Audition (Uncut Special Edition) [DVD]

For better or for worst, the ending brings everything together. Not unexpected but still queasy.

This movie was... okay. I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it. But I honestly feel like at this point in time it is severely overhyped with everyone touting it as a "masterpiece" and the "most terrifying horror movie ever made." Yes there is some strong imagery, especially for the time it was originally released (1999, and 2001 for it's US release) and by today's standards the effects actually hold up surprisingly well. However, the main part of this movie I have a problem with is the story. MINOR SPOILERS: I'm not going to go too much into detail here but if you want to go into this movie knowing absolutely nothing like so many other people suggest then stop reading now. However, if you'd like to know sort of what you're getting into and potentially save you from wasting some money then continue reading.First of all, let me just say that I like slow, psychological movies. Movies that make you think and are left up to interpretation. It's not like I need every little thing answered in every single movie I watch but I feel like this particular film left TOO MUCH up to interpretation and there just needed to be SOMETHING that was even a little more explained. These next two statements may contradict each other but I feel like you shouldn't have to go out and basically study a movie to understand it's actual meaning. On the other hand, I actually really love going on YouTube and watching hour long analyses on obscure or confusing movies, learning things I missed, little details or clues, and references. The thing about that is the movie has to initially draw me in enough to actually learn more about it and this movie just didn't do it for me.I don't know if it was something lost in translation or a cultural barrier but... the story doesn't make sense in the long run. Yes, I get the basic premise; The main character is lonely, older, and perhaps even a bit desperate and with everyone telling him, even his own son, it's time for him to find a new wife he finally decides to just go ahead and do it through the process of auditions. This is where my first problem with this movie pops up. Pretty much everything we've seen of the main character up to that point suggests that he's actually a pretty decent and relatable guy so the fact that Aoyama so easily goes along with his friend's suggestion of basically tricking girls into auditioning to become his new girlfriend just... really threw me off. Which may be the whole point. From what I've seen others say one of the main points of the movie is misogyny which did clear things up for me a little bit but doesn't explain everything else.Once the film got into the second half and things started turning darker and more twisted the movie just made less and less sense with introducing dream sequences, hallucinations, and the main character seeing things that he almost certainly would have no knowledge of, which leads to an unreliable narrative. I felt like the movie was really heading in one direction with a certain kind of twist and then... nothing. I'm not saying every movie ever has to have some kind of twist but this movie just leaves you with nothing. Yes the climax is shocking and I did genuinely care about the main character but when the whole movie leads to a scene that by today's standards honestly isn't all that bad (especially if you've seen your fair share of indie, artsy, and foreign films) then it just made the whole story that came before it feel pretty hollow.Overall, the acting is great, I liked the cinematography and I didn't mind the slow pace. But if you're coming into this movie only because you've heard people talk about how shocking and gruesome it is then I'd have suggest you avoid it. If you're wanting to watch this just for some torture porn then I'd recommend something more like A Serbian Film or heck, even the Saw films instead.

To simply reiterate the storyline of AUDITION would be an injustice ... This is a film that challenges and excites so many different emotions in the viewer, it really should be seen ... a few times .... The plot follows a good-natured but lonely widower ( Ryo Isibashi ), and his search to remarry .... He has a good job ( he works in the film industry), and a very good relationship with his son ( and dog :), yet the seven years that have passed since the death of his wife have left him alone and empty ... At the suggestion of a coworker / friend, he stages an "audition" for a new film project ... What none of the applicants realize is that the "new" film project is actually an old rejected script that is being used as a vehicle for our lonely widower to meet a perspective wife ..... What makes AUDITION a little difficult to reveiw is the fact that, more than with most films, too much info and knowledge of the plot will take away from the fun ... But that's not to say that this film isn't worth seeing many times: it IS ... I have seen it 3 times now, and I look forward to seeing it a fourth ... ok, back to the film ...Eihi Shiina is applicant #28, an extremely beautiful and shy 24 year woman ... Did I mention beautiful ??? How about mysterious ??? ... Above all, she is intelligent, with a very impressive screen presence ... And much to the delight of both Ryo and Eili, they hit it off ... So much so that our long suffering widower's flame for life is rekindled in such a way, his verve for dating and happiness outshines even his teenage son's ... At his point in the film, the story and tone turn 180 degrees ... .... What follows is so harrowing and so disturbing, and with each passing scene we the viewer think back to the set-up audition and inital giddiness of our happy couple as almost an entirely different film ... But it WORKS ... Not only that, but the way the film spins out of control only adds to it's overall impact, and leaves us feeling THAT MUCH MORE horrified .... At this point I will mention the film debut of actress Eihi Shiina, who give a performance nothing short of stunning and unforgettable ... It is very rare that an individual can induce feelings of such horror, yet leave the viewer feeling saddness and pity to the point of tears ... I can't say enough about this brilliant young actress ... While I highly recommend this film, I must say that if child abuse, amputation, or sadism and torture might leave you feeling offended or queasy, do not see this film ... But if you prefer an experience to a "movie", I can't recommend AUDITION enough ... It might have taken 40 years, but I think we've found someone who can give Norman Bates a run for his money :) ...

