MovieChat Forums > Stupeur et tremblements (2003) Discussion > Kierkegaard

Kierkegaard

posted 18 years ago by ndhand
10 replies | jump to latest

Does this film share any similarities with, or references to the philosophical writings by Soren Kierkegaard of the same name?

[–] jon-211 18 years ago

absolutely not.... it's just typically french quasi-intellectualism: using some high-value concept to legitimize a film so full of cultural prejudice and smug euro-nationalism that it borders on stupidity.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] emenenus 17 years ago

I couldn't put it any other way either..

[–] renok-3 17 years ago

i live in japan and i find the characters so real. of course not all japanese are like that, but thats so much how people are in offices and so much of how they think.
i always dreamed about knowing japan, but now its just this feeling of surviving till the end of my time here, just like amelie. i just watched the film and i cant help but cry from deep inside now.

it can be partial, but its not stupidity at all. if it wasn't so close to reality, i would be having a much better experience in japan now.

[–] bennygoodtips 10 years ago

absolutely not.... it's just typically french quasi-intellectualism: using some high-value concept to legitimize a film so full of cultural prejudice and smug euro-nationalism that it borders on stupidity.

Absolutely not. The book and film are based on Amélie's experience. It is not based on prejudices but on facts and experience. In the film, Amélie struggles hard to be accepted and considered as a Japonese. The Japonese in the film are rather nationalistic in the film in the way that they reject her and do not give her the task she was hired for. There's nothing intellectual or conceptual about it.

[–] sillyhat 9 years ago

Never mind that the author is Belgian (not French) and that it's based on her own experiences in Japan (hence the 1990 setting). You rant about cultural prejudice and are guilty of it yourself.

[–] tokyodrifter 18 years ago

I haven't read Kierkegaard, so I can't comment on your question.

The Fear and Trembling of the title is referred to in the film though. Amelie relates that traditionally one was expected to approach the Emperor with 'fear and trembling'. I think this was supposed to say something about how the Japanese view proper hierarchical relationships.

I found it an absolutely delightful and original film, and as a hard-boiled Japanophile I wasn't troubled by any so-called stereotyping. It's one woman's story, not a critique on the entire nation.

tokyodrifter

[–] machknow 18 years ago

Existentialism has many authors.
passport that authenticates

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dachshundweaver 13 years ago

I should point out that the original title was NOT "Fear and Trembling," it was literally "Awe and Trembling". Absolutely not relation to Kierkegaard's work, which is translated into French as "Crainte et Tremblements" (contrast Nothomb's book, "Stupeur et Tremblements"). I assume the person who translated the title wanted to use a familiar English phrase. Unfortunately, it's somewhat misleading.