Sokyu Fujita Movies
French director Alain Corneau delves into the painfully irrational world of office politics, which are further complicated by a severe case of culture clash in his 2003 comedy, Stupeur et Tremblements (Fear and Trembling). Based on the similarly titled memoirs of author Amélie Nothomb and her employment experiences with a Japanese mega-corporation, Fear and Trembling begins with Amélie (Sylvie Testud) landing in Tokyo shortly after receiving her college education. The young Belgian chose to return to Japan -- where she spent the first five years of her life before her family relocated back to Europe -- for her first job in an entry-level position with the Yumimoto Corporation. Amélie diligently accomplishes her daily tasks with invention and ambition, but her work ethic proves threatening to her immediate supervisors who single her out as a deviant within the corporation's firmly entrenched power hierarchy. As she is led through a series of humiliations and demotions designed to destroy her individuality, Amélie is forced to submit to an endless stream of unreasonable demands issued by nearly every supervisor with seniority over her. Determined to complete her one-year contract with the company in spite of the vicious power struggles, Amélie wages a kind of culture war from her irreversible position as lowest rung on the power ladder. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, (more)
- 1999
Japanese director Isao Morimoto debuts with this cross-cultural romantic drama based on a semi-autobiographical novel written by Swiss-born author David Zoppetti about his feelings of isolation as a student in Kyoto. In spite of his firm command of Japanese, Boku (Edward Atterton) is frustrated by his inability to make anything but the most superficial inroads into the country's notoriously insular culture. Out of desperation, he volunteers as a reader for the blind and is paired up with the young, beautiful Kyoko (Honami Suzuki), who has been sightless since birth. Soon his visits at her family's gorgeous traditional home becomes more than charity, especially after Kyoko starts selecting erotic works for Boku to read. The blooming romance is tested first by Boku's hitch-hiking trip across Japan and then by prejudice and cultural misunderstanding. Ichigensan was screened at the 1999 Mill Valley Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Edward Atterton, Honami Suzuki, (more)
In 1945, a tribunal was held to investigate atrocities committed by the Japanese upon Australian soldiers during World War II. At an internment camp, 1100 Australian soldiers were tortured and killed by the Japanese, with only 300 survivors. This horrible event was not known until a terrible discovery of decapitated corpses was made at a grisly site on Ambon Island in Indonesia after the war. Stephen Wallace directed this courtroom drama based on the incident and follows the intrepid investigator who uncovers the truth behind the missing Australian soldiers. Bryan Brown plays Captain Cooper, the prosecutor of the case, in which 91 Japanese officers and soldiers are accused of murdering the Australian prisoners-of-war. The chief defendants are camp commander Takahashi (George Takei) and Captain Ikeuchi (Tetsu Watanabe). Takahashi denies knowing anything about the atrocities, as does Ikeuchi. Nevertheless, Cooper presses on to undercover the truth. But standing in his way is the American delegation, led by Major Beckett (Terry O'Quinn). They don't want a case to go forward that would reflect badly on the Japanese high command, since General MacArthur wants to reinstate many of the Japanese officers in a new postwar Japanese order. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bryan Brown, George Takei, (more)
