And if so... That has to be one of the most disturbing endings to a movie I've ever seen...

If you've seen it, what did you think??...And do you think there really WAS a burlap bag in the woman's apartment, or was that symbolism of some sort??...???


((((shudder))))...

I'd have to say it was one of the most shocking things I have ever seen. I remember me and Raspberry here discussing it when it was on TV here in the UK. Taking away the shock and disturbing ending, I think Audition is a clever film in that it manipulates the viewer. It centres on the supposition that the opposite of human perfection is not imperfection but absolute evil and really explores just what it is the viewer wishes to see. Further, the fact that we are more likely to read Asami as a 'real' psychopath rather than the beautiful and vulnerable young woman that she is, says much about our cinematic literacy and our appetite for the symbolism of evil.

In the last resort, this may be one man's fear, but every woman's fantasy.

I'm currently downloading it off bittorrent, i'm really into freaky Japanese/Asian movies at the moment. 'The Eye', 'Dark Water', 'Ringu', 'A Tale of Two Sisters', 'Ichi the Killer' and 'Ju-On - The Grudge' to name a few i've recently seen.

here's a nice review site i've googled up.

http://www.bizarreingredi...anfilm.htm

what it says about 'Audition'

Audition (1999)
Directed by Takashi Miike
Cast: Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Renji Ishibashi, Miyuki Matsuda, Tetsu Kuremura, Jun Kunimura

After his wife died seven years ago, Aoyama Shigeharu was left alone with their only son. Fearing being middle aged and alone, and after noting his son's concern for his happiness, he begins to think about remarrying but is unsure where to begin and how to find that perfect partner.

One of Aoyama's work colleagues (Aoyama is President of his own video production company) comes up with the idea of holding an audition for a movie that most likely will never be made.


They advertise the audition and many actresses respond. But Aoyama is taken by one application from Asami Yamazaki and is drawn to her enclosed essay, which concerns the loss of a childhood dream to study ballet.

The audition is held and Aoyama is entranced when young Asami enters the room. He falls for her enigmatic charm and decides in his own mind that she will get the part. Asami and Aoyama soon start dating and the relationship begins to gather pace. But after a weekend away where they sleep together for the first time Asami mysteriously disappears.


Aoyama is beside himself and tries to track down Asami. However, his search seems to deepen the mystery. He finds out that people Asami had mentioned have all mysteriously disappeared. He returns to his house only to find that Asami is there too, waiting for him.

Comment:
There aren't many class Horror's around these days but Takashi Miike's 'Audition' is one such example of that rare breed, few films match its measured intensity and shocking climax.


The masterplan is deceptively simple; Miike wraps up a paranoid modern fairy tale romance in the clothing of a mid-life crisis. Fears of loneliness, trust and misplaced desire are central and Takashi has fun with all of them, kicking them into the ground when they reach full bloom. Any hope that is presented in 'Audition' has a rancid taste; y'know that quick-fix pill that will make your life so much better? Well, it tastes like shit.

Asami is a fantasy creation, her demure and charming manner giving her an almost ghostly atmosphere. Like a modern day Siren Asami snags the unwary by singing a beautiful song, giving each victim what they desire until they are lost in the middle of a dark sea with no idea of where to go. Left stranded, the unfortunate victims are toyed with and then slain while adrift and helpless - still blinded by the love of their own fantasy. In their dying moments the realisation occurs that they've been chasing the unobtainable all along, a simple phantom of their own creation luring them to their doom.


At no point in 'Audition' is the film ever actually about Asami, although the viewer witnesses the catalogue of abuse the perspective is consistently Aoyama's, lingering on his perceived sense of satisfaction and desire. Asami remains distant throughout the film and this is why 'Audition' seems to go from a very long introduction to its sudden ending in one jump - there simply is no middle part to tell. Asami is a cold, enigmatic masculine fear in flesh; Aoyama's fantasy made real, a tragic result of one cruelty layered on top of another.

If you want to see one of the most twisted and disturbing Horror films of recent years stop here. For fans of the genre this is simply a must see. Forget the current insipid and clueless crap made in the west, this is where it's at.
[Edited 12/6/04 4:46am]

Byron said:

i choose for it to have been symbolism

i saw it a while back and i remember the ending, but that's about it...i forget what the burlap bag was supposed to be all about...interesting this thread popped up, since i just watched 'ju on' last night...

Mach said:

I'm wanting to do that, too... ...except, well, they never found the contents of the bag.

JDINTERACTIVE said:

I definitely saw her as a beautiful, lonely and vunerable young woman, especially at the very end when the son is looking down at her from the top of the stairs...his expression shows that even he is seeing her as merely a young female, nothing more, and not the epidome of evil (although he has every right to)...

In the end, I guess the whole movie is a commentary on objectification...he does it to her in how he goes about "auditioning" women for the role of his wife...she does it to him, by seeing him merely as a symbol of what she hates instead of the complex soul, which we all are.