'Fear' fascinates in look at self-imposed humility
Amelie, the central character in "Fear and Trembling," can do nothing right.
Her very eagerness to oblige, her determination to subsume herself, leads to a sadomasochistic submissiveness unlike any depicted in an asexual contemporary story.
If you can picture the American actress Carol Kane, especially as the timid Jewish immigrant in "Hester Street," you might imagine the countenance of blue-eyed, red-haired Sylvie Testud, the French actress who plays the Belgian Amelie.
The character tells us she was born in Japan but moved back to their native Belgium with her parents when she was 5. By 20, she had a college degree and was free to fulfill her dream in 1990 of returning to Japan, by now mythologized in her memory, as a true Japanese woman -- impossible given the culture she confronts.
Able to speak Japanese fluently, she is hired as an interpreter by a Tokyo-based conglomerate and given a one-year contract that she is determined to fulfill because a true Japanese, she reasons, would never quit.
She's the token Westerner, snidely and wrongly referred to as a Yankee, in a highly hierarchal environment. Her supervisor is Miss Fibuki Mori (Kaori Tsuji), a statuesque, unmarried 29-year-old beauty whose height and dedication to work conspire to keep her single.
Mori answers to the balding, cold Mr. Saito (Taro Suwa), who answers to the corpulent, colder Mr. Omochi (Bison Katayama), who answers to the kindly, if inaccessible, Mr. Haneda (Sokyu Fujita).
The chain of command is strictly observed and never questioned. The subtlest violation invites apoplexy.
Even Amelie's nurturing relationship with nice Mr. Tenshi (Yasunari Kondo), though corporate-supportive, violates protocol.
Writer-director Alain Corneau based his grimly comic, anthropological psychodrama on Amelie Northomb's "autobiographical novel."
It's not about advancement but about a minuet of mindsets in a gleaming psychological torture chamber where even physical abuse eventually kicks in.
It contains extreme depictions of racism, sexism and classism, which makes it fascinating to watch because you know Amelie is free to bail but subjects herself to mounting humiliations. It's all in the interest of a sublime achievement -- endurance as proof of belonging.
"I used none of the qualities I'd been hired for," Amelie tells us. "Logically, I should have quit."
The film shows how her ideals and goals run counter to the culture she's trying to embrace and how her determination to oblige spurs an unspoken erotic bond.
No one in "Fear and Trembling" is shown to have a personal life. Almost every shot is inside the office. The characters are enveloped by a behavioral code that overrides who they are and even what they do for the corporation.
Corneau ices his frosty pastry with Bach's Goldberg Variations, which compliment his intended tone while seeming to provide counterpoint to horrific, if antiseptic, conditions.
"Fear and Trembling" isn't about a conventional contemporary goal. Too many movies are. Additional Information:
Details
'Fear and Trembling'
Director: Alain Corneau.
Stars: Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Taro Suwa.
MPAA rating: Unrated, but R in nature for nudity.
Now playing: Oaks in Oakmont.
