Long synopsis : ''As a child, I wanted to be God, then Jesus, then, conscious of my excessive ambition, I agreed to become a martyr... As an adult I resolved to be less of a megalomaniac and to work as a translator in a Japanese company. Sadly, I became an accountant... now there was no stopping the lightning speed of my downfall...'' A blackly humorous adaptation of Amélie Nothomb’s best-selling novel, and featuring extraordinary performances from Sylvie Testud and Kaori Tsuji, Alain Corneau’s sophisticated comedy tells the story of Amélie, a dreamy and romantic young French woman who returns to Japan - country of her birth - only to find herself overwhelmed by the mysterious and absurd machinations of the Japanese business world. Confounded by layer upon impenetrable layer of protocol, bewildered and frustrated by a closed and contemptuous system which ensures her steady and humiliating decline from translator to toilet attendant, caught up in a dangerous, seemingly unwinnable battle of wills with her beautiful and inscrutable superior Miss Mori, Amélie is tested to the limits of sanity before stumbling upon her own extraordinary means of liberation.

Cast

• Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji, Tarô Suwa, Bison Katayama, Yasunari Kondo, Sokyu Fujita

Crew

• Producer(s): Alain Sarde
• Director(s): Alain Corneau
• Screenplay: Amélie Nothomb, Alain Corneau
• DP: Yves Angelo
• Editing: Thierry Derocles
• Set Design: Valérie Leblanc, Philippe Taillefer

• Original Title: STUPEUR ET TREMBLEMENTS
• Genre(s): Comedy, Drama


• Production company: FILMS D'ALAIN SARDE (LES), DIVALI FILMS, FRANCE 3 CINEMA
• Production date: 2003
• Language: French, Japanese
• Duration: 106 min
• Image Ratio: 1.85
• Sound Info: Dolby SR / SRD / DTS

• César Awards 2004
  Award(s) : Best Actress
• Hong Kong International Film Festival 2003
  
• Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2003
  Award(s) : Best Actress, Special Mention
• Seminci - Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid 2003
  
• French Film Festival UK 2003
  
• Ljubljana International Film Festival 2003
  
• Palm Springs International Film Festival 2004
  
• Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival 2004
  
• Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2004
  
• Seattle International Film Festival 2004