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Fear And Trembling

2003, Movie, NR, 102 mins

Fear And Trembling: Review

FEAR AND TREMBLING | STUPEUR ET TREMBLEMENTS
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Not the Kierkegaard adaptation you've been waiting for, but a sleek and sublimely deadpan comedy of Japanese corporate manners based on the autobiographical novel by Belgian expatriate Amelie Nothomb. Born in Japan to Belgian parents, Amelie (Sylvie Testud) returned to Belgium as a 5-year-old but grew up feeling she'd left her heart in the Kansai Province. She returns to Japan after college, thrilled at the prospect of becoming a "real Japanese" in her adopted country; she even lands a job in the titanic Yumimoto Corporation, where's she's the last link in a long chain of command as rigidly stratified as an Edo-era shogunate. Originally hired as an interpreter, Amelie finds herself at the mercy of Mr. Saito (Taro Suwa), a martinet in accounting who delights in tormenting the new hire with punishing, mundane tasks. Her biggest responsibility comes when Mr. Saito agrees to allow her to change the dates on all the office calendars. Amelie is nevertheless thrilled to be working in a big Japanese firm, and her immediate boss, Miss Mori Fubuki (Kaori Tsuji), is everything Amelie has ever loved about the Japanese: delicately beautiful, impeccably dressed, exquisitely graceful and genuinely kind. Or so Amelie thinks. When another executive (Yasunari Kondo) offers Amelie the chance to compile an important report on low-fat butter on the sly — an opportunity that could result in a promotion — she pounces, only to find that by producing an ace report in record time she's stepped on a number of important toes, including Miss Mori's. Denounced by the boss and scolded by the vice president (Bison Katayama) himself, Amelie assumes a Japanese sense of dignity and refuses to lose face by resigning, but soon discovers that her biggest supporter might be her most fearsome enemy. If Testud's startling turn in THE MURDEROUS MAIDS (2001) weren't enough proof of her extraordinary talent, consider that the French-born actress didn't speak a word of Japanese before director Alain Corneau (TOUT LES MATINS DU MONDE) handed her a script packed with Japanese dialogue. With the help of a language coach, Testud had it down cold in two months. It's an incredible technical achievement, but Testud's ability to evoke her character's disillusionment as she learns there's no room for compassion, dogged individualism or pride in the Japanese workplace is more amazing still. Think of the film as a feature-length, Japanese-style The Office starring a Bridget Jones you can actually admire. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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