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Asian Horror Series : Audition
By James VanFleet
Feb 21, 2006, 23:00

Audition is probably the film most responsible for a question I keep returning to, again and again.  That question is simple: what is horror?  I used to think that the purpose of horror was to frighten or terrify.  But, more and more, horror seems to exist to repulse.  Is that less noble?  Or is repulsion a more honest way of communicating violence, rather than simply using it as a means for safe thrills?

Most importantly, could I possibly have written a more obnoxious introduction to this review?

Probably not.  But Audition challenges me in a way that few horror movies have.  Do I praise the film for its uncompromising, nightmarish imagery?  Or is it more important to say that I left this film with an uncontrollable urge to vomit?  I’d like to think that I’ve seen enough horror films that simple gore and revolting tactics won’t work, but Audition proves me wrong.  This film feels more like an endurance test than a roller coaster.

Of course, Takashi Miike wants this reaction.  He wants us to watch and have our small amount of unease transform into slack-jawed awe.  The story itself is a marvel of construction and setup.  Ryo Ishibashi  plays Shigeharu Aoyama, a man who is adjusting to single life following his wife’s death.  His friend, a movie producer, decides to help Shigeharu by holding a fake audition.  The women think they’ll be cast in a movie.  Instead, they’ll be judged by Shigeharu, who’s searching for a new love in his life.  What neither man suspects is that the most attractive of the girls happens to have a human-sized burlap bag sitting in the middle of her apartment.

If you’ve read this far, you know that Audition is not a serious relationship drama, which is how it begins.  Instead, the film transforms into a surreal landscape of horrific imagery that would put Dario Argento to shame.  If your idea of good horror is Scream and Halloween, you will find Audition a difficult experience.

That does not make it an empty experience, however.  Audition is a film of magnificent style.  Miike does not mind revolting the audience, but he does so in a very clever and deliberate fashion.  Towards the end, there are some shifts in levels of reality, and Miike paints those surreal moments with oversaturated colors and kooky camera angles.  Those moments are the moments when the film goes its craziest.

When the violence in the film returns to a level of reality, Miike does another crazy thing.  He shows none of the gore onscreen, keeping the gruesomeness on the level of sound effects and facial expressions.  All the same, it’s hard not to feel a knot in one’s stomach when Asami (the stunning Eihi Shiina) starts whispering “Kiri kiri kiri” as she prepares to slice off a foot with razor wire.

Horror has taken an odd shift in recent years.  There was a cycle of teenage slashers that started with Scream, then a cycle of ghost stories that started with The Sixth Sense.  And then Asian horror blasted onto the scene in America.  Movies like Ringu and Ju-on: The Grudge showed a different stylistic approach to creating horror.  But while those films had more in common with ghost stories of the 60’s, Audition feels like a renegade from the 70’s, where movies like I Spit on Your Grave tried to test codes of morality and violence.

I won’t deny the appeal of a film like Audition, which is one of those films you dare your friends to see.  “You think you’ve seen some sick movies?  Go watch Audition.”  When I announced to a friend that I was going to watch the film, he pointed a finger at me and announced that I was going to be, ahem, mind-screwed (language edited).  It’s as good a reason as any to watch the film, I guess.  The question for me, whenever a movie this graphic and revolting comes along, is whether or not the creators are trying to say something, and whether or not that message and delivery justifies the level of repulsion.

Audition pulls that off.  The film’s horror is basically a response to the misogynism of its main characters, as subtle and unassuming as it is.  They are, after all, auditioning hundreds of women for the sake of one sad sack who's above bars and pick-up lines.  The shift in tone is purposefully abrupt, meant to shock the audience into realizing the flaws of the main character.  This underlying theme, coupled with the tremendous style in the final reels, justifies the depths Audition plumbs.

I admit, there is something vaguely noble about a film so unremittant and uncompromising, so I recommend the film.  Some horror fans will chuckle at the fact that I am cautious in reviewing this film.  I take this opportunity to remind them that most people are not horror buffs, and will be shocked, and will want to stop the movie once they see a starving man seriously tempted by a bowl of vomit.

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This review is the first in a series of Asian horror reviews.  If you have a suggestion for an Asian horror movie that you would like to see reviewed, drop us a line and let us know which ones deserve our attention.

Buy Audition on DVD at Amazon.com