I’m not sure how this movie made it into my Netflix queue. Perhaps I saw it in a list of “recommended Japanese movies” or maybe Netflix recommended it when I gave positive feedback on other Japanese movie titles. In any event, I had no idea what the movie would be like when I put it in my DVD player.

At first it seemed like a cutesie, chick flick with this perfect man and perfect son looking for the perfect female to enter their household to replace their long lost, and much beloved, okaasan who had died many years before when the teenager was just a small boy. I even called my wife in to watch as it seemed to be something more fitting to her tastes than mine. (She didn’t make it to the end.)

About halfway though the movie, or so, things suddenly took an abrupt turn to a darker and far more sinister undertone. My ten-year old daughter walked in the room just in time to see a sack lurch on the back of the screen. There may have been a strange sound emitted as well. I’m not sure. All I know is my daughter sprinted out of the room, and it was clear that this wasn’t just a chick flick.

Without giving too much away, I can say that you will have to be a fan of twisted movies to really enjoy the latter half of Audition. Takashi Miike borrows a page or two from David Lynch’s Lost Highway, one of my favorite movies. Movies like Audition and Lost Highway weigh on my mind for several days after viewing.

If you have seen Audition and want to understand it more, check out this. This movie isn’t really a horror movie, at least not in the classical or even modern sense of the word. It is different. It isn’t just for entertainment either. There are lots of uses for this movie. Here are a few that come to mind:

1) Use it on a bachelor when they decide to marry if you want to quickly convince them never to marry.
2) Use it on a child abuser to get them to mend their ways. Forget prison. This is way more effective.
3) Use it on someone who is into S&M for “fun.” They will no longer be into S&M for any reason. Period.
4) Use it on a person who sleeps too much. After this movie they will never want to sleep again.

Enjoy!

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Posted on December 1st, 2008 under Japan • Tags: reviews. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback