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Forget Battle Royale.
Yes it rocked. Yes it was subversive. Yes it was gory.
This is worse. Far worse. While Battle Royale was a satire of sorts, Audition is all too horribly real. And that's why it is so chilling because it could actually happen, unlike the Ring films, which will scare you for a while, maybe leave you checking all limbs are tucked under your duvet, but it won't chill you.
Audition is chilling. It is a horrible film in the way that Requiem for a Dream was a horrible film; it's difficult to watch and compelling at the same time.
Before I go into the why and where fors, here a precis of what the film's about:
The Hero is Aoyama, a bored single-parent businessman whose wife has died. Everyone says he should remarry. So he talks to a TV producer friend who sets up a fake audition so our hero can screen potential wives.
Cue the entry of the bride-to-be from hell - a former ballet dancer with more deep-seated psychological problems than you can shake a sizeable stick at. And yet our hero falls madly in love with her, and despite the warnings of his friends he embarks into a relationship of sorts with her.
Events progress and then towards the end it all goes completely mental and we discover that she is a psychopathic sadist. I think the idea is that the first two thirds are from our hero's perspective, where he views everything and everyone through rose-tinted spectacles, literarily in one scene shot through a purple filter. Then we find out how things really are from a more objective perspective.
And it's gruesome. Aoyama basically gets graphically tortured for being blindly in love. As the film notes on the DVD point out, part of his torture involves having his eyes pinned open. I don't want to give away any more of the plot so I'll leave it at that for the gruesome bits, but suffice to say it's pretty nasty stuff.
In some ways it's a warning call to Japan, in the same way that BR was, that if womean are continually relegated to the level of second class citizens it will breed the kind of resentment Takashi shows here. However, it is far more shocking than BR, because the latter tries to desensitise you to the violence, where as this is positively excruciating to watch. During the torture scene you will want to look away, and there is no Reservoir Dogs-style pan away to save you from the gory details.
Audition once again proves that so long as a film is foreign, any level of violence can get past teh censors. The violence here is frightening realistic. More so than I have ever seen in a film. And I guess that's why I still shudder thinking about it. I honestly cannot remeber being so shocked or reviled by something I was watching. Audition is a remarkable, albeit horrific film, that you really should try and see.
Oh, and if you ever see your girlfriend carrying a length of chickenwire, then run in the opposite direction as fast as your legs, and especially your feet, will carry you...
Yes it rocked. Yes it was subversive. Yes it was gory.
This is worse. Far worse. While Battle Royale was a satire of sorts, Audition is all too horribly real. And that's why it is so chilling because it could actually happen, unlike the Ring films, which will scare you for a while, maybe leave you checking all limbs are tucked under your duvet, but it won't chill you.
Audition is chilling. It is a horrible film in the way that Requiem for a Dream was a horrible film; it's difficult to watch and compelling at the same time.
Before I go into the why and where fors, here a precis of what the film's about:
The Hero is Aoyama, a bored single-parent businessman whose wife has died. Everyone says he should remarry. So he talks to a TV producer friend who sets up a fake audition so our hero can screen potential wives.
Cue the entry of the bride-to-be from hell - a former ballet dancer with more deep-seated psychological problems than you can shake a sizeable stick at. And yet our hero falls madly in love with her, and despite the warnings of his friends he embarks into a relationship of sorts with her.
Events progress and then towards the end it all goes completely mental and we discover that she is a psychopathic sadist. I think the idea is that the first two thirds are from our hero's perspective, where he views everything and everyone through rose-tinted spectacles, literarily in one scene shot through a purple filter. Then we find out how things really are from a more objective perspective.
And it's gruesome. Aoyama basically gets graphically tortured for being blindly in love. As the film notes on the DVD point out, part of his torture involves having his eyes pinned open. I don't want to give away any more of the plot so I'll leave it at that for the gruesome bits, but suffice to say it's pretty nasty stuff.
In some ways it's a warning call to Japan, in the same way that BR was, that if womean are continually relegated to the level of second class citizens it will breed the kind of resentment Takashi shows here. However, it is far more shocking than BR, because the latter tries to desensitise you to the violence, where as this is positively excruciating to watch. During the torture scene you will want to look away, and there is no Reservoir Dogs-style pan away to save you from the gory details.
Audition once again proves that so long as a film is foreign, any level of violence can get past teh censors. The violence here is frightening realistic. More so than I have ever seen in a film. And I guess that's why I still shudder thinking about it. I honestly cannot remeber being so shocked or reviled by something I was watching. Audition is a remarkable, albeit horrific film, that you really should try and see.
Oh, and if you ever see your girlfriend carrying a length of chickenwire, then run in the opposite direction as fast as your legs, and especially your feet, will carry you...
