It is often written that movies are sometimes like nightmares. But that description really fits Audition by Takashi Miike. The Japanese’s masterpiece runs very inconspicuously for a long time until the plot merges into one almost unbearable excess of torture tilts.
Capelight Pictures will release the FSK 18 film on February 10, 2023 in a new one limited media book, which brings you Audition uncut on DVD and Blu-ray with bonus material and a 24-page booklet. If you have never seen the film or want a chic collector’s item for your home cinema shelf, you should grab it.
Check out a German trailer for Audition here:
Audition – Trailer (German)
Audition mixes an inconspicuous love drama with horrific horror
In the plot of the film, the widower Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) seven years after the death of his wife looking for a new partner. At the staged audition of a film producer friend of his, he meets Asami (Eihi Shiina), who reciprocates his affection and begins a relationship with him. Only slowly do chasms become visible until it’s already too late for Aoyama and the horror takes its course.
Takashi Miike initially takes a lot of time to introduce and characterize the characters. With often distanced camera positions and reserved background music, the director first unfolds a sensitive love story.
With a fascinatingly surreal dream-reality interplay, the final act is all the more extreme. In between shocking excesses of torture, mysterious hallucinations and merciless terror cinema Audition turns into a violent horror shocker. And the sound of a piano string cutting through flesh and bone is something you’ll never forget afterwards.
Amazon/Capelight
Audition in the new media book
*. . .