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Shigeharu
Aoyama owns a video production company. His wife died seven years
ago. When his son, Shigehiko, suggests he should think about re-marrying
before he gets too old, Aoyama decides to take his advice. He
seeks help from his friend and colleague, Yoshikawa, whose idea
is simple: they can use a casting session for a no-go project
to audition for potential wives.
Aoyama
spends secretive evenings looking through the selection of application
forms and photographs, and finds himself inextricably drawn to
the image of a 24-year-old ex-dancer, Asami Yamasaki. On the day
of the audition, her mysterious charm and obedient nature make
such an impact upon Aoyama that he arranges to see her again.
As
the relationship between the two develops, Yoshikawa becomes increasingly
uneasy about his friend's choice and, conducting his own investigation
into Asami's past, sets out to prove that she is not who she claims
to be.
After
spending many romantic evenings with Asami, Aoyama becomes increasingly
convinced that she is the woman for him. However, his romantic
ideals are about to be shattered in the most unimaginably cruel
way, as the woman of his dreams takes him deep into her sadistic
and vengeful world.
DAVE:
There you go mate. Cheers.
ALAN:
Cheers.
DAVE:
So what you been up to?
ALAN:
Uh…
DAVE:
What?
ALAN:
Last night I went down the, uh…
DAVE:
The pub? The gym? The tubes?
ALAN:
The video shop.
DAVE:
Oh yeah. Did you get Swordfish? By God that's brilliant!
ALAN:
No, I got this foreign film.
DAVE:
Yeah? They're all right, as long as they're dubbed.
ALAN:
It was Japanese, this one. It quite bothered me actually. Audition,
it was called.
DAVE:
Oh, that one. I've seen that.
ALAN:
Have you?
DAVE:
Oh yeah. I heard it was a nasty bastard, so I got it out last
week.
ALAN:
What did you think?
DAVE:
Well, it was a bit boring. It took ages to get to the violence
and fighting, and even then it was nowhere near as good as Starship
Troopers.
ALAN:
Okay, but didn't you find it disturbing?
DAVE:
What, are you turning into a woman? Did it upset you?
ALAN:
It made me feel ill, if that's what you mean.
DAVE:
Which bit? The bit with the vomit drinking, or the bit with the
cheese wire round the ankles?
ALAN:
Both, I suppose.
DAVE:
She was good though, that woman in it. She looked a right psycho.
Even when she was being all innocent you knew there was something
nasty about her. She was good in that part.
ALAN:
Okay, and she was good in the torture scenes as well, if you want
to think of it that way. The bloke was good as well. You'd believe
he was really in agony if you didn't know better. And the violence
was sort of sexual, wasn't it?
DAVE:
You filthy little minx!
ALAN:
Not in a good way. But it was sexual.
DAVE:
Maybe it wasn't that boring, if you put it that way. I was waiting
for her to start messing with him, though, and that did take a
while.
ALAN:
What do you think it was about, though?
DAVE:
What are you, deficient? You only saw it last night. It was about
some bloke who auditions loads of birds to see who he'll marry,
and then when he picks one she turns out to be a mentalist who
wants to cut bits off him and keep him in a sack.
ALAN:
No, that's what happened. What was it about?
DAVE:
Oh Christ, here we go. You get one Media Studies A-level and you
think you're Paul Ross. Well there's only one Paul Ross, mate,
and there will never be another. Anyway, what happened is what
it's about.
ALAN:
No, I'll tell you what it's about.
DAVE:
Oh bloody hell… Okay, but if you say the word 'subtext' I'm
leaving.
ALAN:
It was about the subjugation, and resulting repressed rage, of
women in Japanese society.
DAVE:
Was it? That sounds rubbish. I wouldn't have watched it if I'd
known that.
ALAN:
Laugh away, but it's obvious. These men treat women like cattle
to be chosen at market, and one of them gets his comeuppance when
he makes a bad choice. It's a basic wish fulfillment fantasy.
But it was also quite sad, because the bloke sort of got what
he thought he deserved. He didn't like himself much.
DAVE:
Or here's a thought, maybe they just wanted to tell a story with
a bit of foulness at the end. I bet if you asked the director
he'd tell you that's all it is.
ALAN:
Yeah, but I'm the audience - if that's what I think it's about,
then that's what it is about for me. And I don't think just wanting
to gross out the audience is a good enough reason to subject us
to that ending. Only my reading of it allows that sort of ending,
and even then it went too far. I mean, that was probably the most
repulsive thing I've ever seen.
DAVE:
If you don't like it, don't watch it. What are, you, pro-censorship?
ALAN:
You say that like you'd say 'pro-Nazism'. But no, as it happens,
I'm not. I just don't think the violence at the end was quite
justified by the story that led up to it.
DAVE:
Arse to you. If the director wants to put that stuff in there,
then it's justified. It's his film. The only question is whether
you liked it or not.
ALAN:
Well I did, up until the end.
DAVE:
I thought it was all good, if a bit slow. I'd give it three out
of five, because there wasn't enough tits.
ALAN:
Yeah, that's fair I suppose. It lost a point for me at the end,
so I'd give it three out of five as well.
DAVE:
Your round.
ALAN:
I haven't touched this one yet, because I've been talking shit
with you.
- Mark
Blackmore
DVD
EXTRAS
· Star and Director Filmographies
· Scene Selection
· Chris Campion Film Notes
· Miike Takashi Interview
· Original Theatrical Trailers
· Extreme Asia Trailer Reel
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