Audition

Art-house horror flicks are not a very common genre (few come to mind except 'Don't Look Now') but Takashi Miike's film 'Audition' is a welcome addition to the canon. Beautifully shot and orchestrated, it is both a subtle personal drama and one of the most genuinely horrifying things I have seen. The early stages of this film resemble a work by Claude Sautet, only seen through a Japanese sensibility, about the relationship between an older man and a beautiful young woman, but there's something slightly discomforting both in the man's definition of the perfect partner, and in the person he finds who fulfills it. The story slides into first a mystery, and then a full blown horror story, the power of which comes from following a very simple golden rule: namely, make the audience care about the characters first: one small needle can be very very scary if you think that it's for real. And by keeping the meaning ambiguous (unlike, say, 'The Shining', with its self-defeating collapse into hyperbolic mania), the film also retains its impact after the initial shock.

This sense of ambiguity is also crucial to the film's claims to be something more than simply an unorthodox gore-fest. 'Audition' constructs, and then deconstructs, a certain vision of the world and the "horror" scenes are only part of this. The result is utterly beguiling, and one can even see similarities with Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' in 'Audition's' portrayal of a man's complicit relationship with hell.

In some ways, this is not a universal film and I could not imagine it working in English: can you envisage any Western actress speaking the Eihi Shiina's lines with a straight face?. Whether that's because the film is saying something profound about Japanese culture, or whether the fact that it appears to do so can finesse the issue for foreign audiences, I'm not sure. Dramatically, 'Audition' is, despite its climax, not the best film ever made. But atmospherically speaking, it's a masterpiece.

Well, we always knew the Japanese could do horror films with exceptional flair, but psychological horror hasn't been this exhilarating (and ultimately nauseating) since, well, since, I don't know when. Beware, this is not for the weak of heart, and don't be fooled by it's satiric comedic set-up. When the "audition" is through, you may want to throw up, or praise the film-makers for being so bold.

A class act horror film - not for anyone with a queasy stomach. Japanese subtitles don't deter from the fact that it can easily rank as a landmark in cinema horror, pushing back taboos. Like Sixth Sense, you could watch half the movie and not know it was going to be a shocker. When the shocks come they make you want to jump out of your seat right into the aisle and then crawl back under it with your face over your hands. More Hitchcock than Cronenberg, there is little in the way of special effects, but lots in the way of a very precisely crafted plot, great acting and editing, atmosphere and moments of evocative beauty as well as terror. The story concerns a Japanese businessman whose friend thinks of a novel way for him to look for a second wife. That's all I'll tell you!

In Tokyo, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) is a widower that grieves the loss of his wife and raises his son Shigehiko Aoyama (Tetsu Sawaki) alone. Seven years later, the teenage Shigehiko asks why his middle-aged father does not remarry and Shigeharu meets his friend Yasuhisa Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimura), who is a film producer, and tells his intention. However, Shigeharu has difficulties to approach to available women to date and Yasuhisa decide to organize a sham audition for casting the lead actress for the fake movie. They receive several portfolios of candidates and Shigeharu becomes obsessed by the gorgeous Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina). Despite the advice of the experienced Yasuhisa, Shigeharu calls Asami to date and he falls for her. But who is the mysterious Asami?

"Ôdishon" a.k.a. "Audition" is a great horror movie with a creepy, disturbing and even realistic story but with less violence, weirdness and gore than the usual, for a movie directed by the Japanese director Takashi Miike. The characters are very well developed and the beautiful Eihi Shiina is perfect in the role of Asami. The scene when she says "deeper, deeper, deeper" is scary and remains imprinted in the mind of the viewer. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Audição" ("Audition")

Note: On 21 March 2017, I saw this film again.

Everybody faces this situation in his/her life sooner or later. You only just started a relationship and you are about to watch your first movie together. Personally you wouldn't mind a fair portion of violence and chills, but you suspect and worry that the other half prefers a slow and story-driven film with the emphasis on character development. But you needn't worry about this any longer, as Takashi Miike's "Audition" can perfectly satisfy both extremes. At least, theoretically speaking it can! This unforgettable and undeniable Japanese cult monument unfolds as a stylish and slow – better make VERY slow – moving romance drama, yet gradually but surely turns into a stomach-churning and nerve-tangling paranoia thriller with one of the most astonishingly engrossing climaxes ever captured on film. After seven years of living as a widower and devoting everything to raising his son, Aoyama wishes to remarry. A befriended movie-director wants to help Aoyama with meeting new women and arranges auditions for a non-existent movie. Aoyama immediately falls for the beautiful ex-ballet dancer Asami and carefully begins dating her. She's a beautiful young girl, but extremely introvert and mysterious. Aoyama's life subsequently turns into a psychological nightmare, yet the film's main strongpoint is how Miiki never fully reveals whether this girl is a lethal psychopath out for vengeance against the entire male race or that all the horror exclusively spawns from the protagonist's guilt and paranoid mindset. "Audition" is a truly strange and unique film. Miiki almost effortlessly seems to combine ambiances and elements that you always considered impossible to combine. At several moments during the first hour of the film, when the relationship between the two lead characters laboriously develops, you really wonder yourself how such a sober and melodramatic love story could possibly transgress into a reputedly shocking horror film, but it does! And how! The final ten-fifteen minutes are guaranteed to make you cringe and crawl in your seat and, I swear, you'll never look at a piano the same way again. I definitely also wouldn't advise this film if you already have a phobia for needles. Right from the opening sequences, Miiki effectively creates an intense atmosphere of depression and disturbance and maintains it throughout the entire film. He could also clearly rely on highly skilled and professional cinematographers, editors and production designers. The music is stupendous and the performances of both lead actor Ryo Ishibashi and Eihi Shiina are damn near perfect. This was Takashi Miiki's big international breakthrough achievement, and the least you could say is that he deserved it!