Fear and Trembling

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

A woman's film that men who appreciate the subtleties of women (and the clash of cultures) may particularly enjoy, Fear and Trembling is a remarkably quiet, disciplined French film via writer/director Alain Corneau (Serie Noir, Tous Les Matins du Monde). He has collaborated here with Amelie Nothomb, who wrote the original novel based upon her experiences as a young Belgian woman working in Japan. From the first frame, beauty via composition and minimal color is foremost. As the film proceeds, this beauty remains present, abetting splendid performances from the entire cast, who, with the exception of the fine lead actress Sylvie Testud, are all Japanese. Ms. Testud - who has brought her playful charm and odd gravitas to many other films (Murderous Maids, The Chateau, I'm Going Home) has here perhaps her best role as the cowed but un-conquered foreign worker at the very bottom of the Nippon corporate food chain.

Watching this reserved but still shocking (sometimes shockingly funny) film, those of us who have not "worked" abroad, particularly in Asian countries, may wonder if what Amelie endures could be remotely possible. Evidently so. The Japanese history of loyalty, servitude, shame and strength is one for which most Westerners will feel little connection. The place of women in the corporation (still very close to bottom rung, it appears) might elsewhere make for closeness between Amelie and her office-mate Fubuki, yet what transpires here is something else entirely. Like Amelie, the viewer is kept consistently off-balance until, eventually, the tilt looks level and the crooked straight. Thanks to the talents of all concerned, the East has rarely seemed more inscrutable - or more beautiful. Movie watchers who appreciate something low-key and intelligent, a film achieving maximum effect from minimal thrashing about, are in for an excess of hushed pleasures. Even in the latrine.