Audition (Ôdishon) Movie Review

Yes, I know, my third post in a week, very nearly equalling the sum of my amazingly prolific four posts in two years record, I astound myself. Alas, the lengths one will go to to forget their Leaving Cert responsibilities! And yes, I'm pathetically trying to rationalise this recent burst of posting as some sort of intense English revision. One which, conveniently enough, allows me to simultaneously browse Facebook and Youtube (Btw, have you seen this yet?)

But I digress, where was I? Ah yes, 'Audition' or to give it its original Japanese title, 'Odishon'. Yes, i now realise what my previous sentence has done. Perhaps it was the word 'Japanese' or that funny looking title that has caused many of you to reflexively jerk your mouse cursor to the little arrow in the top left corner of your screen. Of course, this stigma or fear towards foreign films will not affect all of you, I hope that none of you would be put off by the little association that foreign language film has with the word 'subtitles'. Just hear me out, these ramblings will undoubtedly begin to form coherent thought soon enough. I admit, I chose this particular film to be my first review in so long purely out of snobbishness and of its obscurity. Having recently seen the terrific 'Kick Ass' I've chosen not to review it purely as my friend Cian has done such a good job of it here.I've had this particular film lying around in a folder on my desktop entitled 'must see' for quite a while now. Why I deemed tonight to be the suitable time to finally check it out I'm not completely certain, but I was somewhat pleasantly surprised with the result.

I'd first heard about this film on one of those Jimmy Carr presented '100 best...' on channel 4 a few years back. This particular movie featured somewhere within the '100 best scary moments', an ill advised late night Sunday watch for my 15 year old self, especially with school the next day. However, this particular show highlighted to me that I must watch The Shining and Psycho along with a multitude of other iconic horror films which I'm yet to see. Anyway, 'Audition' aroused my interest at the time and ever since it had always been on my 'to see' list. I knew to expect shocking scenes, the type of horror that Hollywood studios wouldn't touch with a fifty foot stick, some gritty, Japanese, no-holes-barred mind-fuck. The aforementioned shocking scenes caused a record number of walk outs upon its premiere at the Rotterdam film festival in 2000 and in one bizarre case, the hospitalising of an audience member who had passed out during it. Needless to say, this did nothing to quell my enthusiasm for the film.

So, the film itself. Having finally watched it I must agree with the comments of some on its Imdb message board, the American/U.K marketing for this movie was far too blatant. Just one look at the above poster and you'd think that this is an out and out blood and gore fest. With the actress depicted above as some psychotic,blood-smeared, sneering murderer, we enter the film with certain expectations. This film is not your traditional horror fare. In fact, with a much more subtle marketing campaign that would've depicted the film as a romantic drama, the final act would have shocked the viewer no-end and packed a punch that would leave even the most avid horror fan breathless. However, despite this ill-advised marketing campaign, no doubt spearheaded by an American/British firm who deemed that their audience needed something shoved in their face to grab their attention, the movie still holds its own pretty well.

We our presented with our protagonist Aoyama, a middle-aged widow and father to a teenage boy who finds himself in the swells of loneliness following the death of his wife seven years previously. His son wonders why a man who no longer has his youth is not considering getting re-married, something which sparks interest in Aoyama who, with the help of his friend and colleague go about formulating a plan to get him a wife. So far, this could go anywhere and the viewer is on numerous occasions thrown by the seeming case of genre confusion. Perhaps though, our director doesn't want us to be expectant or predictive of how the plot progresses and in that case, this particular method is extremely effective. With Aoyama's friend working in the entertainment business, he comes up with the idea of holding the eponymous Audition for a fake movie in which our protagonist may choose thirty women who he would like to interview in the hope that he will meet his future bride.

This quite laboriously takes up the entire first act and a lot of the second, switching between moments of comedy and fairly intriguing drama. When Aoyama meets the above pictured Asami, as you can probably imagine, things gradually begin to turn batshit crazy. He is compelled by this shy,timid girl's beauty, her tragic abuse-ridden upbringing and her talent for ballet. And yes, he swiftly falls in love with this 25 year old post haste. Thankfully, this whirlwind romance takes a backseat in proceedings and we are presented with the primary signs that all is not as it seems. Asami's seemingly quiet, innocent character is shrowded with mystery as Aoyama's friend begins to discover odd and jarring facts about her past. The fact that all her supposed jobs in the past consist of a trail of missing bosses and dismembered bodies begins to show us that yes, finally we have something eerie beginning to build itself. Furthermore, the moody and starkly contrasted snippets of Asami sat hunched in her derelict apartment-whose whereabouts she doesnt even let on to Aoyama- in almost trance like poses whilst a teeming canvas sack twitches and jerks disturbingly in the background lend to the ever growing atmosphere building to the eventual,brilliant, astoundingly violent climax.

I hesitate in using the world 'recommend' here. I will tell you that the violence, which isn't non-stop throughout but that will certainly appall and horrify people despite its briefness, is most definitely not for the faint hearted. However, the film remains an enjoyable,scary piece of world cinema and a prime example of the multitude of different styles that operate outside of the U.S remaining pretty much cliche-free throughout. Though the pacing may feel disjointed at times or the genre chopping a bit off-putting, this is absolutely worth giving your time. The editing is often brilliant, the cinematography very fitting and the score suitably eerie throughout. The two main actors occupy their roles very adequately, Eihi Shiina (Asami) in particular presents a shocking transformation in her character's conflicting personas to brilliant effect. Takashi Miike, the director is extremely tuned into his target audience and will never leave you in full knowledge of what is going to happen next, he happily throws in odd, dream-like sequences, twists and turns to keep us guessing.

In short (How relieved are you to hear me say that?), the film is very good and a definite must see for those who thrive for blood,gore and gradual progression of eeriness in their horror movies. Enjoy, but if you are in anyway squeamish you may want to consider having something to cover your face with close at hand at certain points, don't say you weren't warned!