Comments on: Audition (Ryu Murakami)

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:45:30 +0000

@Eternal: yeah, it has a fairly similar approach to Perfect Blue; it shares the Hitchcock influence I think. If it’s a good thriller you’re after I highly recommend it!

By: ETERNAL

ETERNAL — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:09:49 +0000

Nice review, I’ll have to check this one out some time. The basic premise reminds me somewhat of Perfect Blue, but whether or not that’s true, it reminds me that I’m in the mood for a good thriller anyhow :P

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:42:14 +0000

@gaguri: the book seems to focus on the events themselves rather than the mystery, e.g. the hints dropped are obvious to anyone who’s not blinded by love as Aoyama so yeah, the ‘why’ is more important than the ‘who’. I’m glad you brought up Park Chan Wook too because I appreciate his directing as much as I do Miike’s, for many similar reasons. I’ll have to wait for the DVD to comment on how the resolution was handled, but in the novel at least it seemed pretty contrived. I can’t think of any way that this infodump could’ve been conveyed but it still felt out of place.

@Owen S: I’m not sure whether the English language edition is a worldwide release (I’m guessing it is, but don’t quote me on that) but if it’s there, go for it. I’ve seen In the Miso Soup on sale in the past, so might pick that up soon.

By: Owen S

Owen S — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 06:51:05 +0000

Thanks for the great review! Really appreciate the timing considering its relative newness — will have to see if I can purchase it the next time I’m back in town.

By: gaguri

gaguri — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 02:01:39 +0000

Heh, it’s funny that most discerning people online also found the pace of the movie excellent as well. I can see their argument, but for me (and my brother who watched it with me) couldn’t get immersed into it because it was so obvious what was inevitably going to happen, and we were chatting to each other on the line of ‘cmon…about time someone’s head started rolling’(speaking of head rolling…).

I think this goes back to Park Chan Wook’s idea in Oldboy. It’s not about “who dun it” but “why dun it”. I think Miike realised this as well in Audition (don’t quote me on that), but if that was the case, for me the process of finding out “why” wasn’t as engaging and while the reason was solid and understandable, the resolution was terribly weak (unless they changed it from the novel).

But of course, I know that’s not going to stop you from buying a DVD, which I think is a great decision just to see his inventive and horrifying dream sequence (and of course, having a Miike DVD automatically elevates our cultural status ^^)

By: Martin

Martin — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:22:46 +0000

@Chris: I’m waiting for the DVD to be on sale cheap! I enjoyed Miike’s penchant for dark humour and over-the-top innovation in Happiness of the Katakuris and Dead or Alive so I can’t wait to see his interpretation. He seems to go to great extremes but somehow keep them entertaining and (just about) believable.

@gaguri: I didn’t find the earlier parts of the book to be boring at all (that was the excellent pacing I was on about) so I reckon you’d enjoy the novel. I’m getting the impression it’s not as graphic as the film either (which I’ve heard had a lot of criticism and audience walk-outs). I’m looking forward to reading more of RM’s stuff.

By: gaguri

gaguri — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 01:17:33 +0000

I haven’t read Audition, but I have indeed watched Audition. It’s an unique film that’s for sure, and an extremely powerful one at that, but I wouldn’t rate it as highly as Chris has above. I thought the most of beginning and middle portion of movie was boring for few reasons. However, the moment where the guy ‘realises everything too late’ was handled brilliantly. And the dream sequence…o god.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 23:41:17 +0000

Nice review of the novel, I might give it a try. But, you have to do yourself a favor and take the DVD out of your review pile and put it in your DVD player. I rate the film version of Audition in my top ten best horror/suspense films of all time, every time I watch the film I can feel the pain inflicted on Aoyama virtually transfer to my own body. The creep factor in this film is second to none, and after watching this film I always feel a little nervous about meeting meek and quiet women for the first time.