Audition

Movie: Ôdishon (Audition in English)
Language: Japanese
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Takeshi Miike
Year: 1999
Watched Date: 20th April 2005

Reviews:

Chandrakanth: **** (4/5)
I think it is a very interesting movie.
It is one of the best horror flicks I have ever seen. Yep way ahead of loud Hollywood movies in the same genre like "I know what you did last summer", "Scream", "Nightmare on elm street" etc. What works for this movie is the mixture of gore and realism. Luckily there are no wounds oozing green blood , Metal nails , ugly mask and other special effects. The movie starts off with romantic mood where Ayoma is seeking a new wife, later it slowly wears a shade of mystery when lady Asami goes missing before a shocking finale. The shock value I guess is tremendous. The initial pace and mood are deceptive as they camouflage gory violence. Basically it screws up our perception of what's going to happen. Cinematography is excellent. Though there are no lavish outdoor shots (of course the script doesn't demand it) , the cinematographer with his unusual camera angles,tone and lighting clearly stands out. The narration and characterization are good too. The characterization of Ayoma I think was very well done. The way he throws his friends caution to wind and turns adventurous, The way he turns aside his wife's photograph while short listing probables to escape from guilt, His behavior during audition etc I think are well conceived. The ambiguous ending leaves one baffled( That leaves one wonder what's real, what's a dream, what's memory and what's hallucination ) but that too in a way adds up as a positive for the movie. The music was just ok, The dialogs could have been sharper.

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