Director: Alain Corneau, Fra/Jap, 107min
Stars: Sylvie Testud, Kaori Tsuji
On general release, in French and Japanese
This curious little film is based on a novel by Amélie Nothomb, which in turn was based on the author’s miserable experience of working in Japan. Testud plays Amélie, a young Belgian woman whose fluent Japanese wins her a contract as an interpreter for the Yumimoto company. Her expectations for the job are shattered, however, when it becomes clear that she is more likely to be making coffee than doing any translating. She causes a major breach in protocol when she inadvertently reveals her perfect Japanese while serving the refreshments. The film references Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, and with its theme of the culture clash between the oriental and the occidental it evokes Lost in Translation. Unfortunately, it has neither the powerful narrative of the former nor the humour of the latter.
Wendy Ide