Forget Battle Royale.
Yes it rocked. Yes it was subversive. Yes it was gory.
This is worse. Far worse. While Battle Royale was a satire of sorts, Audition is all too horribly real. And that's why it is so chilling because it could actually happen, unlike the Ring films, which will scare you for a while, maybe leave you checking all limbs are tucked under your duvet, but it won't chill you.
Audition is chilling. It is a horrible film in the way that Requiem for a Dream was a horrible film; it's difficult to watch and compelling at the same time.
Before I go into the why and where fors, here a precis of what the film's about:
The Hero is Aoyama, a bored single-parent businessman whose wife has died. Everyone says he should remarry. So he talks to a TV producer friend who sets up a fake audition so our hero can screen potential wives.
Cue the entry of the bride-to-be from hell - a former ballet dancer with more deep-seated psychological problems than you can shake a sizeable stick at. And yet our hero falls madly in love with her, and despite the warnings of his friends he embarks into a relationship of sorts with her.
Events progress and then towards the end it all goes completely mental and we discover that she is a psychopathic sadist. I think the idea is that the first two thirds are from our hero's perspective, where he views everything and everyone through rose-tinted spectacles, literarily in one scene shot through a purple filter. Then we find out how things really are from a more objective perspective.
And it's gruesome. Aoyama basically gets graphically tortured for being blindly in love. As the film notes on the DVD point out, part of his torture involves having his eyes pinned open. I don't want to give away any more of the plot so I'll leave it at that for the gruesome bits, but suffice to say it's pretty nasty stuff.
In some ways it's a warning call to Japan, in the same way that BR was, that if womean are continually relegated to the level of second class citizens it will breed the kind of resentment Takashi shows here. However, it is far more shocking than BR, because the latter tries to desensitise you to the violence, where as this is positively excruciating to watch. During the torture scene you will want to look away, and there is no Reservoir Dogs-style pan away to save you from the gory details.
Audition once again proves that so long as a film is foreign, any level of violence can get past teh censors. The violence here is frightening realistic. More so than I have ever seen in a film. And I guess that's why I still shudder thinking about it. I honestly cannot remeber being so shocked or reviled by something I was watching. Audition is a remarkable, albeit horrific film, that you really should try and see.
Oh, and if you ever see your girlfriend carrying a length of chickenwire, then run in the opposite direction as fast as your legs, and especially your feet, will carry you...
Yes it rocked. Yes it was subversive. Yes it was gory.
This is worse. Far worse. While Battle Royale was a satire of sorts, Audition is all too horribly real. And that's why it is so chilling because it could actually happen, unlike the Ring films, which will scare you for a while, maybe leave you checking all limbs are tucked under your duvet, but it won't chill you.
Audition is chilling. It is a horrible film in the way that Requiem for a Dream was a horrible film; it's difficult to watch and compelling at the same time.
Before I go into the why and where fors, here a precis of what the film's about:
The Hero is Aoyama, a bored single-parent businessman whose wife has died. Everyone says he should remarry. So he talks to a TV producer friend who sets up a fake audition so our hero can screen potential wives.
Cue the entry of the bride-to-be from hell - a former ballet dancer with more deep-seated psychological problems than you can shake a sizeable stick at. And yet our hero falls madly in love with her, and despite the warnings of his friends he embarks into a relationship of sorts with her.
Events progress and then towards the end it all goes completely mental and we discover that she is a psychopathic sadist. I think the idea is that the first two thirds are from our hero's perspective, where he views everything and everyone through rose-tinted spectacles, literarily in one scene shot through a purple filter. Then we find out how things really are from a more objective perspective.
And it's gruesome. Aoyama basically gets graphically tortured for being blindly in love. As the film notes on the DVD point out, part of his torture involves having his eyes pinned open. I don't want to give away any more of the plot so I'll leave it at that for the gruesome bits, but suffice to say it's pretty nasty stuff.
In some ways it's a warning call to Japan, in the same way that BR was, that if womean are continually relegated to the level of second class citizens it will breed the kind of resentment Takashi shows here. However, it is far more shocking than BR, because the latter tries to desensitise you to the violence, where as this is positively excruciating to watch. During the torture scene you will want to look away, and there is no Reservoir Dogs-style pan away to save you from the gory details.
Audition once again proves that so long as a film is foreign, any level of violence can get past teh censors. The violence here is frightening realistic. More so than I have ever seen in a film. And I guess that's why I still shudder thinking about it. I honestly cannot remeber being so shocked or reviled by something I was watching. Audition is a remarkable, albeit horrific film, that you really should try and see.
Oh, and if you ever see your girlfriend carrying a length of chickenwire, then run in the opposite direction as fast as your legs, and especially your feet, will carry you...