The pacing of Ôdishon

[WaitxUntilxDark]

Since no one else seems to understand this movie, let me offer you my take on it. Asami is not angry about any betrayals, but rather is a Sadist in the purist and most extreme form. If you watch any other Miike films, you will see that he often uses sadism as a theme or underlying tone for many of his characters. Take "One Missed Call" for example. That movie, and it's antagonist, are a good explanation for the character of Asami. True, it was childhood abuse that made her develop her sadist tendencies. Because of abuse inflicted by her stepfather as a child, Asami is unable to mentally grasp the concept of love, and how it should be administered. She only knows pain, and in her twisted concept of love, pain begets love. She is not really a jealous person per se, but rather, possessive. Nowhere does she even imply that Ryo Ishibashi has cheated on her, but only that he loves others besides her (his son, his ex-wife, etc..), after she had explicitly explained to Ryo that he can love her and only her. Because she is overly possessive, and only knows how to show love through pain, she tortures Ryo. This is evident by some of the things that says while torturing him. The brilliance of this film is what has caused many (in my opinion, less intelligent people, and people with no attention span) to dislike it. They find the first hour and a half of the film to be boring and pointless. Miike has said that he purposely made the first portion of the film to be slow to make the last 30 minutes all that more terrifying, which he capitalized on. The slow build up (hardly boring) delves into the inner thoughts of the characters, and allows for us to get to know them on a personal level, even to relate with them. It is also anything but terrifying until the last 30 minutes, which eases the viewer's mind and lowers their expectations to see anything gory or scary. How wrong the viewer turns out to be. The best thing that I can tell you to do is to watch this movie the way all movies should be watched: without expectation. You will then get the fullest viewing experience out of it. I hope that I have helped you out, and I strongly recommend that you watch this movie. By the way, it is being rereleased on 8/23/05.

This is for the people who complain about the pacing of audition (see now it's in the right place)

[ShankS]

you like pacing, in a lot of your threads.... are you an anxious, dispositioned person?

[The STE]

I like how it's slow until the torture starts. It's just done up like any dramatic romance movie would be (one brief scene aside). It's like From Dusk Till Dawn. The main group of characters thought they were in a typical Tarrantino movie, instead of a vampire movie.

[WaitxUntilxDark]

on imdb there are some very intelligent people. i'll read another response that someone wrote. but don't even care about the ratings that movies get(Fight Club has a higher score than Gone With The Wind.)
Here's what one person wrote to a person who said the movie was ok at best.

Personally I gave the film a 10, in hindsight I might knock it to a 9 but that would just be nitpicking (although I do enjoy nitpicking ).
Both your analyses of the film ring hollow to me as you use them to support your statement that the film is merely a story lacking greater themes. I believe that nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed if Audition were just a story then I would agree that it is purely a well made film that lacks any real weight. Luckily I don't believe that the story (in terms of narrative progression) really matters that much at all, other than to provide a framing device for the film's themes. I interpret the film primarily as an unusual statement about the complexities of all human relationships. The problems of trust and the interpretation of signs (behavioural etc.). In this vein I also recommend Ki-Duk Kim's film 'The Isle' (Seom).
The framing of the film is unusual and perhaps more visceral than many which leads some to watch the film purely to 'endure' the ending. Audition left me breathless but not as a result of it terrifying me or unsettling me. It left me breathless because the film is so taut in its construction and also so encompassing in its primary theme. I do worry that, as with much of Miike's films, they are open to being underappreciated by people who just watch them for their violence or unusual events. Miike amazes me by being a highly innovative and anarchic director who also consistently explores interesting themes within his films (alienation is a big one as in Audition, his primary theme is foreigners in foreign lands, a variation on alienation).
One of the things I really love about this film is its unusual construction as a film. Miike (a director who consistently amazes me, and this was my introduction to his work) lulls the viewer into a false sense of security with the film's pacing. I describe the pacing as taut but this may be misleading. What's superb is that the film feels like it is going nowhere for periods of time and drags the viewer through seemingly unnecessary events. We follow a courting process with little knowledge of what to expect. It may feel like it overruns but this is purely a device to further the plunge the film takes in the end. I was highly impressed by Miike's willingness to play with the structure of a film by actually boring and/or alienating the audience for periods of time (a risky tactic).
Quote
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"The films pondersome mood dilutes it's intended effectiveness. Its not until the last 15 minutes of this film which presents a collage' of horrific scenes that one thinks to themselves "Oh wow, I really am seeing a horror/suspense film after all."
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The 'pondersome mood' the film employs is not in conflict with its effectiveness. The film is about that pondersome (unsure) atmosphere that follows many couples as they take the plunge into some kind of commitment. The film is not a horror/suspense film in any conventional sense. If anything I suppose that you could categorise it as psychological horror but for me (and a contributing factor in its high rating) is the fact that the film transcends genres by playing with the medium. The true horror of the film is that it exposes the problems of relationships as they exist. It is troubling to think of how little you may actually know about someone. The film is about more than the last 15 minutes, that is merely a conclusion, a possible outcome. However in true Miike style it is not set in stone, it is open to all kinds of interpretation. If you watched the film and took nothing from it but the closing few minutes then I'm not surprised by your lack of enthusiasm for it. But I honestly think that there is alot more there to be explored.
Of course there is also the play on Japanese social norms within the film. Any feminist reading of the film must be filtered through an understanding of Japanese society. I'm no expert on the subject but I understand the basics. The important thing though is that there is more to the film than this. The social critique probably lies more in the negativity of the events as they occur rather than in the film's structure. Arguably you could make a film that shows how little we really know about each other that ends positively. However since the attitudes towards women in Japan (in some cases) can be construed as negative then the film probably leaned towards darker tones from the outset. Also in this lack of knowledge that couples often possess of each other (particularly when starting out) there is a kind of fear there that the film expertly captures. This again leads towards a darker tone. 'The Isle' is also a very dark film (arguably even moreso than Audition). The extremity of Asami's character merely labels the possible gulf between appearances and the truth even further.
I recommend that you maybe watch the film again. Don't focus on the events as such, just the uncertainty with which the characters progress. The film may not be for you but I do think (due to the reasons stated above) that this film is far from ordinary.
<Remember pets are not just for Christmas. They keep for up to 3 months in a freezer>

