The movie starts with Shigeharu Aoyama standing by his wife as she dies, his son, Shigehiko also witnesses. It's seven years later and Shigehiko recommends that Aoyama should get re-married. His friend suggests that he hold an audition. He agrees and meets Asami, a beautiful and seemingly normal woman, but she soon takes him into her world of sadistic torture and violence which he may never leave.....
Audition has a lot of positives going for it. All of the main actors give brilliant performances and Eihi Shiina, who plays Asami, is eerily good. The direction suits the movie, it is slow but assured, and Miike doesn't always show or explain everything, which gives the entire film an uneasy atmosphere. The score is brooding and haunting and although the pacing may seem slow Audition is never boring.
This movie won't appeal to all, however, while some hail it as a masterpiece, others say it is sadistic and boring. My advice would be not to tackle this as pure horror, more of a slow drama/romance with splashes of psychological and visceral horror (especially in the last 30 minutes). And for those curious about the gore, there is very little of it despite what some may say, but that little bit is still disturbing.
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The Detonation Of The Rom-Com…
Takashi Miike has long been known for his blood-soaked and violent movies through his legacy left upon Japanese cinema. Therefore it should come as no surprise that his directed psychological-horror ‘ Audition’ (1999) has led to an onslaught of confusion, surprise, intrigue and horror amongst anyone who has watched Miike’s surrealist film.
Based on the novel by Japanese writer Ryû Murakami, ‘ Audition’ ‘s seeming basic plot-drive could easily be mistaken by the naked eye as a rom-com. Ryo Ishibashi played Aoyama; the middle-aged father and widower who is raising his teenage son Shigehiko (Tetsu Sawaki). Worried about his father Shigehiko suggests that Aoyama should move on and find someone new.
Aoyama soon urged the help from his filmmaking partner Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimara) to film a fake audition for a melodrama as a way of looking for a young and attractive woman. Soon Aoyama seems to have found exactly who he is looking for in Yamazaki Asami ( Shiina Eihi); an ethereally beautiful young woman who is well-mannered and charismatic . However Asami’s perfection soon begins to slip through the cracks as Aoyama stumbles upon darker truths surrounding his seemingly " perfect woman" and her past.
Takashi Miike’s film is tainted with its equilibrated infliction of violence and gore. However unlike many of the director’s previous works which are often soaked in crimson red long before the rolling credits, ‘ Audition’ is a movie which is poignantly self-conscious about its insidious undertones.The notable emotional emphasis upon Shigehiko and Aoyama’s objectification of women early on in ‘ Audition’ has arguably led to a lot of interpretations and mixed-criticism towards Miike’s great contrast between the first-part and second-half of the movie.
Arguably Miike is purposeful within his initial setup of the first part of Audition in equal rendition to a rom-com with the setup and Kunimara’s awkward and flustered micro-expressions around Asami.
Nevertheless even early early on in Miike’s tedious first-part there are hints towards something not being quite right with Aoyama’s dream girl; sitting alone on the floor in an empty apartment, staring at the phone on the ground and all but disappearing after Asami and Aoyama spend the night together. Miike’s clear emphasis upon the expected subservience of women presented a clear critique upon the expectations of Japanese society twisted and morphed into a monstrous reality as the events progress.
However whilst the first-half of ‘Audition’ can arguably be excused as Miike’s presented innocuous romantic fantasy which takes a darker turn in the second half there is an undeniable problem with Miike’s pacing; it is incredibly slow-burn and in parts tedious . Naturally the events are supposed to be gradual but scenes in the first part could often feel dragged out. Overstretched dialogue exchanges could often disengage audiences in parts which whilst necessary often lacked a great ability to coincide with impactful shock and horror amongst audiences by hooking them in the first-part.
However patience is often said to be a virtue. The second-half of ‘Audition’ acts as an enriched reflection of character study where personal traumas and moral, sexual and social boundaries began to blur and frustrations towards gender limitations became more prominent. Aoyama’s fear against women became a reality through Asami became a reality as a sardonic and satirical tone veiled the movie with a boundary where it was hard to truly root for anyone without having to acknowledge the ugly head of the character’s flaws. Reflected in the gradually illusive cinematography techniques which became gradually more vivid throughout this part Miike’s dark irony was perfectly captured in the final part with a shocking twist to its events.
‘Audition’ is a movie which is not for the faint hearted. It is slow-paced and tedious in its initial exposition and whilst failing to arguably wrap up some key points, it is still a movie which unlike many modern horror films understood the impact of suspense and building fear. The cast were were brilliant within their roles and Miike’s emphasis upon themes of gender and limitations disturbingly explode in clear vision for the delivered conclusion of the movie.
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Highlights:
- Perfect casting/acting performances that fill your heart with empathy and make the second act more intense
- One-of-a-kind, complex plot that unfolds in a most unexpected manner
- The entire direction of the film is beautifully done and leads you into the descent into madness that takes place upon the conclusion
Criticisms:
- During the first act, the pacing is very slow and feels lighthearted and aimless in regard to the main plot (this is done on purpose and pays off tremendously later on)
- Some of the [spoiler] things that occur in the second act shift the focus away from the main character and flip the initial goal upside-down
Final thoughts - Audition is absolutely deserving of all of the praise surrounding it.
