A culture-clash comedy that takes the notion of Japanese otherness to ludicrous extremes.
Fear and Trembling(Stupeur et tremblements)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
France, Japan · 2003
1h 47m
Director Alain Corneau
Starring Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Bison Katayama, Taro Suwa
Genre Comedy, Drama
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Amélie decides to return to Japan, where she spent her childhood. Working as an interpreter at an import/export firm, she proves herself adept at speaking Japanese despite being from Europe. However, her coworkers believe she lacks the humility integral to Japanese society.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The New York Times by Dana Stevens
Mr. Corneau, an eclectic director with a mildly perverse sensibility, turns the conflict of cultures into a psychodrama that is at once lighthearted and intense.
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
A marvelous cross between "Secretary" and "Lost in Translation."
A sleek and sublimely deadpan comedy of Japanese corporate manners.
Classy, funny cross-cultural adventure is Alain Corneau's most accomplished and entertaining film since 1991's "Tous les matins du monde."
The events in this film take place in the 1980s. Let's hope working conditions in Japan have "westernized."
Testud, who learned to speak Japanese phonetically for the role, is nothing short of sublime, her expressive face morphing from tear-stained frustration to slaphappy delirium with the speed of lightning flashing across the Tokyo sky.
Philadelphia Inquirer by Steven Rea
Amelie is utterly charming. And so, too, is the film.
Hilarious from first frame to last.
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