DVD Review: 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition of Takashi Miike's AUDITION

Audition (1999) is the film that truly established Takashi Miike as a player in the international film world. In celebration of the film's10th anniversary, Shout! Factory has issued a newly remastered version of the film on Region 1 DVD and Blu-Ray. Many horror movies lose their impact over time, but Audition is as strong now as it was when it was originally released. In fact, it is still one of the very best works in Miike's filmography. Even if one already has another version of Audition, this new edition, which is rife with bonus material is an essential purchase.

Audition is the rare horror film whose shocks remain fresh after so many years. This staying power is due to the cast, Daisuke Tengan's screenplay (based on the novel by Ryû Murakami) and Miike's handling of the material. A short discussion of some of the plot points to why the film works so well. With the help of a friend in the film business (Jun Kunimura), Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) participates in a staged casting call to find a new wife. Aoyama hones in on his potential bride (Eihi Shiina), and begins the process of courting her. Almost half of the film is dedicated to this seemingly innocuous scenario. Thus, the film plays out like an arty relationship drama with light comedic touches for almost a full hour. There are slight hints that something amiss, mainly conveyed through Jun Kunimura's character, but the film proceeds in an innocuous fashion until the the proverbial rug is pulled from underneath the viewer. Like many works by David Lynch, Audition projects a facade of normalcy only to expose a nastiness lying just beneath the surface. This attention of direction and writing is what sets the film apart from so many other generic horror titles that were influenced by it.

The HD remastering on Shout! Factory's anniversary edition is great (the film has never looked better), but the big selling point is the extras, all of which where produced by Marc Walkow of Outcast Cinema. The release is spread out across two discs: the first contains the feature and the second is dedicated to bonus material.* The feature film has a new audio commentary with Miike and Tengan. The feature is preceded by the new video introductions by Miike, whose intro looks exactly one of the auditions, and Eihi Shina. The bonus disc features 90 minutes of interviews with Shiina, Ryo Ishibashi, Ren Osugi, and Renji Ishibashi. All of the interviews are informative, but given their roles in the film, the interviews with Osugi and Ishibashi are particularly entertaining.

It's easy to forget the impact that Audition had upon its release. For many, including this writer, the film was an unexpected introduction to one of the most prolific and adventurous directors on the planet. This new collector's edition set captures the sense of shock and surprise that went along with that initial discovery of Takashi Miike's work.

*This review is based on the DVD. The Blu-Ray also features two discs, but the bonus disc is  a standard-definition DVD.