Review of Audition (2000) by Xgary X — 08 May 2012
A TV executive decides to remarry 7 years after the death of his first wife and sets up a fake film audition to look for suitable candidates. This stunningly clever psychological horror leads your perceptions up the garden path and then cheerfully garrotes them with cheesewire; the first half of the film could easily be mistaken for a breezy mainstream romance, but once Aoyama begins to look into his potential fiancee's past the tone darkens into a horrific blend of reality, fantasy and nightmare.
Miike takes a familiar formula, this time the scorned woman-turns stalker idea and turns it on it's head; not only does he fail to follow the usual expectations of the genre, he actually uses them against you.
The use of colour, and particularly sound is stunning and the way he transforms the viewer from voyeur to participant by placing you in Asami's interview chair and later making you the victim of her gleefully child-like torture is deeply unsettling.
Audition won't be to everyone's taste, but fans of stalker/serial killer movies or J-horror should not miss it.
This review of Audition (2000) was written by Xgary X on 08 May 2012.
Audition has generally received positive reviews.
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