Seven years after the death of his wife, widower Shigeharu seeks advice on how to find a new wife from a colleague. Taking advantage of their position as a film company, they stage an audition. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu is enchanted by the quiet Asami. But soon things take a twisted turn as Asami isn’t what she seems to be.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Shigeharu Aoyama: Ryo Ishibashi
• Asami Yamazaki: Eihi Shiina
• Yasuhisa Yoshikawa: Jun Kunimura
• Shigehiko Aoyama: Tetsu Sawaki
• Old man in wheelchair: Renji Ishibashi
• Ryoko Aoyama: Miyuki Matsuda
• Rie: Toshie Negishi
• Michiyo Yanagida: Yuriko Hirooka
• Toastmaster: Shigeru Saiki
• Director: Ken Mitsuishi
• Shimada: Ren Osugi
• Bartender: Kanji Tsuda
• TV Station Presenter: Fumiyo Kohinata
• …: Misato Nakamura
• …: Yuuto Arima
• …: Ayaka Izumi
• …: Nattsu Tanabashi
• …: Kimiko Tachibana
• …: Tatsuo Endō
• …: Koshio Jindôji

Film Crew:

• Director: Takashi Miike
• Production Design: Tatsuo Ozeki
• Original Music Composer: Koji Endo
• Editor: Yasushi Shimamura
• Producer: Satoshi Fukushima
• Novel: Ryû Murakami
• Screenplay: Daisuke Tengan
• Executive Producer: Toyoyuki Yokohama
• Special Effects Makeup Artist: Yûichi Matsui
• Director of Photography: Hideo Yamamoto
• Producer: Akemi Suyama
• Costume Design: Tomoe Kumagai
• Sound Effects Editor: Kenji Shibasaki

Movie Reviews:

• John Chard: You’ll only love me. Wont you?

  As the film lovers of the Western World clamoured for more Asian horror, along came Ôdishon (Audition), a one of a kind sort of pic. Its positive reputation is well deserved, though what negative press exists is certainly understandable.

  Run time runs close to two hours, and for ninety minutes of that time the film trundles along at a sedate pace. Director Takashi Miike is exploring the key characters, deftly providing an overlay of grief management, loneliness, sadness and even cruelty.

  There’s a deliberately hallucinatory vibe to the narrative, with many thematic beats ticking away, though answers are not readily available, where both the lead protagonist and antagonist have blurry mindsets, or do they?

  It all builds to the Grand Guignol last quarter, where the film has gained its wince inducing rep. Worth the wait? Yes it is for sure, even if it is tinged with a sense of disappointment that there’s one too many twists for twist sake. 7/10