Audition This disturbing Japanese thriller follows Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), a widower who decides to start dating again. Aided by a film-producer friend (Jun Kunimura), Aoyama uses auditions for a fake production to function as a dating service. When Aoyama becomes intrigued by the withdrawn, gorgeous Asami (Eihi Shiina), they begin a relationship. However, he begins to realize that Asami isn't as reserved as she appears to be, leading to gradually increased tension and a harrowing climax. Release date: 16 March 2001 (United Kingdom) Director: Takashi Miike Adapted from: Audition Box office: $131,296 (United States) Music by: Kōji Endō Language: Japanese A Film Gutter Review from Alex Davis Over the better part of six years of reviewing here at Film Gutter, we’ve covered an awful lot, taking in some of the best known in extreme horror as well as more obscure and cult favourites. But remarkably – and this was something that only occurred to me very recently – we have yet to cover anything from a filmmaker I love in the form of Takashi Miike. How could this be? I just don’t have any explanation for why this should be the case, but I thought this Hallowe’en season would be a fine moment to make up for it with a series of reviews bringing focus to the director’s darker work. I should say before we begin that I am of course aware that Miike has a long and extensive body of work which cuts across many genres, but for our purposes we’re going to be diving head-first into the stranger end of things – kicking off with one of his most acclaimed movies, Audition. And I will kick off by saying this – if you haven’t seen Audition yet, go and watch it first and read this review later on. This is one of those movies that is very much best watched knowing little to nothing about it. If you’ve seen it already, or are happy and willing to have this one spoiled for you, then feel free to press on… So, Audition begins with Shigeharu Aoyama, who works as a senior part of a movie company and is growing increasingly lonely after the death of his wife some years before. With an associate, he cooks up the idea of ‘auditioning’ a series of women for a movie that’s very unlikely to get made, but with an ulterior motive – he is in effect ‘auditioning’ for a new life partner. There, he falls for shy, quiet Asami Yamazaki, and calls her after the audition to set up some drinks. Things seem to go well from there – despite some misgivings on the vagueness of her past from his friend and colleague – until Asami seemingly disappears from the face of the earth. Aoyama goes looking for her only to find that a trail of darkness and tragedy has seemingly followed her around, and that some of what she gave as her background isn’t quite true. But when the two do meet up and take things to the next level, things are about to get seriously twisted… This is a movie with a fine reputation, and the last time I saw it was about twenty years ago, so this was an interesting one to revisit. Those few detractors of the movie would claim that the finale makes little sense, or comes out of nowhere – perhaps it does to an extent, but this is absolutely by design. The shadows surrounding Asami are always there, but only truly become clear in the last quarter of an hour. Much of the movie is on the surface a romantic drama – a well-made one, but not the sort of thing I would usually seek out. The change of gear as we conclude this piece is pretty legendary, and Miike shows off that dark imagination to great effect as we draw the film to a close. It’s wild, disturbing and unsettling, and that’s probably why it’s best seen with no foreknowledge – I was lucky enough to know nothing about it before that initial watch, and it was a real treat being absolutely blindsided as I was. There is a huge amount to like here – the acting performances are strong, particularly from Eihi Shiina as Asami, who treads the line wonderfully of quiet and innocent before turning utterly psychopathic in the finale. Both sides of her character are utterly believable to boot. The visuals are spot on, particularly in the unforgettable finale, where things hit one after the other like a dream or a fantasy, taking some time to piece together. Patience is important here – the movie is a real slow-burn, but when it clicks into gear it goes from 0-100 in no time. The pacing is very much a conscious decision, and asks the viewer to come on board with it – and if you can it’s almost certain you’ll be rewarded. For me this is distinctly one of Miike’s best horror movies, and probably one of the best Japanese horror movies ever made full stop – and you can rest assured that’s some serious competition. RATING: 10/10. What else is there to say? Audition is surely the masterwork from one of Japan’s most acclaimed directors, simultaneously a slow-paced rumination on love and gender relations in the country with a brutal story bubbling underneath the whole time that explodes in an ending to fit in with some of Japan’s most extreme offerings. Even on a second watch I was transfixed, left shell-shocked in my seat when the credits rolled. It’s no revelation to say this is an extremely good film, and if you’ve not made time to watch it yet you should do so – it’s up to watch on both Shudder and BFIPlayer, so go seek it out!
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