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120 of 135 people found the following review helpful:
kiri, kiri, kiri, kiri..., April 3, 2004
Aoyama is a sad lonely man whose wife died seven years previously. Instead of remarrying, Aoyama decided to put his all into his work and becomes relatively successful. However, the death of his wife leaves a hole in him, and when his son suggests that he get remarried he asks his friend Yoshikawa helps him by having a fake audition in which Aoyama can select 30 women and decide which one of them he wants to marry. He decides on the gorgeous Asami Yamazaki who is also very soft spoken, pleasant, and obedient. Aoyama soon becomes obsessed with the young woman, and their relationship begins to blossom revealing a flower full of worms. Asami is much more than what she appears to be.It should be noted that, although Miike gets most of the acclaim for this film, Murakami Ryu wrote the screenplay. Murakami penned such notable novels as _Almost Transparent Blue_, _Coin Locker Babies_, and _In the Miso Soup_. If I had never heard of Miike before watching this film, I would have still known to be on my guard because of Murakami. Although this film is ripe with violence, I believe that the main theme is lonliness. Aoyama is lonely. Asami sits by her phone in a dark room desperately waiting for Aoyama to call. These scenes display the lonliness that a number of Japanese, and of course others, feel in their post modern country. Surrounded by people, but all alone with no one they can really relate to. Please be prepared for some very disturbing imagery.
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133 of 150 people found the following review helpful:
Piano wire makes for a fun evening!, January 6, 2004
In the battle between men and women, who will triumph? Who knows, but Japanese director Takashi Miike's film "Audition" shines a particularly brutal light on this eternal conflict. Set in Japan, the film takes on additional significance considering what we know about the role of women in that society. I am far not expert on Japanese social roles or mores, but I imagine the stereotypical picture of a Japanese woman as a subservient figure to men is more or less an accurate one. Certainly, gender roles have changed somewhat over the last fifty plus years as Japan rapidly industrialized and assumed a western style political system. One hopes that some progress in this area has taken place there, but I am not so sure after watching this film. Apparently, the idea of a docile, ever ready to serve her partner woman still exerts a strong influence in that country. Otherwise, "Audition" would make little sense to its target audience. Completely independent of its effect on Japanese audiences, the movie will send shivers down the spine of every American male. "Audition" starts like a Japanese adaptation of some saccharine American family television program. Aoyama, a man whose wife died some years before, desperately seeks female companionship. He works as a television producer, has done an excellent job raising his son, and enjoys bonding with this son on fishing trips. Aoyama, in other words, is a really nice guy. It's just that he is so lonely nowadays since his son is quickly growing up and has less and less time to spend with his father. Aoyama therefore soon faces the prospect of almost total solitude. Our hero opens his heart to his business partner one evening at the local bar, lamenting the changing face of Japanese society that has led to a decline of traditional women--meaning ladies who will stay home and serve their husbands--and a rise in the numbers of modern, cynical women. After commiserating with his buddy, the two come up with an excellent idea. Recognizing that they work in the film business, why not put out an ad for a female part in a new television program while secretly using the audition process as a means of securing the perfect mate for Aoyama? What a brilliant idea! A quick perusal of the resumes beforehand will help narrow down the final choices. The plan goes off without a hitch, and Aoyama does indeed discover a young woman who he thinks will be his ideal match. Blessed with an ethereal visage and the pretty name of Asami, this young woman seems like a magnificent catch. Aoyama likes the fact that the young woman has undergone a few personal tragedies in her life but emerged stronger because of them. He even seems to like her perpetual shyness, perhaps because it indicates Asami is a traditional woman who will know her place in Aoyama's household. Even after deciding on Asami, our hero hesitates to pursue the relationship. Should he be so forward? Wouldn't it seem indecorous to make such blatant overtures? As Aoyama debates what action he should take a few problems emerge that cast a pall over his choice. His partner encourages him to choose someone else, saying that her "chemistry" isn't right and that he has a bad feeling about this young girl. Another possible problem emerges when Aoyama discovers that Asami has no permanent address. Only a phone number links the two potential lovers, but the lonely Aoyama throws all caution to the wind and calls anyway. On the other end of the line sits Asami, who spends a lot of time sitting around a bare room waiting by