Audition

Audition
by Takashi Miike

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DVD Reviews of Audition

DVD Review: Piano wire makes for a fun evening!
Summary: 5 Stars

"Audition" starts like a Japanese adaptation of some saccharine American family television program. Aoyama, a man whose wife died some years before, desperately seeks female companionship. He works as a television producer, has done an excellent job raising his son, and enjoys bonding with this son on fishing trips. Aoyama, in other words, is a really nice guy. It's just that he is so lonely nowadays since his son is quickly growing up and has less and less time to spend with his father. Aoyama therefore soon faces the prospect of almost total solitude. Our hero opens his heart to his business partner one evening at the local bar, lamenting the changing face of Japanese society that has led to a decline of traditional women--meaning ladies who will stay home and serve their husbands--and a rise in the numbers of modern, cynical women. After commiserating with his buddy, the two come up with an excellent idea. Recognizing that they work in the film business, why not put out an ad for a female part in a new television program while secretly using the audition process as a means of securing the perfect mate for Aoyama? What a brilliant idea! A quick perusal of the resumes beforehand will help narrow down the final choices.

The plan goes off without a hitch, and Aoyama does indeed discover a young woman who he thinks will be his ideal match. Blessed with an ethereal visage and the pretty name of Asami, this young woman seems like a magnificent catch. Aoyama likes the fact that the young woman has undergone a few personal tragedies in her life but emerged stronger because of them. He even seems to like her perpetual shyness, perhaps because it indicates Asami is a traditional woman who will know her place in Aoyama's household. Even after deciding on Asami, our hero hesitates to pursue the relationship. Should he be so forward? Wouldn't it seem indecorous to make such blatant overtures? As Aoyama debates what action he should take a few problems emerge that cast a pall over his choice. His partner encourages him to choose someone else, saying that her "chemistry" isn't right and that he has a bad feeling about this young girl. Another possible problem emerges when Aoyama discovers that Asami has no permanent address. Only a phone number links the two potential lovers, but the lonely Aoyama throws all caution to the wind and calls anyway. On the other end of the line sits Asami, who spends a lot of time sitting around a bare room waiting by the telephone. When the phone finally rings, a smile full of sinister implications stretches itself across Asami's mug. She obviously knows her charms worked on the older Aoyama and now she plans on running a show full of painful activities.

No guy wants to think the sort of things that happen to Aoyama could really occur, but it can happen when you start treating people like objects instead of living, breathing beings. And Asami has been treated like an object by every male figure in her life. When it comes time to lash out at her oppressors, Aoyama is there to take the fall. The film becomes problematic when we learn that the main character is actually a nice guy. He loves his son, certainly wouldn't treat a woman badly, and is so lonely that it is tough to not empathize with the desperate measures he takes to find a woman. Miike lessens the likeability of Aoyama during the second half of the film, when we see he has some decidedly unsavory desires of his own, but I still couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy.

Whether the extreme torture session between Aoyama and Asami actually takes place or is a dream really isn't all that crucial to the story line although it certainly achieves a fingernails on the blackboard effect for any male watching it. I think "Audition" is a film about how men and women constantly and consistently fail to connect on a personal level. When Aoyama authorizes the audition and reads through the resumes looking for the perfect woman, he assigns a host of assumptions to Asami based on what HE wants in a woman. Whether she will fulfill these expectations in person is secondary to what the man wants. Watch the movie, not just for the gore scenes, but also to view a social critique about gender roles and miscommunication.