It is one of the most disturbing, unsettling, upsetting, and unforgettable horror movies I've ever experienced. It left me feeling very conflicted (in a good way).
In fact, the whirlwind of emotions caught me off guard and added to my experience.
Just know that it IS in fact a very psychological horror film, regardless of its initial impression.
9/10
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If you just want another simple murder and blood movie, don't even try to watch this. Watch the movie looking deeper. "Audition" is not a movie for you to enjoy horror, but for you to bleed while watching. If you want to reflect and suffer a little bit, it will be your perfect slice of sadism.
The movie is about sexism and how Japanese society force women into submissive positions. Finding a pretty, young looking wife, pick her on a fake audition, lying to women, making they show their weakness. Get the one who would never be "the top one", but with good enough prospects and background. Praise a woman for being "submissive and obedient", the "perfect wife". Use your position of power.
A woman who has gone through struggles of a really hard life, full of abuses and men tortouring her, enjoying themselves, meets a guy who wants full control and plays with women and find himself in love with a girl closer to his son's age. Better saying, he actually falls for how troubled her life is, and how she lost her desire to be alive, not for her qualities. "Is that all you want to ask her?".
Some things are just not real, but showing how Japanese 90's society abused women, and how abusive men do know what they are doing is wrong, but their only feeling of guilty end up being the fear that, one day, the abused ones would turn out to be as sadistic as they were to them. Every word in the movie is perfectly used to build a bigger scene. Pay attention to each.
The story telling works very well with the positive x negative feeling. It changes abruptly many times from dream to reality, good to bad, violence and sweetness, from dominant to submissive, and from submissive to dominant. The positive feeling in this movie, however, is very ambiguous. How can people take the desire to be alive out of someone be any better than killing them? How can one lie be any better than another? The positivety, I'd say, is the same false hope the main character gives to someone so hurt and depressed, by a relationship build up on a fake.
I love, however, how the main character was made as a great and loved single dad to his son, but that did not stop him from being a sexist. If you take out the female protagonist, you actually can see a very realistic world, not always being black or white. He's not the worst person, he's both good and bad, and he can make you feel empathy, and so does she.
There are very graphic scenes. If you're weak to torture and blood, I'd recommend you not to watch.
As I said before, the movie is not for everyone. Just watch it If you are really going to imerse yourself on the psychological part, not just watch because of the "horror" tag.
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This review may contain spoilers
Audition was mentioned a few times to me as a worthwhile watch, but I can't stress enough that this movie is anything but (in my opinion, obviously). If you're going to watch it then the less known about it the better - in fact, the unsuspecting watcher is the one who'll get the "most" out of the movie. I did not go into the movie expecting a straight up horror. I'd read the summary, and a couple of spoiler-free reviews first, so I knew the movie was a) slow starting - in fact the first half to two-thirds of the movie is something completely else, and b) from there it was meant to get intense, and a little bit weird. Fine by me, on both counts. I am neither bothered by slow starts nor by gore/disturbing content/jump-scares/etc;. Weird can be good, it can be bad, but I'm willing to give the weird a try.
In all honesty I was bored at just past the halfway point. I was bored at two-thirds in. And I was bored throughout the "graphic" climax. Actually, I have to say, that was when I was the most bored. And when the movie ended? I was annoyed that I'd bothered to watch the entire thing. No matter which way you want to interpret this movie (and there is more than one) it doesn't overcome the fact that it didn't entertain. For some this will be a thought-provoking film, but for me it was simply an exercise in stubbornness. My stubbornness. I feel that might be one of the reasons so many people do get to the end though - stubbornness. Because something has to happen soon, right?
I did like the opening of the movie, the slow build really works for the first forty or so minutes, but after that things start to slowly deteriorate. The slowness helps to build tension and set the mood but again, becomes overdrawn. By the time we're learning more and being given more, the tension just drains away. The acting is fairly good, however, which certainly helps the movie.
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This review may contain spoilers
Do you often view the world with rose colored glasses?
I watched this movie initially when I was much younger. But I don't think it fully registered what it was I was witnessing. I remember asking myself why this particular movie was so highly regarded as opposed to other horror movies. Now as an adult who has dealt with life and trauma, I've come to realize how intricate this story is.With Takashi Miike, you either get a really entertaining movie with obsessive amounts of boundary pushing like Yakuza Apocalypse or you get a movie that has interesting layers like First Love. Now that I fully engaged with this movie, I have thoughts about it's intentions.
First of all, I don't think it's a horror movie in a normal sense. I think it's more of a movie about traumatic events and it's status effect in society. Not only that but the culture of people in Japan in general. When you are watching this movie, Takashi is very deliberate with the types of angles he's using and what they are trying to convey. Many of the early shots in this film are from a very far distance. The imagery is very dreamlike.
