(1999)

review by:

8-25-03

Written by: Daisuke Tengan Original Novel by: Ryu Murakami Directed by: Takashi Miike Starring: Ryo Ishibashi , Eihi Shiina , Jun Kunimura

Shigeharu Aoyama, a widower, with the help of his movie producer friend, stages a fake audition for a movie that doesn't exist, hoping to find his perfect girl. He instantly becomes infatuated with one of the applicants, and they begin dating, but the more he investigates into her past, the more disturbing things he finds. I have had a lot of interest in Takashi Miike's work since I stumbled upon The Happiness of the Katakuris many a month ago. Having heard from a couple people that Audition (or Oodishon) was mind-scarringly scary, Gameslave, Borg Queen and I rented it in hopes of a hearty pants-wetting. What we got was a not-all-too-satisfying "what the hell" movie, which, although sometimes brutal and at times extremely creepy, left my pantaloons only slightly moist. For the majority of the film Audition uses a very quiet, foreboding atmosphere which is quite effective. There's the creepy shot of an empty chair in the middle of a white room. From the moment we see her there is something unsettling about Asami, the girl in all white with pitch black hair, but one is not sure why. And then there's the scene in which Asami looks up slowly toward the ringing phone, as a white sack tumbles across the floor in the background. Audition is definitely creepy as all hell, but in the end it just lost me. The final scene displays some fairly hard-to-watch torture (though Hellraiser fans probably wouldn't mind it), intercut with flashbacks of past scenes and new footage. It's all supposed to add up to "what is really happening?", to which the viewer, I guess, must make the decision. Now, I usually love trippy mind-fuck stuff like The Attic Expeditions, but Audition just left me confused and slightly unsatisfied. A lot of the information presented in the flashbacks seem to come from nowhere, or go nowhere. In the end, it's not about picking what really happens to Aoyama, it's about trying to sort out your confusion before the credits end. This film has a lot to offer: great acting and dialogue, lots of very powerful shots. It will definitely creep you out, and if you're of weak stomach for torture you might want to watch the last scene in fast forward. Just make sure you're paying close attention, because you'll have to piece together the ending for yourself.

AKA: The Dating Game: Extreme!

Rating



Comments

From: MC Rating: Awesome Fucking great ouh jeah FUCK! this is not shit this is wauh! great fantastic. That woman is so sexy i hope she go to my room and torture me. Sexy! Jeah! fuck! Great!