The best way of describing this film is like the antithesis to Mike Judge's Office Space.
The story covers a year of a Belgian/Japanese girl working in Japan for a large Corporation. The insanity of this arrangement goes beyond mere cultural East and West differences, and borders on sado-masochism. And in fact is pointed out as a metaphor for sex (although there is none in the film.) The cultural differences and rules portrayed in the film completely engross the viewer. It is a rare film where the play out of the subject matter completely engulfs your attention. Though the film does focus on familiar (or rather identifiable) stereotypes there are enough twists in etiquette to even break those.
The acting is superb all around. Sylvie Testud's performance is exceptional.
Cinematography is OK. The special effects of flying over Tokyo are below standard, and the window overlooking the city looks extremely fake.
Audio suffers from some blatant re-dubbing (particularly on Sylvie Testud's Japanese dialog.) The Bach music is out of place and does not fit the film very well, particularly as it is a harpsichord piece.
Overall a definite film for anyone who worked in an office environment and thought they had it tough. Also a good second thought for anyone considering working in Japan.
The story covers a year of a Belgian/Japanese girl working in Japan for a large Corporation. The insanity of this arrangement goes beyond mere cultural East and West differences, and borders on sado-masochism. And in fact is pointed out as a metaphor for sex (although there is none in the film.) The cultural differences and rules portrayed in the film completely engross the viewer. It is a rare film where the play out of the subject matter completely engulfs your attention. Though the film does focus on familiar (or rather identifiable) stereotypes there are enough twists in etiquette to even break those.
The acting is superb all around. Sylvie Testud's performance is exceptional.
Cinematography is OK. The special effects of flying over Tokyo are below standard, and the window overlooking the city looks extremely fake.
Audio suffers from some blatant re-dubbing (particularly on Sylvie Testud's Japanese dialog.) The Bach music is out of place and does not fit the film very well, particularly as it is a harpsichord piece.
Overall a definite film for anyone who worked in an office environment and thought they had it tough. Also a good second thought for anyone considering working in Japan.