List Price: $26.95You Pay Only: $23.99 You Save: $2.96 (11%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780780030282
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 0780030281
Label: Homevision
Manufacturer: Homevision
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Homevision
Region Code: 1
Release Date: September 06, 2005
Running Time: 107 minutes
Sales Rank: 62307
Studio: Homevision
Theatrical Release Date: 2003
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Editorial Review:
Description:
A dream job rapidly becomes a nightmare for Amélie, a Japanese-born Belgian woman, who suffers a series of increasingly humiliating demotions after she lands a job as an interpreter at a large Japanese corporation. Sylvie Testud earned the French equivalent of the Academy Award® for her haunting performance as the put-upon, but indomitable Amélie. Director Alain Corneau’s (Tous les matins du monde) perversely funny adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s 1999 autobiographical novel loses nothing in translation in deftly dissecting the universal absurdities of corporate culture.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - YOU CAN NEVER GO BACK....or can you?
Usually when I read a book and then see a movie, I end up disappointed. Not in this case. The film is an amazing rendition of the novel that remains true. The movie runs a little under two hours and the editing from the original story are fine.
It is a story of a young Belgium woman (Amelie) who yearns to go back to the spiritual peace that she experienced as a small child growing up in Japan. She learns how to speak and write impeccable Japanese. She wants to become Japanese, in manner of speaking. Amelie manages to score a one year contract with a top Japanse corporation and thinks she is well on her way to obtaining her objective of becoming one with the the Japanese culture. Being western, this is impossible of course, and her naive foray into blending is considered an insult not a compliment by her employers.
Despite all of her knowledge and attempts to become one with her environment, it is not allowed by the Japense corporation (or society). We see some sections that applaud her efforts and realize that the old ways of doing things need to be changed and do their best to help her (or any western influence) but they are doomed to fail. These two cultures are diametrically opposed and will never mesh, the film seems to say.
At the end Amelie has come to realize that she is by nature, a westerner despite her desire to be "Japanese." The best she can do is serve out her one year contract to save face, a Japanese principle.
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Rating:  - Good intentions in wrong places
Many years ago, I used to work in Asia (China). It was fascinating to be part of the world totally foreign to me until that moment. For that reason, I wanted to see this movie and experience how it is (or was) for others in similar situation. Here is the story of a young Belgian woman, college graduate, fluent in Japanese and nostalgic about childhood past and romanticized experiences from living in Japan. She is about to recapture the time lost in between and reclaim her belonging in Japanese society. The eagerness to please does her no good but rather puts her in more trouble every time to the point that she is demoted to a bathroom attendant. One must show the utmost respect for the actress Sylvie Testud who managed to learn Japanese language for this role. The story of young woman's will and determination in keeping the demeaning job for the entire duration of her contract in spite of humiliations she experiences is both funny and heartbreaking. Human nature, cultural differences and misplaced loyalties all overlap in this powerful story. Definitely see this work -- it will not leave your feeling indifferent.
Rating: - Yearning for Acceptance Transmutes into Perverse Battle of Cultures
Alan Corneau's film adaptation of Amelie Nothomb's autographical novel "Fear and Trembling" borders on a near perfect portrayal of a young Belgian ingénue's desire to be understood and accepted amidst a backdrop of cultural differences as glimpsed from under the bell jar of the Japanese corporation. Corneau does author Nothomb's story one better, casting redheaded elf Sylvie Testud in the lead role. While her wistful facial expressions easily maneuver the audience to see matters from the Western perspective from the get-go, Testud manages to achieve a Chaplin-esque timing that charms as well as amuses as she ponders her bad karma in the corporate world with an almost Zen-like complacency.
Hired as an interpreter, Amelie struggles to maintain some degree of necessity in an environment that is clearly working overtime to make her feel worthless. As her tale of self-awareness progresses, she finds herself demoted to bathroom attendant, completely humiliated by the likes of her superior, the tall, beautiful and statuesque Fubuki Mori (played wonderfully by actress/model Kaori Tsuji) who Amelie openly admires with a fierce allegiance that pathetically fringes on fanatic adoration.
Similar in theme to Sophia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," "Fear and Trembling" does a much better job of entertaining while delivering the Western head-scratching message regarding the Japanese philosophical fixation on obedience and loyalty to the hierarchical social entity as opposed to individual ... Read More
Rating: - The Ultimate Art of "Giving Face"
Though a comparison is made to Lost in Translation, Fear and Trembling is way more enjoyable as it focuses on Japanese cultural attitudes. Fear and Trembling gives us an insight as to what it must be like to live Japanese, while Lost in Translation was a relationship story between 2 westerners that could have been filmed anywhere and it happened to be in Japan.
Many westerners and asians alike find Japanese culture difficult to comprehend - this movie manages to portray how a foreigner, starting off a peon, can easily descend into lunacy while trying to understand Japanese culture and in attempting to fit in. At the heart of all the bizarre and inexplicable situations the main character Amelie experiences, is the art of giving and saving face and her inability to understand this piles on humiliation after humiliation.
The character Amelie highlights the paradox that is Japan - so admired by outsiders but I doubt that outsiders can endure a life that is the real Japan. Highly recommended. And yes, it is funny but oh in such a painful, incredulous way.
Rating: - Belgian in Japan
This DVD, "Fear and Trembling," was a nice surprise. I stumbled upon the title somehow, found it at amazon.com, and ordered a copy. Like "Lost in Translation," this French film explores the cultural intricacies of a gaijin (foreigner) trying to fit into the highly structured Japanese corporation. It's a hilarious film, especially for anyone who knows anything about Japanese culture. I'm a sansei (3rd generation Japanese) in Hawaii, so I know a little about Japanese culture in US, Hawaii and Japan. The film hit home many times. I highly recommend this film for anyone interested in modern Japanese lifestyle, particularly from the perspective of a cultural outsider. This film goes well with novels by Sujata Massey, a writer with a fine eye for details about Japanese people.
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