Takashi Miike`s infamous shocker from 1999.Although this is a gristly, thoroughly nasty horror film it has (as is the case with many considered and notable films in the genre) a much deeper social message – particularly regarding the way Japanese society treats women.Adapted from Ryū Murakami`s novel, it's a relatively slow-moving film, ostensibly a romantic mystery for the first two chapters; with the help of a film-industry friend, Aoyama - a middle-aged widower - sets up fake film auditions in order to meet a potential wife; that this is regarded as an acceptable idea by both men is some indication of the nature of Japan`s male-dominated culture.That Asami, the unassuming 24-year-old whom he meets, turns the tables on him - and in such an unexpected way – is a seriously radical act - never mind the obvious shock factor of it`s violence.This movie has been cited as the inspiration for the “torture porn” sub-genre of horror films – particularly from America, but it's cultural setting makes it much more powerful in context.A difficult film to sit through and a genuinely disturbing one on first-time viewing; it is quite rightly regarded as a modern horror classic, but not one I care to watch very often.The standard UK DVD is - of course – in Japanese language with English subtitles; the only extras are a short interview with Miike and a couple of trailer reels.

Audition stands out in the public eye for its shocking cruelty in the final act and rightly so - what happens to our kindly hero at the hands of the girl he so fell in love with is gruesome indeed. And yet, this is put into image rather more tactfully and suggestive than one would expect - which is a good thing. There are films far more brutal out there (which I try to avoid).On the other hand, the last act being so notorious it eclipses the fact that the film as a whole isn't very satisfying. Yes, the method of wanting to get to know pretty girls by way of auditioning for a film is certainly iffy, but the protagonist is portrayed as sincere. The girl is another matter. We get flashes of the horrors she's had to endure when quite young which makes her a victim indeed, but for me the psychology of her behaviour doesn't make sense to me. Does she wish to avoid/destroy all men because of what's happened to her? This would makes sense. But she's portrayed as a psychopatic murderer, a black widow luring her victim in, while an earlier victim like a fly in a web is literally feet away from her and this I do not understand. Another anomaly: she's apparently clever, but it would've been easy to get her victim somewhere safe instead of his own home where his son can come to the timely rescue.I was lured in myself by the film's must-see reputation but this reputation I fear is overblown. It may have been unique and shocking at the time but with hindsight it's a mediocre film at best.

Audition has been labelled as a horror movie and yet for 70 of its 110 minutes the movie is a romance:drama. Directed by Miike Takishi it's obvious at some point that the movie will go left field. Plot concerns a man who has lost his wife and skips 7 years down the line where friends and even his son suggest he remarries. So his TV mogul friend suggests a new show called Audition, just so they can whittle down different women for him. Inevitably he picks his woman out, but unlucky for him she isn't all she appears to be.A movie dealing in psychological abuse, as well as physical is wrapped around a maze of secrets and innuendo. The movie works mostly because of lead actor Ryo Ishibashi who gives a sympathetic performance throughout. Be warned the movie is a slow burn, but the pay off is good. Not nearly as gory as some of Miike's films but still highly effective.

Audition was made in a world of creativity, brilliant ideas and bizarre visions, in a way I already created a resumee of my opinion in the headline.Imagine a universe of extreme violence and poetry at the same time, a film that starts as a sweet kind of family tale of a man who is searching for a new wife in his life and his kids actually accept his desires and plans.But then..., suddenly she comes:Her name is Asami, she is a quite sensitive young lady, who finds herself in the hard times of missing her destiny as a goddess, when it comes to the art of dancing, that she has to say goodbye to - on the other hand it was the main place of her suffering.Her personal past is full of pain, difficult situations and death - and that is exactly what she will bring to us, please take a look at this masterpiece, without a doubt Takashi's best picture and another excellent example for japanese pearls of horror and "harmony"!

I found the action progressed at a slow pace and the movie was of only average entertainment value. The best aspect was the the more novel plot which is always welcome when so many stories are of a similar style. Perhaps it would be more engaging if the vision was not intermittently diverted onto the subtitles.