Audition

Movie Info

Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller

Written by: Ryû Murakami (novel)

Directed by: Takashi Miike

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 8, 2001
DVD: June 4, 2002

Running Time: 115 minutes, Color

Origin: Japan

Language(s): Japanese (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Sawaki, and Jun Kunimura

When a Japanese widower holds an audition to search for a potential mate, he finds more than he expected in this eerie thriller.

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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

T C gave it a3:
Not scary. Not disgusting. Boring.

rob z. gave it a10:
It's been a few months now, and the images of the movie are still vivid in my mind. It is disturbing, and shocking. But yet, that's what I look for in a horror movie. From the moment that phone rings in her apartment with the shock scene, the action never lets up.

R J gave it an8:
"Audition" reminds me of "Psycho" and "Deliverance" (both brilliant films) in that it leads the audience into thinking the story is moving along in one direction, when all of a sudden, one crucial scene appears that changes the nature of everything that has come before it and the viewer turns around to see the path they have been following is suddenly no longer there, and they are lost in the deep dark woods. After Marion Crane, the only apparent protagonist of "Psycho," with whom everyone in the audience has come to care about and identify with is shockingly murdered, the audience feels stranded and misplaced like a panicked kid who has lost his mother in a gigantic spooky department store. "Audition" has a scene like that which sneaks up on you and leaves you confounded, misled, and deeply apprehensive. It's a scene where the protagonist, Aoyama, calls up the seemingly sweet, soft-spoken young woman he has fallen for, and we see her at her apartment sitting in front of the phone as it rings. I won't go into detail, but what we immediately realize from this moment is that this young woman is severely disturbed, and to be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately we, the audience, like Aoyama, have fallen into the director, Takashi Miike's, diabolical trap. Quite disturbing and memorable.

Rich gave it a9:
This is Miike at his best, creating a film that will confuse and disturb you. The first half starts as a peaceful romantic comedy, and then, slowly builds up to the squirm inducing finale. Yes the start may seem slow, but it all adds to the effect of luring you into a false sense of security. Brilliant.

Peter B. gave it a2:
This movie was awful. I honestly cannot see what everyone else sees in it. Not only is it technically unimpressive--the cinematography was a subpar attempt to imitate a high schooler's video or photo skills-- the storyline was terrible. It took over an hour to even get into any kind of real story, and then the last half hour or so was a trippy, ridiculous and confusing rehash of the crap from first hour. Acting is poor, screenplay is unimpressive, and worst of all- IT'S NOT SCARY! Disturbing, yes, but scary it certainly is not. The unexpected turns that people talk about are not like you'd expect--they're just points in the movie where the director couldn't figure out where to go and instead said "ya know what? I'm gonna just completely change everything just to mess with people!" Avoid if at all possible.

nick a gave it a10:
Horrible, unnerving, grisly, haunting, this film works because it doesn't do what you think it will, some of the scenes are quite gut wrenching and difficult to watch but regardless this is another superb effort from Miike.

sidewinder572 gave it a10:
The best film of the past 10 years. There I've said it. It's everything that a great horror movie should be and it's genius is that it's extremely boring for about the first hour until it slowly creeps up on you and eventually ninja kicks you in the face. Anyone who even consider themelves as a horror fan must see this film.

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