Fear & Trembling

[J.sharp]

I saw this film last year at the Puchon Festival and posted a few times on
it in connection with the discussions on Kill Bill/ Lost in Translation /
Last Samurai. Rather than reiterate what I said before, I will just add my
voice to your objections about the film. It is downright racist, and
needless to say, hasn't been released in Japan. But it was good to see Taro
Suwa, the bald headed actor in many a Shinji Aoyama/Takahisa Zeze movie get
some sort of international exposure. But it is indeed sad to see that this
sort of film still gets released in so many territories when so few Japanese
films do.
By the way, the film is a very accurate adaptation of the book, which was
also pretty awful, but for some reason lauded as a classic in the
French-speaking world.


Jasper

--------- Original Message --------
From: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu <KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Fear & Trembling
Date: 23/11/04 16:28

>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Hello all --
> &nbsp;
> Has the Alain Corneau film "Fear &amp; Trembling"
> been discussed on the list? I just saw it yesterday, and was bothered by
it.
> &nbsp;
> For those unfamiliar, the film is based on a
> novella by Belgian author Amelie Nothomb. Nothomb, who was born in Japan
(she
> left at 7, I think), returned to Japan in her early 20's as an interpreter
for a
> large Japanese corporation. The novella is based on her experiences, and
is
> clearly described as autobiographical. Though Ms. Nothomb is a talented
writer,
> the portraits of her bosses were exaggerated, to say the least.
Exaggerated
> stereotypes, in my opinion. From her immediate superior, a woman with whom
she
> has an almost Hegelian master-servant relationship, to the department
boss, who
> is portrayed as a bit of a buffoon as well as a tyrant, to the vice
president,
> an obscenely obese monster who screams, shouts and even physically
harasses
> Amelie. I can sort of understand her creating them to that degree in the
novella, but to see those characters writ large on the big screen was
> cringe-worthy.
> &nbsp;
> Briefly, Amelie is hired as an interpreter, but
> never gets a chance to do the work she's hired for. She is punished for
showing
> initiative, and her&nbsp;responsibilities become more and more demeaning
until
> she ultimately winds up in the toilets (literally). Her goal is to
"become"
> Japanese -- therefore she stands the humiliation because "that's what a
Japanese
> person would do".
> &nbsp;
> I don't wish to make any knee-jerk reactions -- I'm
> not simply going to&nbsp;condemn it as&nbsp;racist, but there's something
about
> this French eye on Japan that left a bad taste in my mouth. I'd love to
hear
> some other opinions.
>

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