Before I get cracking on with this review, I am going to put a SPOILER WARNING. This film works so much better if you go into it blind and so if you have any interest in seeing it, I suggest you do before continuing to read. You have been warned.
Takashi Miike is such a prolific director, and with this prolific nature you are bound to get some duds, but you are also bound to get one or two masterpieces. Audition (1999) is one of those. It is a film that starts as one thing and ends as something completely different, and that change is so intense that it ends up being unforgettable. The film starts as this kind of off-kilter rom-com, being very funny and allowing us to build up connections with these characters. It then slowly starts drip-feeding that things may not be all they seem, changing the film's tone and genre from this romcom to more of a thriller. But then it just keeps getting more extreme and more extreme, ending up more like a living nightmare until I eventually find myself hiding behind my hands and wanting to turn away. And I should say that I have seen this film before. I know where it is going, I know what I am about to see. But even prepared it massively gets to me and has me squirming uncontrollably. And what makes it so expert in that regard is that it doesn’t allow you to escape the nightmare unless you physically turn the film off or leave the room (although saying that this film will stick with you regardless). It does this because even when you turn away and don’t look at the screen, the sound design is telling you all you need to know and in some ways, it is better to look than to imagine what is going on. But the film's expert shift in tone makes it stand out and that is why it sticks with people. It is expertly done, not only within the narrative but within the style as the film goes from this pretty standard romcom/melodrama with relatively flat cinematography and standard continuity editing to this complete insanity where it everything feels off and weird before becoming unbearably extreme. The shift makes the film feel unsafe and like anything can happen and you don’t know where it is going to take you. And it does take you to pretty extreme places, and keeps you there (seriously, the finale is just ten continuous minutes of almost unbearable torture) and although it is hard to watch I fucking love it. Horror is my genre, and this is one of the best across the entire catalogue of films within it. It is definitely not for everyone but it is so up my street.
Audition is available to watch on Amazon Prime, YouTube, Arrow, and BFI Player.
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