MOTW #39 AUDITION

[Kikabi]

The Movie of the Week #39:

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa185/Kikabi/Audition.jpg

Audition (Odishon) - Japan, 1999

She always gets a part

Written by Ryu Murakami (novel); Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)
Directed by Takashi Miike

Original Music: Koji Endo
Cinematography: Hideo Yamamoto

Ryo Ishibashi: Shigeharu Aoyama
Eihi Shiina: Asami Yamazaki
Tetsu Sawaki: Shigehiko Aoyama
Jun Kunimura: Yasuhisa Yoshikawa
Renji Ishibashi: Old Man in Wheelchair
Miyuki Matsuda: Ryoko Aoyama
Toshie Negishi: Rie
Ren Osugi: Shimada
_________________________________

Upcoming Schedule:

May 11th - MOTW #40: Slumber Party Massacre
May 18th - MOTW #41: Near Dark
Movie of the Week #42?
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[Le_Big_Mac]

8/10.

Very creepy and well-made. Even with the infamous shock moment of the man in the bag and the vomit-eating scene earlier on, the whole thing is basically a build-up to the last 20 minutes. But I never have a problem with that, if the finale is that good.

[Le_Big_Mac]

*double post*

[Dehydrator]

I think this is one of the best things Miike has made, it´s classy, gripping, very well acted and the finale is one hell of a knockout.

spoilers ahead






One thing that I like about it is the subtext about relationships and what to expect your partner to be. Ayoama says at one point early in the film "Where did all the devoted woman go?" - devoted to what exactly other than their man? I think what he looks for is a woman that is totally dependend on him. The audition set up further seconds that, he basically wants to choose from several possible candidates who fits his ideal the most and, knowing they all want something from him, there isn´t much of a chance he will be refused his relationship offering.

Asami may be completely nuts but she sure is the total opposite of what he´s asking for, she isn´t afraid to be comforted by an older man but she knows what she wants and she knows it well, although she is willing to give her heart to her partner, she has no qualms about taking it back, along with other vital body parts when she´s feeling ripped off. In some cranky feminist way, and even from a non-feminist kind of moral view, the guy just gets what he deserves.....;)

[Kikabi]

Audition didn't work for me the first time I saw it. After seeing again, I've gained a great appreciation for it, even though my main problem with the film remains. It's technically superb as far as direction, cinematography, the score, etc.

We're told in the beginning that "Japan is lonely," which is really what the movie is all about, loneliness. That, and I think, how we show different faces of ourselves depending on the person and situation - not revealing the entire truth about ourselves and/or risking completely opening up to another. But the consequences of that is loneliness. I also see it as a social-cultural commentary concerning women and what men expect from them, clearly aimed at its intended Japanese audience. In dramatizing its ideas and themes, Audition works quite well. I especially love the "rubbery reality" aspect that forces us to consider these things.

Because it's a movie about ideas, it doesn't work, at least for me, when it comes to the characters themselves. Most importantly, the main character, Shigeharu. His son says his father's blinded by love, yet the film never convinced me that Shigeharu was blindly in love with Asami, or that he was obsessed or even in lust for her. The film expects us to take that as a given, rather than dramatizing it (the lack of chemistry between the actors doesn't help this problem.) The most I got from Shigeharu is that he cared for her. And yet, I'm expected to believe that he's fallen so fast and hard for her that he's ready to propose marriage.

That Shigeharu ultimately comes across as a fool is part of the point of the film, but it makes it hard to sympathize with him. He doesn't bother to introduce Asami to his son before he decides to marry her, which strikes me as odd, and doesn't even knows where she lives. In spite of all the evidence of her lies, and even gruesome visions of cut-off fingers and tongues and that disturbing visit to the "Old man in the wheelchair," Shigeharu forges on. And I could have forged on with him, rather than thinking, "You fool!" if the film had convinced me he was obsessively in love with her.

Stiill, I liked it more this time around and give it 8/10 (up from 5/10)

[Kikabi]

the guy just gets what he deserves.....;)

I played around with that thought as well (although he's not so bad that he deserves that!) Yeah, auditioning for a girl-friend is pretty bad, but when it comes to who is fooling whom, Asami is far more guilty. However, she's only presenting the mild and shy face of the kind of Japanese young woman an older Japanese man wants, or even expects due to their culture. It made me laugh (cynically) when he says one of her positive attributes is that she's obedient.

