Filming Locations: Marseille (France)
• When Émilien (Frédéric Diefenthal) is taking his driving lessons, he driving school is called G. Pires, just as the director of the film.
• Just before filming was supposed to begin, director Gérard Pirès fell off a horse and needed to stay in hospital for a few weeks. During this time Gérard Krawczyk (who would later direct the sequels Taxi 2 (2000) and Taxi 3 (2003)) filled in on-set while Pirès watched the dailies at the end of each day to check on the progress of filming.
• 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).

We watched this film during French class in Business School. It is great fun, an action movie, nothing more, but amazing looking stunts and its humouristic elements deservedly made it the success it had become. Now that Marion Cotillard has captured my attention, I tried to remember what her part was like. And I could remember - with her talent she filled her supporting role with life and made it linger in my memory for all these years. This is the best film of the 'Taxi' series - after all, it's the original!
by Maria