Fear and Trembling

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Fear and Trembling

2003

1h 47m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

33 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

2,500+ Ratings

After spending part of her childhood in Japan, Amelie (Sylvie Testud) goes back after graduating from college to work as an interpreter at a corporation. The male executives treat her poorly, but she has a good relationship with Fubuki (Kaori Tsuji), her immediate supervisor. Unfortunately, Amelie sets herself up for a fall when she shows that despite being from Europe, she is adept at the Japanese language. Viewed as lacking in proper humility, her co-workers conspire to put her in her place.

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Critics Consensus

This tale of culture clash is by turns downbeat and hilarious.

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G. Allen Johnson

San Francisco Chronicle

Aug 5, 2005

4/4

The best office comedy since Office Space.

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Michael Wilmington

Chicago Tribune

Jun 24, 2005

3/4

One of the screen's most cuttingly funny looks at office life.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jun 24, 2005

3/4

... subtly sexual and erotic, despite the fact that every scene takes place in the office and there is not a single overt sexual act or word or gesture or reference.

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Brian Mckay

eFilmCritic.com

Jan 20, 2010

4/5

Kam Williams

Sly Fox

Aug 1, 2007

1/4

A clean S&M flick which only devotees of mental cruelty are likely to find satisfying. Office Space, Japanese Style!

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Don Willmott

Filmcritic.com

Dec 14, 2005

4/5

a bravura performance in a memorable film.

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David D

@RT05618620 Aug 23, 2026

Unfunny comedy, badly adapted from a novel where the protagonist -a western woman aiming to work in a Japanese firm as a craving for her childhood days in Japan- suffers all sorts of humilliations until she is eventually demoted to the role of toilet cleaner. There is hardly any beauty in the filming and the script is extremely lazy, plagued with narrated segments, never capable of turning a novel into film. Only the actresses save the day. Not worth your time.

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Jul 8, 2019

This movie is complete ass, I do not know how it is anywhere close to 91%, I would have been surprised if it even got a 50%. Take this garbage off of this site. Please and thank you!

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Jan 24, 2015

Adaptation plutot reussie a une seule condition : avoir lu le livre du meme nom auparavant.

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Aug 5, 2013

Some cracking lines, like 'My hand felt clumsy like it was buried in mashed potato' yet it did not manage to keep up with other French comedies in its quirkiness.

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Feb 2, 2013

(February 2013) I would be biased since I am Japanese. Definitely capturing some aspects of Japanese companies which look irrational or unreasonable for non-Japanese, but the movie is taking it way too far the story looks a bit stupid I think.

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Jan 14, 2013

Funny, mad but utterly unique! One of the best "battle of wits" films I've ever seen.

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Alain Corneau

Director

Sylvie Testud

Amélie

Kaori Tsuji

Fubuki

Taro Suwa

Monsieur Saito

Bison Katayama

Monsieur Omochi

Yasunari Kondo

Monsieur Tenshi

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Synopsis

After spending part of her childhood in Japan, Amelie (Sylvie Testud) goes back after graduating from college to work as an interpreter at a corporation. The male executives treat her poorly, but she has a good relationship with Fubuki (Kaori Tsuji), her immediate supervisor. Unfortunately, Amelie sets herself up for a fall when she shows that despite being from Europe, she is adept at the Japanese language. Viewed as lacking in proper humility, her co-workers conspire to put her in her place.

Director: Alain Corneau
Producer: Alain Sarde
Screenwriter: Alain Corneau
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: Canadian French
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 18, 2010
Runtime: 1h 47m

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