Audition - 1999
This review may contain spoilers.
*Attention: Here is a cautionary tale on the cruciality of being weary of the porcelain woman with a checkered past. You'll want to, let's say, notice the "warning signs" of past trauma, disappearing acquaintances, and stolid glances (among other) and take action appropriately. *Attention
In some ways it is tough to come in on the backside of these things. I'm speaking of when the film's prior reputation and lore cast a long shadow over it long before you've ever pressed play. I was aware then of Miike's Audition place on many all-time horror lists and its resounding influence on future lights of the genre. That's not to say that any of this is bad in its own right, simply that it's tough to be as objective as possible. Yet, here I stand, 115 minutes later, ready to proclaim my genuine surprise at how this all came together.
Rather than getting lost in the details, I think the overall structure is more worthy of discussion. Scanning the general "online vibe" on Audition most would cast this as sort of two films. There's that first hour and change about relationships and drama, etc. (Admittedly, I found this part to drag a bit in places). Then there's the torture as the coup de grace, an endcap finale as stunning as it is gruesome.
But those broad brushstrokes miss a few things. For starters, the first buck fifteen is really quite an astonishing bit of filmmaking in its own right. "Enthralling" or "mesmerizing" are two words which I think would be most appropriate. The film plays like a modern romance, even injecting bits of humor here and there as flourishes. What's remarkable is how truly mannered and formal the shots and score are. So much of this section features Ryo Ishibashi as the love-lorn widower seeking his bearings as the deep, stately piano compositions play in the background. If Audition had continued down this path, it would have been at home in a "for those who like Merchant Ivory" subsection.
Then we reach the comedown. I should mention in passing that Eihi Shiina is also really terrific in this role. Her portrayal of Asami is pitched perfectly between a youth who appears deeply naive though they've experienced significant loss and a kind of waif. Yet, her choice to keep her facial expressions and her head so stagnant have this real unnerving quality. The net effect is to have us wondering - What is she hiding? The answer, it turns out, is a great deal.
So we turn now to the third act. It's been discussed how profound an impact Takashi Miike's work had on figures like Eli Roth and those leaning into the more visceral body horror elements of Audition. This is all well and good, but I think this is actually more of a tripartite work than is usually noted. In between the romance and the torture, there are distinctly Lynchian elements of surreality. Lines of dialogue are repeated by characters now in shifted settings. Or the same conversation will actually move across various locales. Key figures are coming in and out of waking states and dreams (read: nightmares). The effect is one of profound disorientation.
And one cannot state that this is really just to set up the torture, because with 5 minutes remaining in the picture, we are granted a sequence that leaves us unsure of what is real. The picture, of course, resolves itself quite nicely (if that word could be used to describe something so fetid). Still, I for one saw the wrong-footing of the audience time and again in the third act to be as confounding and triumphant as any needle-prodding and wire-slashing.
In any case, the total package is a unique and unsettling one. Audition features two powerhouse performances and a director in such command of his material that he can move seamlessly from sweet, comic-tinged drama into harrowing surrealism and torture. (We haven’t even discussed how the leading man is both victim and perpetrator in the film’s subtle exploration of sexism and gender roles). For this clear-eyed vision, perhaps above all, this film deserves every plaudit it has garnered in the almost 25 years since its release.
Comments