Review of Audition (2000) by Sumit B — 23 Jul 2011

This unusual J-Horror entry is a slow burn with a sudden explosion of visceral overload in the final 20 minutes. Seven years after the death of his wife, Shigeharu's son suggests that he remarry because he is looking old.

He solicits the help of his movie director friend to stage a phony audition to select a new wife. His selection is Asami Yamazaki, a young ballerina who was forced to give it up due to injury. Audition plays its cards very close to its jacket throughout the first hour - barely hinting at the horror lying in wait at the climax.

Takashi Miike weaves the story masterfully behind the camera - toying with the audience like a cat toys with its prey before the kill. A sudden and jarring bolt of surrealism accompanies the shift to a savage and torture-filled closing which seems to create more questions than it actually answers.

As a foreign art-house horror / character study, Audition leaves itself open for plenty of speculation. There are hints at statements regarding traditional gender roles as well as suggestions of incest and victimization throughout.

Whether it is a political statement or an abstract piece of art, Audition is a powerful film and one of Miike's most traditionally engaging.