Audition (Collector s Edition) [2001]
£18.97
Another masterpiece of film making from Miike - The current wave of Hollywood horror movies seems to produe very few, if any, truly horrific pieces of cinema. To find examples of these I have looked to the Japanese horror market and discovered a number of absolute gems. Audition begins as a beautiful romantic drama, engaging the viewer with four or five complex, intriguing characters and the interesting premise of a writer holding a fake audition for a new wife. At this point I would suggest anyone who has not seen the film to stop reading this review now and go watch the movie. It would be best viewed cold knowing no more than i have told you here, for after the calm but captivating beginning Miike plunges us into hell. After this turn the film contains some of the most arresting and scary moments in cinema history, and Miike s blurring of the line between dream and reality only serves to enhance this.All in all this film is at the top of my list of recommendation, not only for horror film fans but fans of pure quality cinema in general.
gross and brilliant - i so loved this. I love asian horror especially from the tartan section. The story was gripping, and at times emotional, the only confusing thing for me was the ending, was it true, or was it not? Although this seemed unclear for me, maybe i wasn t paying enough attention or don t understand the genius of these directors i felt it could have been explained in a clearer way. Then again maybe i have to watch many more of these films to understand how these people s minds work.
Disturbing and twisted, but not exactly original - H-e-e-y, it s a weird one. Because it s done for The Bunny Boiler genre What Gus Van Sant did for the Indie film genre - add that additional touch of surreality. Mix Jacobs Ladder with Play Misty For me, and this is what you get. Uncomfortable viewing, though no more so than any kind of American theatre-bound celluloid, just in a different direction. There s no escaping what s going to unfold based on the cover of the DVD and the brief synopsis, but it shows a strength in breaking the convention and by the fact that there wasn t any right or wrong - it just was. In days of yore films followed rules - horrors/chillers/thrillers - the innocent suffered and the evil were always punished - and as much as Hollywood championed those rules, I think the alternative was invented in LA LA Land too, just the same as the idea of the Anti-Hero. But it takes the obscurity of Asian cinema to really hammer home the rule of no rules - the fact that this film somehow found its way in front of us, either by recommendation (in my case) or self investigation, in itself is a testament to what s actually being achieved and therefore more effectively subverts, then utilises those conditions. The set up was good, the way poetry was woven into the delicate love story, and the Okay, so are we dreaming now, or is this real? direction, as much as we re told by those in the know that this is a no-no added to it too. I was wincing through the entire second half and it d be difficult for anyone to walk away from it unaffected. To be honest, I wouldn t watch it again though - it ll be back on ebay tomorrow - as cerebral as it was, it didn t quite marry up with my tastes and also I figure it s one of those films that once you ve seen, you know there s absolutely nothing that makes you want to watch it again. That said, I m glad I did see it.Overall: Stylish, different, creepy, disturbing, twisted, but ultimately, throwaway.
It s a 3 1/2 stars - Quiet good, but just lacking something to make it a 4.I read some of the negative reviews before I rented this and I m at a loss to figure out how many of the negative posters refer to it as boring. Unless you are expecting Die Hard then the film moves along at a nice pace. The boring sections are what those more enlightened might refer to character and plot development, but be warned the finale is disturbing to say the least although it does stop short from leaving you and the characters in entire despair..but just :-)This film gets you thinking, which is always a good sign.
wicked - I was expecting more from this film, although i was throughly impressed. i think it slightly lacked a conclusion but if you ve seen tartan movies before most of them do. the trick i think is, to keep you wondering. its not the most extreme film ive sen (as i am still searching) but it has its fair share of bone chilling, strange moments that make you re skin crawl. even though ive developed a strong stomach from watching these films they sometimes still surprise me and audition did do that. I think the actors were brilliant and if you loved films like Visitor Q then its worth the watch. it did creep me out a bit though so i wouldnt advise you watch it on your own.