AUDITION (2000) It's, uh...it's different They say Japan is where the great horror's coming from these days. They used to say that about Italy. I never much got into Italian horror, and if this is any indication, I might not be too likely to get into a lot of Japanese horror either. It's definitely different from what I'm used to, no doubt about that. But maybe as a genre, it's like Japanese heavy metal...I've gotten into two bands, and I don't know if there's ever gonna be a third. For about an hour, you wouldn't even know this had any horror leanings at all. Audition tells the story of a lonely widower (Ryo Ishibashi) who, along with his TV producer friend, concocts a scheme to find a mate: they hold auditions for a role in a TV program which doesn't exist, and he picks the girl he's interested in from that lot. These girls are required to undress during these auditions! Now, I know. It's Japan - if you think Italy is a whole 'nuther culture, Japan is like way over on the other side of the planet from...well, everything, except Siberia and a few more countries which are at least as alien to me. I barely know anything beyond the most basic notions about Japanese sexual politics, and even those I'm sure are simplified at best, probably way off base at worst. But at least this guy seems to understand that this elaborate deception is, well, criminal. As you might imagine, he picks a seemingly demure girl in particular that he fancies and it's just about the worst pick he could have made. The rest, I'll leave for you to see, except be warned - I think this is hitting about a par for the Japanese course when it comes to violence, gore and sadism, but it's nastier (definitely more realistic) than what I've seen in Italian movies and way beyond what's regularly seen in American ones. Despite the perverse nature of his scheme, Ishibashi makes for a sympathetic hero. His loneliness and sensitivity seems sincere; his guile, limited to the structure of his search for a partner. Some words he has for the girl he picks regarding attitudes towards death and loss were particularly striking. It might've been easier to make this character a more obviously flawed, even deserving victim, but his good-heartedness rarely seems in doubt. Loneliness may well be a problem that particularly hits home for the Japanese, surrounded as they are by way more people in way less space than we're used to in the West. I imagine the self-insulation of urban North Americans (do you know your neighbors by name? I haven't since the street where I grew up) ratcheted up a few levels. Audition begins with shots of a crowdless street for its title screen; I don't know how often such things are seen in Japan, but I'd never seen an empty Japanese street in photos or movies, until I saw this movie. Not for the squeamish - though the squeamish should probably know better than to rent anything with blood in it that comes from Japan. I can't say I liked Audition, since it took so damned long to get going and rendered me barely able to watch once it did, surely the intent. But it is powerful, effective, and probably seen by you long before it was by me if you know anything at all about Japanese horror. If you don't, you've been warned, and, uh, good luck. BACK TO THE A's BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE