Audition leaves a horrific taste in mouth, but predictably so

Warning: Contains spoilers and gory details

As a fan of the Asian extreme genre, I was surprised that I didn't enjoy Takashi Miike's groundbreaking horror film Audition, his first and most famous of films, as much as I expected to.

With that said, my not liking the film doesn't have much to do with its failure to live up to the genre's expectations - its ability to shock and disgust audiences was not lost on me, and the infamously climatic scene near the end was enough to render me speechless for at least a couple minutes (and momentarily queasy for another ten).

What struck me most about the film, however, was not the full-fledged violence in all its glory (as only Miike could bring to the screen) but the curious in-balance that occurred between the first half of the movie, in which our two main characters are introduced and carefully drawn out, and the latter half of the movie, which collapsed all characterization that had previously been built up in favor of slasher-film techniques.

The gratuitous torture scenes, while effective in making the audience squirm (so much in fact, that its exhibition at the Rotterdam Film Festival had a record number of walk-outs, including one viewer who fainted and needed immediate medical attention), were more showy than substantial and ended up defining the film rather than supplementing it. If I wanted pure violence, I would have watched a slasher flick instead.

My main problem with purely slasher flicks is that they have one purpose and one purpose only: to put it crudely, they proceed to visually rape the mind over the span of ninety or so minutes. Some people might get a kick out of that, and I'm not one to judge people's eccentricities, god forbid, but that's not what I'm looking for when I watch movies - not even the scary ones. Slasher flicks don't require strong characters or an effective plot-line because the whole point of the genre is to highlight a series of visually commanding (and usually disgusting) images for the viewer's benefit. It's pure Hollywood tradition - the bigger the guns (i.e. the more gruesome images you can muster), the more effective your film will be, skill and subtlety not included. Slasher flicks don't require a great screen-writer. Hell, they don't even need a good director. All they really need is a lot of realistic special effects, innovative torture devices designed specifically for scenes, and (I presume) a lot of blood and screaming actors. Needless to say, the modern cinema spectacle is not my cup of tea.

Is Audition a slasher flick? No. At least, it didn't start off as one. The plot follows the widower Aoyoma, a slightly dim-witted but decent man, who finds unmarried life too lonely for his tastes and is persuaded to hold an "audition" to find a new woman to marry. During the audition, a young, shy woman with a tender voice and poignant story (she loves ballet, but can no longer dance to an injury) immediately catches his eye and they begin a relationship that seems promising at first but of course (as the viewer knows from the get-go), turns into the stuff of nightmares - concluding with the famous torture scene, where she *SPOILER* proceeds to amputate his leg with a piano wire, among other equally grisly stuff. (And yes, they show everything.)

A lot of critics have called this a twisted feminist critique of what happens to bad men in a world where women are repeatedly mistreated and objectified, but I see some gaping problems with this assertion. The first is that I'm thoroughly sick of this genre. The whole dilemma featuring sweet little girls who secretly harbor a desire to hurt men and will stop at nothing to get their revenge has never appealed to me. In movies like that, I usually end up feeling more disgusted by the girl's behavior than that of the man. This is not because I'm anti-feminist (although the term is way too loaded for me to get into in this post) or because I necessarily disagree with the fact that in many ways, we still live in a patriarchal society where men hold most of the power.

Political convictions aside, I have just never found the female protagonist in those sorts of film likable, or even believable. Period. They're usually so self-righteous, so up-in-your-face about what they're setting out to "fix," that anything they do becomes downright annoying rather than enlightening. Case in point: Ellen Page's character in Hard Candy, a film with a similar direction as Audition. A fourteen-year-old girl sets out to punish a pedophile/pervert. Why? Because she can. Because she possesses the innocent charm of a smart but ultimately misguided girl. Honestly, she was just a prick who talked too much. By the time the film was half over, I wanted to see her under the razor rather than Patrick Wilson.

The whole power reversal regarding gender dynamics is an intriguing topic to filmmakers, I'm sure (A man torturing a woman? Boring. But a woman torturing a man - oh wow, it's never been done before AND it's a social taboo, so how can anyone resist?), but it doesn't automatically translate to a good movie - just like extreme violence doesn't necessarily make a good Asian extreme flick (although it does seem hard to find one without the other).

I actually liked the character of Aoyoma. I liked the relationship he had with his son, and to me his loneliness seemed so prominent, his intrigue with Asami (aka crazy psycho girl) so genuine that I wanted to cut him some slack. The audition wasn't even his idea. Okay, so maybe he should have had the balls to actually find his own girls to date, but I mean, the guy was cut off from the social world for a good amount of time before he decided to suddenly jump back in; does he really deserve to lose a foot for his (somewhat honest and a little stupid) mistake?

My point is, why build up Aoyoma's character just to tear him down? If Miike wanted a film where the woman demands retribution for the terrible treatment she has been subject to, why direct it at someone who doesn't even deserve it? Maybe the violent scenes would have been more effective if I didn't actually care about the victim but to me, they just seemed irrational and conflicted with the overall integrity of the film.

The line that killed it for me was when Asami, dressed in her half-nurse, half-butcher style outfit and ready to commence her amputation wire tactics, says with malice, "All you men are the same. You tell girls you love them, but you only want sex." Um, no. Sorry girl, but that doesn't fly. You're the one who took off all your clothes and climbed into bed when he wanted to go out and see the park or something. What exactly does that prove? Obviously Asami is a very disturbed character, with a very dark past involving some very bad men, but I thought her character was too neatly cliched - ironically, her being so extreme and unreasonable made it impossible for her to step out of that immediate archetype of formerly-innocent-girl-turned-evil. Maybe I wasn't supposed to feel sympathy for her, but I don't think I was supposed to hate her either. She didn't creep me out; she just pissed me off. Is that what feminism is? Women who hate men so much that they become inhuman? For a distinctly "feminist" film, the protagonist seems to be giving women everywhere a bad name.

All in all, Audition was not a very innovative film. The violence was shocking and horrifying, sure, but it wasn't satisfying. The climax is the only reason to watch the film (if only because Miike dares to go places that even violent masters like Peckinpah and Woo avoid), but there's not much else that makes it stand out.

For a film by Miike that's just as grisly but features character dynamics that aren't predictable or stifling, watch Ichi the Killer instead.

Relish Foreign Films: Let The Right One In Film Review

Originally published as a Westwind blog entry


My favorite film of 2008. Totally should have been nominated for an Oscar. The Academy sucks.

Recently I had the opportunity to see Let The Right One In, the Swedish vampire film that recently won a bunch of awards at several film festivals, including the Rotten Tomatoes Consensus Award (when I last checked, it had only ten reviews but all of them were positive, giving it 100% on rottentomatoes.com) and Best Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival.

I didn't know much about it going in - I didn't even bother to watch the trailer, partially because I feel like a lot of trailers these days give a misleading impression of the actual movie, probably for marketing reasons more than anything else - but I must say, Let The Right One In is one of the best horror movies I've seen in a long time. Watching it reminded me of how much I love foreign films, and not just because they contain wonderful subtitles that keep you better on par with the basic plotline.

I like foreign films because they tend to deviate from the typical blockbuster clichés that Hollywood loves to spoon-feed us. Even though many (okay, most) of the horror scenes were rather campy and purposely outrageous, their flawless execution made them entertaining to watch on-screen. I don't know, maybe I have a thing for vampire movies, but my usual dislike for slasher flicks (or gratuitous violence for no real purpose other than to shock the audience) was momentarily suspended when I watched certain scenes last night. Although in hindsight the movie itself was by no means a slasher film and thinking back on it, most of the serious violence occurred off-screen anyway.

The cinematography and casting were both really well done and I loved the actress who played Eli, a 12-year old vampire. There was just something truly alien about her that drew the audience in- maybe it was in the way her eyes would change colors depending on the lighting in the scene (sometimes they looked completely black, other times a murky blue) or how she looked so young but sounded and smiled like someone who's seen the ways of the world. Whatever it was, this actress pulled off the role tremendously well. Her sophistication in the movie made me wonder how old the actual actress is, so I tried googling her afterwards but nothing really came up (a downside of watching non-mainstream movies).

The romance in the film was a good offset to the dark undertone as well - not too overboard but still a good backdrop for the story that unfolds. I remember one reviewer

on rottentomatoes.com comparing it to Twilight (you can read it here), the international bestseller also involving vampire-human romance that’s coincidentally going to hit theaters soon, and I was somewhat irritated because when I think of Twilight, I automatically think one-dimensional.

Stephanie Meyer doesn't ever really show Edward gnawing on a human's neck or describe what his face looks like right after he's had a meal (not very pleasant, unless you enjoy the sight of blood). In Let the Right One In, vampires are savages, serious predators who aren't afraid to hunt and destroy in order to survive (and when they bite you, it hurts), and the filmmakers don't shy away from showing it – all of it. At the same time, the savage nature of the typical vampire is also heavily nuanced, as in one minute I was thinking, "Man, that Eli girl is downright VICIOUS!" (Does the fact that I say this somewhat with a sense of glee make me a bad person?) and another minute: "Oh, poor little vampire girl...She desperately needs a hug."

Needless to say, I think all things worth watching should have nuances of gray in what seems to be a black and white situation. I refuse to see things purely in black and white for the same reasons why I dislike the blockbuster genre (as a general rule - though there are certain blockbuster movies I enjoy) : 1) It's predictable, which often leads to boredom, and 2) It's not realistic. Now by realistic I don't mean realistic in the sense that it could happen in real life as we know it today – this would totally rule out any sci-fi or fantasy potential, which are two genres I've grown to really like. But realistic as in: Can I see it happening in an alternate universe where all things are possible and yet, somehow life still makes sense at the end? It's a paradox, I know, and I'm not so sure I understand it myself. But it's like that one Nietzsche quote:

"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."

Now replace "love" with "movies" and that's what I mean when I use the word "realistic." Not every detail in a film has to make sense in the long run (although the ones that do are usually good films), but when too many of the details don’t make sense, or are just plain absurb, the sheer lack of coherency, as well as lack of believability (in the same loose sense that I've been using these rather concrete terms), makes the story annoying rather than endearing.

Now this is not to say that I don't enjoy a little absurdity every now and then, because I do (I really liked The Science of Sleep, for example, and half of that movie went right over my head. The style of Requiem for a Dream was also appealing for the same reason. And don't get me started about The Dreamers). I just don't like walking away from a movie feeling like the filmmaker made it just because he could, that he made the movie because he's a filmmaker and that's what filmmakers do. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. If you're going to do something, make some effort to do it well.

To some extent, I believe in Oscar Wilde's philosophy, or the notion that “all art is useless,” sheerly for the sake of being art, but still, that art should mean something to you at the end of the day. It should mean something to its audience. There's nothing worse than taking the time to experience something, whether it be a movie, a book, or a song, and feeling completely indifferent about it afterwards. I'd much rather hate a movie than feel indifferent about it. I would rather think, "This movie sucks because of this or that" rather than, "I could have spent the last two hours doing something else and it wouldn't have made any difference at all." Now that's sad.

Speaking of which, that's sort of how I felt when I read the last Twilight book, Breaking Dawn. I read it because it was out there (and yes, my curiosity does often get the better of me), not because it offered anything particularly innovative or worthwhile. The writing started off terrible. The story became terrible. And the characters all became mere caricatures of themselves - i.e. without nuances.

So please, don't compare Let The Right One In to Twilight, of all things. For me, it gave off a more Interview with a Vampire vibe than anything else.

Some Recent (Almost Decent) Viewings

Taken; The Uninvited

There are two things in life that I think should rarely be done alone:

One of them is eating. I just think food tastes so much better when you're sharing the experience with someone else. Unless of course that person is a food-hog and eating with them means not eating at all. In that scenario, I opt for eating alone.

The second thing is watching horror films and action flicks. One should never watch a horror film by themselves because that's just stupid. No really, what's the point of experiencing the dark alleyways and the gruesome theatrical effects, as well as the stupidity of the main characters (who, sadly enough, are often attractive female bimbos with fluff for brains - part of the appeal of the horror genre, I suppose. Maybe that's why so many more guys like them than girls), without someone else there to placate the intensely riveting and adrenaline-producing experience with? I understand that certain films are better off viewed alone (won't name any now but I'm sure you know what I mean) but those lurking in the realm of horror are not one of them. Because the only thing funner than being scared is being scared with someone else.

As for action flicks, high-speed car chases and enormous bouts of ass-kicking are just that much cooler and/or impressive when viewed in a crowd. Enough said.

So recently I had the opportunity to preview Taken and The Ininvited, both of which were immensely enjoyable experiences because they were viewed in a crowded setting filled with rowdy college students. In terms of quality they weren't the most original of films (duh - they are blockbusters for a reason) but I enjoyed them nonetheless.

I'm sure half the people in the audience went to see Taken solely for the sake of watching Liam Neeson star in an untraditional role, which is understandable because that reason alone is enough to make it a worthwhile movie. Very few actors nowadays have that kind of charisma - you know, the kind where one can play both the loving dad AND the unrelenting badass all in the same movie. It reminded me of watching Will Smith in I Am Legend because man, if I didn't like Will Smith so much beforehand, that movie would have reeked for sure. I still didn't like it in the end but at least he made it bearable. Same with Seven Pounds, which I actually really liked.

Anyway, Taken was a great experience because it was exactly what I expected, no more, no less. There was nothing innovative about the way the movie was constructed, shot, and executed but it didn't fail to disappoint because my expectations weren't geared towards ingenuity to begin with. I just wanted to be entertained, and it gave me an earnest show. Plus some parts were just plain funny, like the constant replaying of the threatening telephone call ("Goooood luck") on the plane or when he finally comes face-to-face with his daughter's kidnapper. That guy just didn't know what hit him (literally). Oblivious people - aren't they fun?

The Uninvited was basically a hybrid of every horror cliche in existence but again, I had no real expectations for that one. Like most people, I'm not a fan of American remakes of Asian horror movies - the genre has basically been maxed out - but I remember seeing the cover for the Korean movie upon which The Uninvited was based and it looked pretty intriguing. The original title is called A Tale of Two Sisters and based on what I've read and heard, the original is a lot more creepy and a lot more confusing than the new remake. One thing I gotta give it kudos for, though - it did manage to tie up the loose ends pretty well, especially with the twist that comes at the very moment when you think that the movie can't get any more predictable. By golly, she's not who we think she is! Who could have guessed!

Luckily for me, the crowd was very receptive to the scares, practically jumping even when there was nothing to see or hear (I think people were just twitchy because it was so late at night), and the group behind us had a running commentary on just about everything that was happening on-screen. Normally this could be very annoying and obnoxious, depending on the movie, but they were actually quite entertaining with their sarcastic remarks ("This girl is either really dumb or not very smart") and unabashed chortling.

It was one of those movies that are so bad that its pure and unfiltered badness paradoxically makes it good, and in this case, watching it in a crowd definitely heightened, maybe even redefined, the experience.