MOVIE REVIEW: Audition 1999Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) is a lonely, shy, widower with a teenage son. Aoyama’s son suggests that it is time for him to find a new bride. Aoyama enlists the help of a casting director friend. The friend sends Aoyama several bios of young, pretty actresses and then stages a fake audition so that Aoyama can choose a lady to ask out on a date. Aoyama sits through all auditions but has already picked out the lady he wants, a young ballerina, actress and singer by the name of Asami (Eihi Shiina). Asami is the very last audition and Aoyama is even more captivated by her in person. Dressed demurely in all white, Aoyama envisions Asami as the subservient old-fashioned bride he would love to have in his life. Aoyama's friend is not overjoyed by his choice, even warns him that there's just something not "right" about her. Aoyama hesitates to call Asami at first, but when he does the movies cuts to shots of her waiting by the phone in a barren apartment and a large bag lying near her on floor begins to move. Asami accepts a date with Aoyama. During the date she tells him about her life of sorrow and abuse at the hands of people she trusted. Aoyama asks Asami to join him for a weekend retreat. After they make love, he asks her to marry him. Later that evening Aoyama is awakened out of his slumber by a nightmare and is comforted by Asami. In the morning he discovers that Asami has disappeared without a trace. Aoyama goes on a hunt to find the missing beauty and discovers that she is certainly NOT the girl he thought her to be, in addition..she may also be very dangerous. We learn that Asami is the ultimate woman scorned and will stop at nothing to make sure that she is the only focus in Aoyama’s life, even if it means removing a limb or two. No more spoilers from me y’all!
Believe everything you’ve heard about this film. It’s awesome and terrifying. Not terrifying in a typical horror film way…I would not classify this one as "horror". This is more of a psychological thriller IMO. It builds you up to believe you are going to see a movie about an older man falling in love with a much younger woman and living happily ever after, then BAM!…we discover this bitch is bat-shit crazy. This film is certainly not for the squeamish, it has scenes of graphic torture and violence. However, there is no nudity and no foul language. Both actors did a great job. The actress who portrayed Asami did a great job of playing a demure psycho….she looks and speaks so sweetly while committing some of the most heinous acts ever filmed. In Japanese with English subtitles. Kiri, kiri, kiri………..
VERDICT: 4 Soul Claps
Labels: Movie Reviews
This entry was posted
on Thursday, November 02, 2006 at 12:36 PM.
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