Fear and Trembling

Not strictly in the category of Asian cinema, this French/Japanese farce tells the story of Amelie, a Japanese-born Belgian national who spends a year working for a prestigious Japanese company. Set in 1990 (with no mention of the recession), we see Amelie achieve her dream of returning to Japan after spending her earlier childhood in the Kansai region. Originally employed as a translator, Amelie is first given the task of supplying her colleagues with morning/afternoon coffee which is then followed up by an endless round of photocopying and re-photocopying her supervisor's golf club rules. Amelie is soon bored by these meaningless activities and proceeds to make her first mistake. It soon becomes apparent that young, naive and inexperienced Amelie, has little knowledge of the world of office politics and soon becomes victim to both her ignorance and some very spiteful colleagues. Despite some harsh treatment and a seemingly never-ending slide down the corporate ladder, Amelie is determined to complete her contract in order to "save face". Sadly, she is stripped of all dignity by her experience and has precious little "face" to save by her contract's completion. By the end, Amelie is driven to display some outrageous behaviour which she admits would even be enough to get her dismissed from a Belgian company. Funny and tragic, this brilliant film is very much like not being able to tear ones eyes away from a car crash. A compelling and humorous depiction of the systematic destruction and removal of the well-meaning but very clumsy Gaijin, Amelie.

Fear and Trembling Official Home Page


Amelie Nothomb