Audition (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

The less you know, the better
I had heard of "Audition" for months before actually getting my hands on a copy of the DVD. I basiscally knew what to expect -- slow first hour, horrific final half hour, leaving you guessing at the nature of what really happens. However, because I'd read so much about the film, I think I really cheated myself out of a truly visceral horror experience.

First, a short plot synopsis: Main charcter's wife dies. Seven years later, he's lonely and decides he wants to re-marry. To meet women, he holds an audition, casting for a fake movie, in order to easily meet young women. One particular young lady captures his fancy. But she is definitely more than she seems.

ATTENTION: This is NOT a Hollywood horror film. Don't expect the fake-scare red herrings, or the busty brainless chicks creeping into the attic to find out what that growling noise is. In fact, Audition contains few, if any, "shock" moments. Instead, the movie is a slow boil of disturbing creepiness that crescendoes into a...

Piano wire makes for a fun evening!
In the battle between men and women, who will triumph? Who knows, but Japanese director Takashi Miike's film "Audition" shines a particularly brutal light on this eternal conflict. Set in Japan, the film takes on additional significance considering what we know about the role of women in that society. I am far not expert on Japanese social roles or mores, but I imagine the stereotypical picture of a Japanese woman as a subservient figure to men is more or less an accurate one. Certainly, gender roles have changed somewhat over the last fifty plus years as Japan rapidly industrialized and assumed a western style political system. One hopes that some progress in this area has taken place there, but I am not so sure after watching this film. Apparently, the idea of a docile, ever ready to serve her partner woman still exerts a strong influence in that country. Otherwise, "Audition" would make little sense to its target audience. Completely independent of its effect on...

A+
AUDITION - directed by Takashi Miike (2001)
DVD/VHS
10/10
Japanese with English Subtitles
This film is un-rated and contains graphic violence.

Takashi Miike has accomplished drawing the audience in slowly with subtle and well-made storytelling that turns into a roller coaster ride of white-knuckle extreme terror. At first it seems as though Miike is presenting at straightforward family drama. Husband/father Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) widowed seven years prior decides under the gentle and humorous direction of his son (Tetsu Sawaki) it is time to remarry. Simple? Well, no. Aoyama's drinking buddy Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimura) decides to hold a fake audition for a film in search of the perfect woman. The editing during this sequence has a natural rhythm and humor that highlights the whole facade as the numbers of unusual women are asked a series of questions. Enter Asami (Eihi Shiina), a former ballet dancer, who seems to have suffered in her past. Aoyama falls in...

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