Rated Not Rated

Directed by Takashi Miike


My rating: B+

Hollywood seemed to have lost its touch in the horror genre. Just slap in a couple of teen stars, add a glimpse of tits and a$$, and finish it up with some gore. Voila! Studio executives believe that with this combination, they can easily squeeze out 40 million from the public. The sad thing is that these formulaic movies are profitable. The public mindlessly continues to pay for the same plot, same pretty face actors, and same wannabe psychopaths. However, as the American film industry continues to spit horror movies out of their asses, Japan has been developing a solid entertainment industry, which includes many horror gems, Audition being a recent example.

Audition is Takashi Miike’s latest film to grace the American public. It has been showcased in several international film festivals and most recently, in the Japanese film festival at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles. Like most of Miike’s movies, Audition left critics’ mouth agape and reminiscing on “what the hell did I just see?” as they try to recuperate. Known for his exploitative, over-the-top, yet provocative movies, Miike continues to push the envelope with his filmmaking in Audition. By not only creating an exploitative film at heart, he also added layers of depth in exploring such themes as infatuation and the imbalance of power between sexes. A literary masterpiece, Audition depicts the dark side of a violent, sexual, and sadistic obsession between a lonely man and a tormented girl.

Aoyama, a businessman, has not dated since he lost his wife seven years ago. His son tells him that it is time to move on with his life and find a new wife. In doing so, Yoshikawa, Aoyama’s best friend, convinces him to hold fake auditions in searching for a perfect wife. The choice for the role would ironically end up becoming Aoyama’s wife. At this audition, Aoyama meets Asami. She embodies Aoyama’s wish list (“beautiful, classy, obedient”). This young former ballet dancer quickly entrances Aoyama, and their love begins to blossom. But it eventually becomes clear that she’s more than the quiet, obedient wife Aoyama has been looking for, and suddenly their relationship changes in startling ways.

Audition succeeds due to the fact that Miike takes his time, ever so slowly, to reveal the horror behind this relationship. While many American horror movies love to begin with a graphic murder sequence, Audition, on the other hand, deceptively manipulates the audience by giving them a sense of well being and comfort. Then, out of nowhere, Miike punches the audience with a graphic depiction of depravity and violence. A sledgehammer to the head effect that Miike loves to exploit with the trusting audience.

In reaching this level of climax, Miike impressively layers different tricks to take the audience on a surreal trip into madness and hell. Hallucinations within hallucinations, scenes replayed with altered lines, chunks of dialogue reprised verbatim in different contexts are just a taste of techniques used by Miike in creating this grotesque fantasy. Similar to Lynch’s “Lost Highway”, the audience never quite know what is reality or morbid fantasy, or what is simply a dream. The audience has trouble trusting anything they see before them.

“Word creates lies,” Asami says. “Pain can be trusted.”

Her words introduce the unsettling climax wherein Aoyama’s world turns into a hell where everything may turn and assault him. Asami becomes an astonishing psychopath as she erotically says “Kiri Kiri Kiri” (Japanese for ‘deeper deeper deeper’) as she performs her ritualistic torture. Sadistic laughter, mine included, filled the theater. Others left the theater in disgust. Excruciating to watch, Audition is uninhibited in showing the audience graphic violence.

Audition, a blend of dark humor and horror, is a refreshing movie after enduring years of teen slasher flicks. Miike’s movies always evoke an emotion from his audience whether it’s hate, anger, fear, disgust, or fear. His movies never leave an audience member indifferent. Audition definitely does not disappoint in arousing emotions from the public; on opening night in New York, a couple audience members reportedly fainted due to the violent nature of the movie.

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This is part of Shadow8's write-off. Thank you very much for inviting me to be part of this write-off. It was an honor to be among talented writers.

Check out these other participants:

shadow8 (host), AmyLEnsor, anderclayton, blackelve, brando814, Chromekiller, dancingpotato, dandj, debbie26, dgturtle2, Furie, JackSommersby, jankp, jennifer_gibbons, KingpinLJC, kuuleimomi, lansky2000, lisaatucla, lorendiac, LorinSilver, marytara, matt_harney, mellkinwa, psychovant, systemdwn, Tibullus, Vormancian, Wokelstein, The_Wood



Recommended:
Yes

Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age