Audition

By Rick Curnutte

Richard A. Curnutte, Jr. is the Editor of The Film Journal. He has studied English and Film at Ohio University and The Ohio State University. He is a founding member of the Central Ohio Film Critics Association and a member of the Online Film Critics Society.

Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, The Happiness of the Katakuris) is quickly becoming one of Japan's most renowned and controversial filmmaker's.

Audition finds Miike immersed in a transcendent world of loneliness, where a Japanese widower, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi), is convinced by his movie producer friend to "audition" women to be his new wife. After pouring over resumes and sitting through hours of unbearable interviews, Aoyama's eye is caught by the same girl whose resume was so appealing: Asami Yamazaki (Eihi Shiina). They meet, they dine, they play the dating game.

But Asami is hiding a terrifically horrific past and present. Miike's film is at turns hysterical and pensive. Shiina's beauty is almost lyrical, and the eventual brutality she displays is all the more effective because of it.

Miike is an immense talent, and displays as sure a hand with Audition as any other contemporary thriller. Though the final ten minutes are not for the faint of heart, Audition deserves the widest possible audience.

Audition is available to purchase on DVD at HKFlix.com. Click here for information.