I immediately noticed that he was trying to convey this sense of desolation. Like these characters were sitting just opposite of each other at small tables. But the distance felt incredibly large. A reflection of conversations between people who are not actively engaged for various reasons.
I noticed the small quick cuts that signified later that something was incorrect. I'm not sure if that was deliberate but they seem to happen during the key scenes. So I'm more inclined to believe it was deliberate. The wonders of watching older film lol. The lightning becoming more and more dissonant everytime an ugly truth was revealed was very well done. It was a very stark contrast to earlier more dreamlike sequences. When the true backstories are revealed, we get this up close, angled and harshly lit scene. It was like a small hell. You could see the uncomfortable squirming of Aoyama. Very indicative of how Japan's society views these discussions.
There was a impressively blocked scene in the diner when Asami was talking about her parents and family. Later it was revealed that what we heard was just a lie. A fabrication of memories by Aoyama. When we examine the scene, there was a glass window frame surrounding Aoyama. Everyone is gone. It was as if he was living in a glass box.
He is not only hearing and seeing things through distortion but there's a wall between him and Asami. This can be seen in two ways. First is the lies he is telling about the movie being cancelled to hide his true intentions. The second being what I mentioned above about the narrative flip of the actual story Asami told. And now that I think of it, a third thing is how to Asami feels trying to convey her story to deaf ears.
This story to me, is that it's trying to tell us how we relate ourselves to the plight of others. This is how I interpreted Audition. The society of Japan from my knowledge is hospitable in the open but behind closed doors there's a real disconnect when it comes to truly helping someone. The societal hierarchy creates a very uneven balance of power. Despite Japan's culture of being for the group rather then the individual, it suffers from lack of true empathy. It is a story lamented by many newer generations and foreigners who come to live in Japan.
As with many countries, men are predominantly the ones seen to be in charge. Asia has a real problem coming to terms with outdated male roles in society. It's very abundantly 1950's nuclear family oriented still to this day.
There has a been a greater push to revisit this and change course in many countries around the world and Japan is no exception. This movie being created in the 90s heavily shows that sort of distortion. From the way the auditions are handled to how the men treat the women characters. The damage done in this movie is heavily female oriented.
I want to acknowledge that most of Takashi Miike's movies tend to do this as well. Is he trying to say something about feminist views? Or do scenes of violence against women get included because of shock value? It's hard to tell with Miike sometimes. That's why I find his filmography fascinating.
Now when it comes to the characters, we have a very strong contrast of characters. Aoyama having lost his wife, takes on the responsibility to raise his child alone. You normally would find this to be a noble characteristic, however let's dive deeper.
One thing I found interesting is a throw away line where his son Shigehiko, mentions he is afraid of women. I find this interesting because the role of a single father is to be able to teach things like this. Social interactions are heavily tough when it comes to opposite sex. This is probably my headcanon but how a child reacts to things can be directly correlated to the mimicking of their parents. I feel like this further showed Aoyama's mind set when it came to women.
Of their interactions with women, they seem very much like they are just objects to them. They are there to fulfill a purpose, to be eye candy. It's fairly honest to say the script is definately leaning to the misogynistic side. There's a scene that represents this when Aoyama is inside Asami's home and he imagines the various women he knows trying to pleasure him. This leads to his disgust with himself. It's a visually great concept being shown.
Asami is shown as being weak and feeble. Her quiet voice, her small frame. Even the color choice for her wardrobe being all white, the color of purity. I found it interesting whenever she was wearing colors other then white the context of the scene. For instance her taxi scene with Aoyama. Her red coat felt like a signal of lust. But not her lust, his lust.
By the end of this movie, I felt really sad for Asami. I think that is the heart of this movie. Despite what she had done, her actions seem just. Her final dialogue at the bottom of the stairs was just heart breaking. I have a general theory why she chooses to cut off the feet of her victims. I mean it's obvious but her feelings of being alone are deep seated.
Destroying feet is the only way to stop people from leaving her. It feels like it draws back to her time as a child when she was constantly being left alone, only to be tortured by her (step? I can't remember) father. These ideas resonated the core values of this movie to me. Yes it's shocking, but it has purpose. Tongues because of things people said to her.Ears because they never listened and fingers because of the inappropriate touching.
It's a lot to unpack but I'm glad I can see these things now as an adult. I now can appreciate how the movie is seen. Hopefully my write up stirred something in you to think about when you watch horror as a medium.
This has been my medium sized review through a modern lense lol.
Thanks for reading!
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everything you could see a mile away as far as story is concerned
The one dimensional characters interact in a plot less film with more one dimensional character.s
It's just very forgettable
Even gore wise it's nothing extraordinary
I don't know what most people see in this one but maybe it's more famous in people who don't usually watch horror movies because it's a very basic plot and execution
Sometimes I guess simple things make sense to people personallyI don’t get the hype
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