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76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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58
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96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
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78
Afghan Star
61
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66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
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76
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86
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13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
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70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
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75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
64
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Fear and Trembling

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 13 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Foreign
Written by:
Alain Corneau (scenario)
Amélie Nothomb (novel)
Directed by: Alain Corneau
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 19, 2004
DVD: September 6, 2005
Running Time: 107 minutes, Color
Origin: France / Japan
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Taro Suwa, Bison Katayama, Yasunari Kondo, Sokyu Fujita, Gen Shimaoka, Heileigh Gomes, and Eri Sakai
Amélie, a dreamy and romantic young Belgian woman, arrives in Japan to begin work as a translator for the giant Yumimoto Corporation. For Amélie, who spent her childhood in Japan, this is a dream come true. But unfamiliar with the customs of the Japanese workplace, she commits a series of cultural missteps and is singled out as a deviant within the company. Unable to stop her downfall, Amélie suddenly stumbles upon her own extraordinary means of liberation. (Cinema Guild Theatrical)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
LA Weekly Scott Foundas
Testud, who learned to speak Japanese phonetically for the role, is nothing short of sublime, her expressive face morphing from tear-stained frustration to slaphappy delirium with the speed of lightning flashing across the Tokyo sky.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Amelie is utterly charming. And so, too, is the film.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Curt Fields
This quietly odd and hilarious tale is a bit like a Japanese version of the popular BBC comedy series "The Office" or perhaps the "Dilbert" comic strip at its peak.
Read Full Review >Variety Lisa Nesselson
Classy, funny cross-cultural adventure is Alain Corneau's most accomplished and entertaining film since 1991's "Tous les matins du monde."
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
Mr. Corneau, an eclectic director with a mildly perverse sensibility, turns the conflict of cultures into a psychodrama that is at once lighthearted and intense.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
A feverishly compelling film that doesn't force-feed its ideals to its audience.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
May be a sardonic view of Japanese corporate culture, but that's not all it is. The movie is also 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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
With the exception of Amelie's voiceover narration in French, Fear and Trembling is entirely in Japanese. And the Japanese cast is superb.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
A marvelous cross between "Secretary" and "Lost in Translation."
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
A sleek and sublimely deadpan comedy of Japanese corporate manners.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
A dark comedy that reveals the stultifying rigidity of Japanese office life - which the film persuasively suggests endures to this day.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
As wonderful as Testud is, her character doesn't make much sense.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Marta Barber
The events in this film take place in the 1980s. Let's hope working conditions in Japan have "westernized."
Read Full Review >Village Voice David Ng
A culture-clash comedy that takes the notion of Japanese otherness to ludicrous extremes.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Val G gave it a10:
This movie is very, very funny if you are familar with Japanese culture ... or if you are aware that differences exist between cultures. The actions of the company employees are not be typical for a Japanese company but it is this extreme protrayal of their actions which keep you laughing at the absurdity. A great companion to Lost in Translation.
jack gave it a3:
The movie has a theme that could be good (cross cultural confusion). It's supposed to be a satire, but the situations are brought to such an extreme that they become silly. One silly and unbelievable episode is piled upon another until it all becomes a tedious ordeal. Why in the world would a cultivated woman allow herself to be put into such demeaning and embarrassing positions rather than just quit the damn job? What's so funny about humiliation. Is this really supposed to be a study in masochism?
Claudiaw V. gave it a10:
I think this movie is absolutely amazing, not only for the entertainment value but also from the lesson that can be learned from it. Sometimes being yourself can cause problems in unfamiliar territory.
Peter Q. gave it a10:
A funny, endearing, intelligent movie! Don't miss it.
T S gave it a3:
Too weird and unbelievable to be funny. The jokes (if any) were strained and directed to an audience that knew nothng about Japan, but felt they did on pretense. Sylvie Testud did a decent job on the language!
