Review of Audition (2000) by Kenny N — 17 Nov 2015
One of the sneakiest films of all time. Almost an hour goes by before you get a sense of what makes this one of the greatest films of all time. But once it arrives, it grabs you by the back of your throat and will not let go until it's all over.
The film starts like something we'd see on the Hallmark Movie Channel here in the states: a widowed television producer is living a nice life with his teenage son and cute little doggie but he yearns for something more.
Unfortunately, the women of today (or 1999, in this case) do nothing for him. So many pretty faces, yet so many empty heads. His drinking buddy has a crazy idea: hold a fake audition for a nonexistent TV movie, and pick a wife from the parade of actresses.
Why not? So it is arranged. But the very last girl, an Asami Yamakazi, is the one who stands out. She's not an actress, but she's lived a life of tragedy. Our hero is astounded by her depth and insight into humanity.
She's the one! A whirlwind romance right out of the old Hollywood classics begins. But then our hero decides to try and find out more about this mysterious demigoddess before him. What he finds is among the most revolting, shocking, offensive, unbelievable, sick, twisted, and horrifying things ever shown in a non-snuff film.
We peer into the vast impenetrable darkness of human nature. We see the filthy, vile things underneath. We meet eye to eye with the very thing that makes a horror movie scary: the idea of terrible, unspeakable EVIL things happening to ordinary, good people like ourselves.
The films transformation from seemingly innocuous, sweet romance into hair-raising, stomach-turning horror is so gradual you hardly notice it until it hits you like a slegehammer. It's unbelievable.
Not for the faint of heart.
This review of Audition (2000) was written by Kenny N on 17 November 2015.
Audition has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
