Ôdishon (1999)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Ryû Murakami (novel)
Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 March 2000 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

She always gets a part

Plot:

Widower takes an offer to screen girls at a special audition, arranged for him by a friend to find him a new wife. The one he fancies is not who she appears to be after all...

Plot Keywords:

Audition | Widower | Friend | Dinner | Sack

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Ryo Ishibashi	...	Shigeharu Aoyama
Eihi Shiina	...	Asami Yamazaki
Tetsu Sawaki	...	Shigehiko Aoyama
Jun Kunimura	...	Yasuhisa Yoshikawa
Renji Ishibashi	...	Old man in wheelchair
Miyuki Matsuda	...	Ryoko Aoyama
Toshie Negishi	...	Rie
Ren Ôsugi	...	Shimada
Shigeru Saiki	...	Toastmaster
Ken Mitsuishi	...	Director
Yuriko Hiro'oka	...	Michiyo Yanagida
Fumiyo Kohinata	...	TV station presenter
Misato Nakamura	...	Misuzu Takagi
Yuuto Arima	...	Shigehiko as a child
Ayaka Izumi	...	Asami as a child

Also Known As:

Audition (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Oodishon (Japan) (alternative transliteration)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence/torture and sexuality.

Runtime:

115 min | USA:113 min (R-rated version)

Country:

South Korea | Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | Dolby SR

Certification:

Sweden:15 | Chile:14 | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Singapore:R21 (cut) | Portugal:M/16 (orginal rating) | Portugal:M/18 (DVD rating) | Belgium:KNT | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | Canada:R | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R-18 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Zurich) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:18 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R (cut) | USA:Unrated

Company:

AFDF

Trivia:

When the film was screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival 2000 it had a record number of walkouts. At the Swiss premiere someone passed out and needed emergency room attention.

Goofs:

Continuity: During their weekend getaway, Asami clearly removes all of her clothing then lies in bed and covers with a sheet. She then raises the sheet to expose the wounds on her thigh. The white panties can clearly be seen despite the fact that she just removed them.

Quotes:

Yasuhisa Yoshikawa: Happy people cannot act !

Movie Connections:

Referenced in S&Man (2006)

Good, real acting, slow paced and still surprisingly shocking!

Having just discovered Japanese movies, and how good the Horror films are that they produce, I sat down and tucked into Audition, after seeing Ring and Ring 2, I thought their grasp of mixing horror with a good suspenseful story ranked very highly. Audition proves just that, again.

The first three quarters of the film is a simple story of a man looking for a possible wife years after his first wife died. He's a lonely man who confides in his work to earn money purely to care for his son. He story moves slowly, perhaps too slowly at times, but with such natural acting, you believe in it entirely. Then, just as you think this may be nothing more than a simple story of a man and a woman growing love for each other, small doubts are placed in the characters minds.

The doubts soon begin to grow, and as more and more strange things occur, the viewer is placed in a position where they are in as much doubt as the main character.

Then comes the last quarter of the film, and oh my lord, will you be amazed. I have never seen so many different types of emotion as I have when watching people viewing this film for the first time. Suffice to say, it's something I have never seen in any film before. I was aghast.

This is an amazing film, if just for the ending, and as the Director says on the DVD, it's just a story to show how someone's everyday life can take a dramatic turn with just one small decision.