Listen to this entry from the Damien Riley Podcast:
If you ever set out to explore foreign horror, you may have stumbled across “Audition” from 1999. It’s a Japanese flick that certainly can be called horror but the large first portion is just drama, building up to a crescendo that is definitely not for weak stomachs.
Audition (1999)
Ôdishon (original title)
R | 1h 55min | Drama, Horror, Mystery | 3 March 2000 (Japan)
A widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all.
Director: Takashi Miike
Writers: Ryû Murakami (novel), Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)
Stars: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki
Director: Takashi Miike has a long list of foreign horror he has made. One I recognized right away was “One Missed Call.” He used a lot of sophisticated camera and editing techniques in “Audition: that make it a great horror film. He is clearly a master of his craft and when I look into Japanese horror again, I’ll be checking out his stuff. But this particular film is well known and respected. It has at 69 on Metascore and you have to take into consideration that it’s a film with subtitles so I see 69 as an excellent American score.
The main character struck me as a chauvinist who thought himself romantic. The age difference was way too wide. When she started playing into his wiles all to quickly, I was in agreement with his friend that it was probably too good to be true. What happens near the end has been viewed as a victory for feminism because the two men were holding an “audition” for his new wife posing as a casting call. This was made in 1999 but it certainly echoes what has been happening for awareness in Hollywood.
I did enjoy the first 3/4 of this film but for me, the end was a weak payoff. I enjoy seeing authentic cultural food and architecture and there was a lot of that. Unfortunately, I was looking for a horror the likes of say, “Martyrs” and this is not even in the same universe. The story is more equivalent to a mystery on the CSI tv show. Things get explained with flashbacks etc. Overall, I was not amazed by this film but I’d recommend the drama side of it. The horror is pretty much not there in terms of screentime. I have to give this film a 5/10.
Here’s how I saw it: A man who worked in the golden age of Hollywood as an actor, singer, and director looks back on his life with his younger film-making 2nd cousin, Joe Forte. He reminisces and shares a lot of memorabilia he has accumulated through the years. There is a story he tells about how he, in essence, saved Ben-Hur when it was at a weak point but the main idea of the movie is not that, it’s about the impending sunset on all of our lives. This makes for a highly emotional, though at times “hand-held cam, slow-paced” film. It would be a great movie to see with a loved one and then get coffee after to talk about this highly taboo topic. What will become of us when the curtains of our lives close?
Even a huge film like Ben-Hur needed real people to make it work. But what happens when the director goes home and the actors are left to go to doctor appointments and such, try to make peace with old age? This film takes us soberly down that path. The memorabilia shown throughout the film along with stories from the golden age of Hollywood make it enjoyable. Other than that it is a theme as important as it is difficult to think about. The memorabilia and stories from this man ease the hard truth of aging. He brings the audience awareness of the past and the present which is priceless if we’re hoping to live in the now. I recommend this one. Here are some more photos from the film:
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