Comment by Alan Dale on Sylvie Testud and Kaori Tsuji in Fear and Trembling: "Bow--Bow--To his daughter-in-law elect!"

Fri, 25 May 2007 18:12:10 EDT

Hey Caoimhin, Thanks for writing. I'm glad the movie showed on HBO. Clearly I think a lot of people would find it "entertaining." Considering what gets distributed, "a little entertainment" is pretty high praise. I didn't intend that to be patronizing but to serve as a technique for managing readers' expectations. A strange, unhyped movie you yourself refer to as delicate is not going to benefit from grandiose praise. I also disagree that the movie provides "an unposed snapshot of Japanese life." Movies don't get a lot more posed than Fear and Trembling. That's what makes it funny. It's a comic sketchbook about cultural dissonance in the face of the heroine's outlandish desire for harmony. That's art enough.

Comment by Caoimhin Ogue on Sylvie Testud and Kaori Tsuji in Fear and Trembling: "Bow--Bow--To his daughter-in-law elect!"

Fri, 18 May 2007 15:11:10 EDT

I have just seen this movie on HBO. I had never heard of it and was wondering what the critical reaction had been when it was released. I think Alan Dale has got it absolutely spot on although I think it merits more than being dubbed "a little entertainment" The movie accomplishes with some delicacy the extraordinarily difficult task of providing the audience with an unposed snapshot of Japanese life.At the same time we have, in the narrator and protagonist, an unsentimental view of a European girl with artistic pretensions who could be one of the millions of backpackers swarming the planet while scribbling their narcissistic and hence banal observations in their precious journals. What makes this movie more than a mere entertainment is its underlying theme: Self importance. The Japanese take on this can seem more direct and uncompromising .The European one is muddied by ideological contradictions centered on our self obsession. We Westerners see the value of humilty and forbearance but we can't stop smirking at ourselves in the mirror. Amelie publishes her book, and so can continue to exult in the glory of her private vision. Her self imposed suffering was thus all perhaps in vain. Then again, perhaps not. The snapshots of our self absorbed Westerner and our rulebound Japanese are unsparing to either. This is what makes this movie a work of art. I would be fascinated to know of the Japanese reaction.

Blogcritics Comments on Sylvie Testud and Kaori Tsuji in Fear and Trembling: "Bow--Bow--To his daughter-in-law elect!"

Comment by Alan Dale on Sylvie Testud and Kaori Tsuji in Fear and Trembling: "Bow--Bow--To his daughter-in-law elect!"

Comment by Caoimhin Ogue on Sylvie Testud and Kaori Tsuji in Fear and Trembling: "Bow--Bow--To his daughter-in-law elect!"