the telephone. When the phone finally rings, a smile full of sinister implications stretches itself across Asami's mug. She obviously knows her charms worked on the older Aoyama and now she plans on running a show full of painful activities. No guy wants to think the sort of things that happen to Aoyama could really occur, but it can happen when you start treating people like objects instead of living, breathing beings. And Asami has been treated like an object by every male figure in her life. When it comes time to lash out at her oppressors, Aoyama is there to take the fall. The film becomes problematic when we learn that the main character is actually a nice guy. He loves his son, certainly wouldn't treat a woman badly, and is so lonely that it is tough to not empathize with the desperate measures he takes to find a woman. Miike lessens the likeability of Aoyama during the second half of the film, when we see he has some decidedly unsavory desires of his own, but I still couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. Whether the extreme torture session between Aoyama and Asami actually takes place or is a dream really isn't all that crucial to the story line although it certainly achieves a fingernails on the blackboard effect for any male watching it. I think "Audition" is a film about how men and women constantly and consistently fail to connect on a personal level. When Aoyama authorizes the audition and reads through the resumes looking for the perfect woman, he assigns a host of assumptions to Asami based on what HE wants in a woman. Whether she will fulfill these expectations in person is secondary to what the man wants. Watch the movie, not just for the gore scenes, but also to view a social critique about gender roles and miscommunication.
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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
Hot! Thought Provoking!, February 22, 2005
Without waxing to anecdotal (or pseudo analytical), I have to admit I had not idea what to make of Audition. The perplexity in a way is a good thing as it made me think. Here goes... Not sure whether this movie was `art house' or `sensationalism' or `shock value' I stuck with it. Based on the novel by Ryu Murakami, Takashi Miike's rendition defies easy explanation. Audition is a yarn of a middle-aged, widowed TV-producer's looking for a wife (or partnership) through bogus auditions of youthful actresses. According to some research this is in line with Miike duality juxtaposition of `attractive/repellent,' `fascinating/disgusting.' After a really long first hour that smacked of soap-operaish melodrama we are presented with a tour-de-force of rapid-fire violence. Granted Miike sets this up a `collision' I'm still confused as to what to walk away with. In the special features where Miike is interviewed he denies any social commentary. Fair enough, however, one cannot help but read into the movie (if looking at the movie `as text') much like `Fatal Attraction' one sees a certain critique of men's viewpoint of the objectification of women which get brutally repaid by their own gullibility (or is it ignorance). I certainly read it as a denunciation of the Japanese male's mind-set towards women. As un-intellectual as this sounds, take into account a widower who wants a beautiful, unsullied, submissive, youthful and wife, but does not hesitate to run the prospective entrant through a `meat market process' - such as an `Audition,' where we are supposed to accept that she is willing to wait in line with others in order to expose her breasts for two `Oyaji' she has never met - and like it. The candidate is somewhat unaware that this is all because the men folk are so socially inept that they cannot meet well adjusted women in a real world scenario - where the power relation is a little bit more - shall we say - `balanced.' I hate spoilers so I won't do one here. However, we get a sense that this fellow is not so bad and Miike, I think, tries to make us sympathize with this `awkward' individual - who apparently doubts his action (but goes through with it anyway). Aoyama doubts his actions and we are supposed to commiserate. His persona (I think we are supposed to allow for) is a `gray area,' so this is not supposed to be a film as condemnation of `either/or' but more like `both/and.' So Aoyama is both pathetic AND reflective - we are not supposed to judge him. In a way, what I found disturbing was how during the audition scenes, we see him somewhat `uncomfortable' while his associate, who created this whole scenario to begin with is unreflective. As a somewhat `redemptive' aspect of the film as the movie progresses we get the sense that Aoyama is the victim in this whole thing as we are presented with Aoyama's feelings for Asami as genuine and that he might be the way out of her `issues.' Not likely I guess from the outcome. Hard to expect that relationships that spring from such dysfunctional beginnings (no matter how linear my thinking) can be expected to succeed. As a psycho thriller this movie is nothing short of a tour-de-force. Moreover, if it but stops and makes us consider our objectification then Miike may have succeeded beyond his sensationalist roots.
Miguel Llora
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