[EXTR3MIST]

Fight Club has a higher score than Gone With The Wind

That's because it is an infinitely more important film.

[The STE]

Gone with the Wind = Overrated

[WaitxUntilxDark]

gone with the wind is not overrated.
Here are some other movies that undeservingly got a higher score. They might be good or ok films, but do not deserve a higher score.
The Matrix, Big Fish, a Christmas Story, Toy Story 2, Finding Neverland, Batman Begins, Terminator 2, Sin City, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind, all three The Lord of the Rings movies.
Some of the main problems are: Some movies have a high enough score to be on the top 250 but aren't, Citizen Kane is not at the top, The Shawshank Redemption(It's a great film but come on,) a lot of the films get lower scores because they are misunderstood(Audition has a 7.4 because people expect it to be a horror movie when it's not, so they think it's all about the last 15 min. and they give it a low score,) and a lot of movies get higher scores than they should just because Johnny Depp is in them.

[AUSTIN316426808]

You really aren't going to give into that whole ''To each his own'' thing are you?



take westerns for example, I saw in another thread that you hate Clint Eastwood and cowboys in general. I on the other hand love westerns and everything Clint Eastwood does. Now if I keep trying to convince you that Clint Eastwood and westerns are great and Audition is a piece of crap you'd probably get pissed but I'm not going to do that because it's your opinion that Clint Eastwood and westerns are crap and Audition is great so I'll respect that and leave it alone. Why can't you realize that not everybody is going to like what you like and get over it?

[WaitxUntilxDark]

you misunderstood i do hate westerns but not because i find them boring(well i do but let's not get into that right now.) i hate how native americans are portrayed in those films and since clint eastwood was in them i dislike him.

[AUSTIN316426808]

Originally posted by WaitxUntilxDark
you misunderstood i do hate westerns but not because i find them boring(well i do but let's not get into that right now.) i hate how native americans are portrayed in those films and since clint eastwood was in them i dislike him.

I never said anything about you thinking they're boring, the reason you don't like them is irrelevant to the point I'm trying to make. I'm saying that if someone doesn't like Audition for whatever reason or doesn't think it's as great as you do you shouldn't try to come up with lord knows how many reasons for them to change their mind. It's their opinion and the odds are seriously against you changing it.


Here's another example, I don't think that's a good reason to dislike an actor but I'm not going to try and change your mind about it because it's your opinion and that's fine with me. That's the word that's not clicking in your head OPINION meaning an individual's paticular thoughts on a given subject.