[Dehydrator]

However, she's only presenting the mild and shy face of the kind of Japanese young woman an older Japanese man wants, or even expects due to their culture.


spoilers




Cultural expectations aside, I was thinking more about her personal backstory, her failed (pretended) musical career which adds up to "I tried to make my way n life but failed, now I need someone to hold my hand, I ain´t got not much expectations left, I´m just happy nothaving to be be alone." On a footnote she demands to be taken for real with what (on first sight) little expectations she has (to be loved over everything else) and that is where Ayoama kicks himselfin the nuts, because he thinks she means it as just another phrase to make her feel easy and secure, but she means it just as she says it.

As for "who´s fooling who",Ayoama does not even need to fool her by pretending to be someone he isn´t. She almost doesn´t question him at all, cause for her it´s either, "the guy means as he says or the guy loses limbs".

[yorrick brown]

can some explain the ending?.dream or something?.

also piano wire ,thats all i want to say


9/10

[Kikabi]

can some explain the ending?.dream or something?.

I think the ending is open to interpretation, although Takashi Miike has stated that everything that happens is real. Although, Shigeharu seems to go into a dream-like state for a while, he's definately conscious after that.

To me, when we see the repeated scenes with different dialogue, it's about societal conventions about these kinds of interactions. The first time we see those scenes, Asami tells Shigeharu what she thinks he wants to hear - all nice things - and feeding him a bunch of lies about her past. The second time at the end, Asami tells him the truth about her past. It's pretty nasty, but it's not the sort of thing someone talks about over a meal on a first and second date - it goes against convention.

How he actually learns these thing about her I don't know. I think he may have sub-consciously pieced together from clues his own ideas about Asumi's past. Which may be what he experiences in his dream-state isn't the full or accurate truth about her past.

That's my take. Anyone else have any ideas about this?

[rilocay]

It MUST be said, the best way to see this is without knowing anything about it, well atleast as minimal as possible. Which if your reading this thread and havn't seen it..is probably too late.

This was on tv late one night (foreign channel obviously). I was bored, having a quite night and sussed what was in the guide. I was pretty young to alot of movie stuff still and while i'd heard of Takashi Miike, i couldn't remember a damn thing about him. This was years ago whne i still had dial-up net and cbf'd looking him up. But i thought, i know this dude, i should probably check this out. Course i did!



BEWARE SPOILERS

i loved whole the whole thing built up to the mucho different ending. This is a real 180 turn, totally did not see it coming at all. While there's a hint of it, i forgot about it, and never expected what i got. We really cant predict how fucked up it is. I mean dude, this shit is fucked! Espcially those thin things that peirce through skin. Fuck me!

End SPOILERS


I so loved the movie experience, and i totally recommend movie lovers to try and check it just as i did. You can even call me a C U Next Tuesday but i actually recommended this to a couple (mates) as a 'romantic' film. lol. Yeah they got it out, they still talk to me afterwards...lol.

[yorrick brown]

its piano wire isn`t it?

[g1ng3rsnap9ed]

I wanna see this SO BAD!!I hear that it even skared Rob Zombi,its that hard-core!

[Kikabi]

its piano wire isn`t it?
I don't know, they never say. But it sure looks like it could be.

Rob Zombie talked about how much it scared him on the Bravo's 100 Scariest Moments - I wish I could have seen the whole show. They only included the Audition part on the special edition DVD of the movie.

[yorrick brown]

from imdb

SPOILER: The dog bowl of vomit fed to Asami's (Eihi Shiina) prisoner is in fact the actual vomit of actress Eihi. 'Takashi Miike (I)' claims that Eihi is a method actress and insisted on doing this.

[Cronos]

its piano wire isn`t it?
Been a long time since I saw it but I'm pretty sure it is.

Loved Audition, helped further cement Miike as one of my favourite directors. The pacing's pretty slow but it picks up when things really get going... and get stranger. Loved the plot to this, interesting set of characters that were developed nicely. Miike really put some fucked up images on screen with this one. Just thinking about the ending ("deeper deeper deeper"), which is further proof just using sound effects can be more effective than showing gore, makes me cringe. Nasty but fantastic stuff.

9/10

[PreySlayDisplay]

Miike is great, but has done better. This one was extremely slow, I thought. 3.5/5

[JackassFan]

Disturbing movie, but an amazing work of art all the same.

8/10

[nayland]

I had to buy it from ebay jus so i could watch it because i couldn't find it anyware at the time.I am glad i did though. This movie tells you-DON'T LISTEN TO YOUR FRIENDS ALL THE TIME!!!! It was his buddy that came up with the idea about faking the video dating thing. It also tells you don't screw women over!!! especially if you don't know anything about them. She got pretty nasty on his sorry ass! The wire she used is called a SAW WIRE. People usually keep them in camping survival kits. It is like a piano wire that has small teeth. For cutting wood and in this case feet! I think over time this movie will become more popular. I admit the pace isn't the fastest but it allows you time to think about everthing in the climatic end.