Arrow Releasing Takashi Miike's Audition

[JoeS]

– Takashi Miike's creepily effective psycho-thriller lulls the viewer in by having the first two acts function as mostly a light drama. Widower Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi) buys into a ruse by a Producer friend to set up Auditions for young actresses for a new film - which may or may not even be made. Lots of women apply and try out, but Shigeharu is immediately drawn to an ex-dancer, Asami (Eihi Shiina). Of course, it doesn't hurt that Asami is a long-legged model type with bewitching eyes (Shiina began as a model).

What's interesting here is that Miike disavows the notion that this is a Feminist tale. Further, he notes that in Asia it's seen more as pure rage and revenge, compared to views in the West. It's an interesting contrast. Either way, AUDITION is sturdy stuff. No matter one's personal interpretation, it forces the viewer to sit up and pay attention – whether they may be the auditioner or auditionee.



AUDITION is currently streaming on Shudder, The Criterion Channel, Kanopy (free w/library card), Tubi, Midnight Pulp and elsewhere. It's on this Blu Ray and DVD.

[Ian Jane]

Coming from Umbrella in December.

Audition 25th Anniversary Collector's Edition (1999) (Blu-Ray +Book +Rigid case +Slipcase +Poster +Artcards)

Only available from the Umbrella webstore, the Audition Collector's
Edition includes:

48 page bound book
Custom design outer rigid slipcase
Custom artwork slipcase
8 replica lobby cards
A3 reversible poster
Limited Edition numbered release
NEW! Exclusive Audio commentary with filmmakers Aaron McCann & Dominic Pearce
NEW! Deeper Deeper into Audition - Video Essay by Alexandra Heller Nicholas
Audio Commentary by Japanese Film Expert Tom Mes (in English)
Audio commentary by director Takashi Miike and screenwriter Daisuke Tengan, hosted by Masato Kobayashi
Interviews with lead actors
Interview with actor Ryo Ishibashi (16:17)
Interview with actress Eihi Shiina (20:07)
Interview with actor Renji Ishibashi (20:53)
Interview with actor Ren Osugi (16:23)
Japanese Trailer
International Trailer

[Keeth]

I have the Arrow blu but haven't taken a look at yet.

[Derrick King]

Via the the blu-ray.com forums, screenshot comparisons between Arrow's UK and US releases show that Arrow re-encoded (and improved) this for the US release.

[Keeth]

That's good news as I was looking for a low-priced, used copy on eBay just a few days ago.

[Derrick King]

Arrow's Blu-ray is coming to the US/Can on February 12th.

[Ian Jane]

Audition star Ren Osugi has passed away. He was in some great stuff aside from Audition - a few Kitano movies and a few other Miike films as well as the last Godzilla movie.

http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/34...en-osugi-died/

[Derrick King]

So Marc Walkow recently interviewed (and went to Karaoke with) Riki Takeuchi. Which solidifies my feeling that he is working on special features for a DEAD OR ALIVE Blu-ray (for Arrow, I assume.) (off topic, but I think he also recently interviewed Kiyoshi Kurosawa, so maybe Criterion is finally getting around to releasing CURE.)

[Derrick King]

I guess I'll stick this here, even though I'm not 100% that it is for Arrow, but I think Marc Walkow is working on special features for DEAD OR ALIVE (maybe all three DoA films.) A week ago he mentioned that he was re-watching Miike's DEAD OR ALIVE for work and he is currently in Japan and yesterday he mentioned that he interviewed Sho Aikawa about Miike movies.

(Off topic, but I also think he is working on special features for RING, as he also just interviewed Kí´ji Suzuki and Hideo Nakata)

[Alex K.]

Back when Miike had teeth and made fucked up movies. Audition is probably his masterpiece.

[Randy G]

Totally agree with Tom about how well this stands up. One of the best horror films of its decade.

[47lab]

If anyone is considering the steelbook, I would jump on it pretty quickly to prevent price gouging later. It's already officially listed as OOP at the Arrow online store.

Worth it alone for the Tom Mes commentary. :up:

[Tom Clark]

Mondo-Digital review. Sounds like a winner.

[Tom Clark]

Nice one! Despite all the crazy and bizarre films Miike has done, this one is still one of my favourites. It's a really well constructed horror film.

It has immense staying power. I watched it again over the summer and no matter how many time I've seen it over the years I still come away from it feeling completely drained, even though nothing compares to the jolt of seeing it for the first time. Its frightening, yes, but its also equally if not more sad making it all the more affecting. Miike really has a knack for infusing his horrors with as heavy dose of depression. Even One Missed Call, one of his more commercially minded efforts is smothered in moroseness. Audition is still the pinnacle though. What's also incredible is how tight the pacing is given how fast Miike seems to work. The slow burn is brilliant. Everyone knows this by now but this film really has earned its reputation. A true masterpiece.

[Derrick King]

It is getting a regular case release at the same time (but the regular case will not have the DVD or, more importantly, the booklet)