Review of Audition (2000) by Jeremy B — 09 Aug 2009

Audition (Takashi Miike, dir.1999) Miike averages six films per year, so to label him â??prolificâ?? understates what he does. The man must sleep about 4-5 hours per week. That said, the quality work he puts out defies even the most â??productiveâ?? Hollywood hacks (I make it a rule not to get excited about anything with the words â??Judd Apatowâ?? or â??Michael Bayâ?? associated with it). â??Auditionâ?? works, for me, as a two act play. Act One is a slightly charming tale of a man seeking a new love after the passing of his wife. I say â??slightlyâ?? because of the method he employs in finding this new love. It is dishonest at best and downright creepy, if not criminal, at worst.

Act Two brings us to a place unexpected from the setup; this is not just a twist for the sake of a twist; this is a twist that justifies text-messaging acronyms such as: WTF? Miike throw us a not so subtle hint that the precious, unassuming, yet very hot, love interest of the older video director/producer might be insane in a Sylvia Plath sort of way. While most of us now have visions of hot Asian girls and hot, early 20th century Goth chicks contemplating suicide, Miike decides to stab us in our mindsâ?? eye. He puts our girl-crush (at this point) on the floor of a modest apartment, apparently meditating. In front of her are two things: a dog bowl and a burlap sack. The burlap sack makes animal noises and the dog bowl is quickly filled with vomit via Hot Asian Girl. A crippled thing crawls out of the burlap sack and eats from the vomit bowl. This is just the beginning of Act 2. The final scene trumps it.