Fear and Trembling (2003)

A Belgian woman looks back on her year at a Japanese corporation in Tokyo in 1990. She is Amélie, born in Japan, living there until age 5. After college graduation, she returns with a ... See full summary »

Director:

Alain Corneau

Writers:

Amélie Nothomb (novel), Alain Corneau (scenario)

Stars:

Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Tarô Suwa

5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Sylvie Testud	...	Amélie
Kaori Tsuji	...	Fubuki
Tarô Suwa	...	Monsieur Saito
Bison Katayama	...	Monsieur Omochi
Yasunari Kondo	...	Monsieur Tenshi
Sôkyû Fujita	...	Monsieur Haneda
Gen Shimaoka	...	Monsieur Unaji
Heileigh Gomes	...	Amélie enfant
Eri Sakai	...	Fubuki enfant

Storyline

A Belgian woman looks back on her year at a Japanese corporation in Tokyo in 1990. She is Amélie, born in Japan, living there until age 5. After college graduation, she returns with a one-year contract as an interpreter. The vice president and section leader, both men, are boors, but her immediate supervisor, Ms. Mori, is beautiful and trustworthy. Amélie's downfall begins when she speaks perfect Japanese to clients. She compounds her failure by writing an excellent report for an enterprising colleague. The person she least expects to stab her in the back exposes her work. Thus begins her humiliations. What can become of her and of her relationship with Ms. Mori and with Japan?

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Plot Keywords:

japan | japanese | belgian | workplace | writing | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Official Sites:

Cinema Guild [United States] Official Site [France]

Country:

France Japan

Language:

French Japanese

Release Date:

12 March 2003 (France)

Also Known As:

Bojazn i drzenie

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Divali Films, France 3 Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Based on Amélie Nothomb's real-life experience when she was living Japan in her early twenties in the early 1990s . The real-life events narrated in the film took place at the same time than those narrated in Tokyo Fiancée (2014) which depicts Amélie Nothomb's romance with her then-fiancé Rinri. However, Tokyo Fiancée's director Stefan Liberski set his film in the early 2010s.

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Goofs

Fubuki's moles flip from one side of her face to the other during certain scenes.

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Connections

Features Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

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Soundtracks

Goldberg Variations
(selections)
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Pierre Hantaï, harpsichord

User Reviews

simple answer

Hi all, I've watched this movie and enjoyed it as a Japanese born in Tokyo and lived there for ~30 years (though my wife, also Japanese, was p***ed off.;-) Just a short comment on questions like "can this be real?" - my answer is clear and obvious "no". It could possibly happen to _Japanese_ female employees in a few nasty companies 30 years ago, but is simply impossible to "Westerners" as they are specially respected. Whether this is good or bad is another question.

By the way, some of the text appearing at the official web site (http://www.cinemaguild.com/fearandtrembling/) as background decoration actually looks like Korean or something. It is definitely not Japanese. I'm not talking about the Katakana characters outside the flash window, but the white background inside the flash window itself, though it is very hard to see on some monitors.