Fear and Trembling

22 February 2023

Director: Alain Corneau

See

Her: Stupeur en Treumblements, a French film by Alain Corneau based on the namesake book by Amelie Northomb based on her own life story. Ity was originally released  in 2003 but I originally watched it at around 2017, at the time it didn’t feel dated whereas now I felt like it did. The main character, also named Amelie, who was born in Japan, lived there for 5 years of her life before relocating to Belgium, decides to come back as a grown up woman and build her career in a Japanese corporation. With her perfect Japanese, ambitions and a can-do attitude she could have a brilliant career in the Western world. But somehow all of the above goes against Japanese corporate culture. 

Him: Fear and Trembling follows Amelie (Sylvia Thestud) a young Belgian woman born in Japan. She returns in early adulthood to work in Tokyo as an interpreter for a corporation on a year contract in order to become Japanese. 

Think 

Her: One thing to remember - this is a feature film, not a doco, and though it is based on someone’s true story, there is room for interpretation that should be kept in mind. I do think that differences between Western and Eastern mentalities are shown clearly. 

Him: Showing the high pressure world of Japanese business and the hierarchical nature of management where everybody's boss is a tyrant who scold and bellow at subordinates is the first time I’ve had pause about going to Japan. 

Sure, I wouldn’t be a salaryman, but I did fantasise about being like Jake Adelstein, the American journalist who worked for a Japanese language newspaper, was fluent and wrote the book the series Tokyo Vice was adapted from. 

Feel

Her: My favourite party of the story is Amelie’s thoughts and decision making process. Her inner diaologues, self-coaching that leads her to the very bottom without losing dignity because she decides to play all the way. And that makes her the winner. She hasn’t lost her passion for Japanese culture but embraced it and even wrote a book that became a success. She really got the most out of her experience. 

Him: The rivalry between Amelie and Fubuki (Kaori Tsugi) her female manager was a nauseating reminder of how women can compete when there aren’t enough places for them to move up. Knowing that Amelie Nothomb went on to publish books and was congratulated by her rival that the experience didn’t break her, it made her.