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words lie. there is truth in pain.
Jun. 13th, 2002 | 12:17 am
hard to believe it's been a couple weeks since i wrote anything. the longer i'm around, the faster time seems to fly by. tonight, i finally got to see takashi miike's audition. i'd heard so much about it and had really been wanting to see a miike film. unfortunately, i missed ichi the killer at the film festival and his other work has (with the exception of fudoh) not been released on vhs or dvd in the U.S.
from what i'd read about audition, i was a little freaked out about watching it. supposedly there have been more people walking out of the theater in disgust during the last few minutes than at any other film in memory. the only movie i can remember people walking out of in horror was reservoir dogs during the cop torture scene. that scene was a little disturbing, but i couldn't understand why people would freak out and leave. but i had a feeling this movie might live up to its stomach-churning reputation. knowing that something crazy would happen in the last half hour made me anxious as hell when i watched it.
basically, the movie's about a tv producer whose wife passed away several years earlier. his son suggests that it's time he remarry. rather than go through the hassle of meeting a woman the old-fashioned way, he and a colleague come up with the idea of auditioning potential candidates under the guise of casting for a tv movie. for the first hour or so, the pacing of the movie is slow and it seems like a normal, conventional story. the guy ends up finding what he thinks is the perfect girl. then things get really fucked up.
i didn't have to turn the movie off, but the last 20 minutes or so had me squirming a little. i guess i can see why it sickened some people. definitely not for the squeamish. the dvd is pretty good, it has a 25 minute interview with the director and he also has a commentary track during the last reel of the film. that helped clear a few things up and gave me a better understanding of what he was trying to accomplish with the ending.
midnight eye, the best japanese cult cinema page in the universe, has a great interview with miike. i hope they release more of his films here on dvd soon.
from what i'd read about audition, i was a little freaked out about watching it. supposedly there have been more people walking out of the theater in disgust during the last few minutes than at any other film in memory. the only movie i can remember people walking out of in horror was reservoir dogs during the cop torture scene. that scene was a little disturbing, but i couldn't understand why people would freak out and leave. but i had a feeling this movie might live up to its stomach-churning reputation. knowing that something crazy would happen in the last half hour made me anxious as hell when i watched it.
basically, the movie's about a tv producer whose wife passed away several years earlier. his son suggests that it's time he remarry. rather than go through the hassle of meeting a woman the old-fashioned way, he and a colleague come up with the idea of auditioning potential candidates under the guise of casting for a tv movie. for the first hour or so, the pacing of the movie is slow and it seems like a normal, conventional story. the guy ends up finding what he thinks is the perfect girl. then things get really fucked up.
i didn't have to turn the movie off, but the last 20 minutes or so had me squirming a little. i guess i can see why it sickened some people. definitely not for the squeamish. the dvd is pretty good, it has a 25 minute interview with the director and he also has a commentary track during the last reel of the film. that helped clear a few things up and gave me a better understanding of what he was trying to accomplish with the ending.
midnight eye, the best japanese cult cinema page in the universe, has a great interview with miike. i hope they release more of his films here on dvd soon.