Much of the controversy surrounding Takashi Miike's Audition centres on the disturbing nature of the later part of the film--understandable when you consider the imprint these admittedly horrific images leave on the viewer--but fails to note the intricate social satire of the rest. This is a film that offers insight into the changing culture of Japan and the generation gap between young and old. Shigeharu Aoyama is looking for an obedient and virtuous woman to love and asks, "Where are all the good girls?"--a comment that seals his fate. A fake audition is organised to find Aoyama a wife. Asami Yamazaki is introduced as the virtuous woman he is looking for, dressing for the majority of the film in white and behaving with the courtesy of an angel, especially when juxtaposed against the brash stupidity of the other girls at the audition. Although his friend takes an immediate "chemical" dislike to her, Aoyama begins a love affair to end all love affairs. But as Asami's history unfolds we see her pain and torture and slowly understand that the tortured in this instance holds the power to become the torturer. Aoyama is slowly drawn away from his white, metallic and homely environment into the vivid- red and dirty-dark environment of Asami's sadistic world. Audition can be viewed on a number of levels, with important feminist, social and human rights issues to be drawn from the story. However, the real power of this film is its descent into the subconscious, to a point where reality is blurred and the audience is unable to decide whether the disturbing images on screen are real or surreal. This refined, hard-hitting and essentially Japanese style of horror is ultimately much more powerful than anything offered by Hollywood. This is a film that will get under your skin and infect your consciousness with a blend of fearless gore and unimaginable torture. It is not for the faint-hearted. --Nikki Disney
'Audition' is an eerie tale of a man (Ryo Ishibashi) who in his search for a new wife at the insistence of his son holds an audition for potential mates. He disguises his actual intentions by saying that the audition is for an actress to star in a new movie that he is making. When at last he finds the perfect woman (the model Eihi Shiina) she disappears leaving a bizarre trail of gruesome murders in her path... This collector's edition of 'Audition' features specially prepared
54 high school girls throw themselves in front of a subway train. This appears to be only the beginning of a string of suicides around the country. Does the new all-girl group Desert have anything to do with it? Detective Kuroda tries to find the answer which isn't as simple as one could hope.
Much of the controversy surrounding Takashi Miike's Audition centres on the disturbing nature of the later part of the film--understandable when you consider the imprint these admittedly horrific images leave on the viewer--but fails to note the intricate social satire of the rest. This is a film that offers insight into the changing culture of Japan and the generation gap between young and old. Shigeharu Aoyama is looking for an obedient and virtuous woman to love and asks, "Where are all the good girls?"--a comment that seals his fate. A fake audition is organised to find Aoyama a wife. Asami Yamazaki is introduced as the virtuous woman he is looking for, dressing for the majority of the film in white and behaving with the courtesy of an angel, especially when juxtaposed against the brash stupidity of the other girls at the audition. Although his friend takes an immediate "chemical" dislike to her, Aoyama begins a love affair to end all love affairs. But as Asami's history unfolds we see her pain and torture and slowly understand that the tortured in this instance holds the power to become the torturer. Aoyama is slowly drawn away from his white, metallic and homely environment into the vivid- red and dirty-dark environment of Asami's sadistic world. Audition can be viewed on a number of levels, with important feminist, social and human rights issues to be drawn from the story. However, the real power of this film is its descent into the subconscious, to a point where reality is blurred and the audience is unable to decide whether the disturbing images on screen are real or surreal. This refined, hard-hitting and essentially Japanese style of horror is ultimately much more powerful than anything offered by Hollywood. This is a film that will get under your skin and infect your consciousness with a blend of fearless gore and unimaginable torture. It is not for the faint-hearted. --Nikki Disney
The Mafia has a new enemy - the ferocious Yakuza a criminal brotherhood whose deadly tentacles have spread from its native Japan in a ruthlessly violent bid to snatch control of the Mafia's American powerbase.Into this desperate killing field steps Nick Davis (Viggo Mortensen from Lord Of The Rings) an undercover FBI agent whose perilous mission is to become a rising gun of the Rising Sun winning the trust of his Yakuza masters so he can topple their brutal empire.Becoming the first 'outsider' to be accepted into the Yakuza's mysterious and exotic world Nick is gradually seduced by their devout sense of honour and loyalty. Torn between his duty and his new-found brotherhood Nick now faces the most difficult decision of his life...
The other half of the second series of Masters Of Horror unites some of the horror genre's most respected filmmakers. Includes 'We All Scream For Ice Cream' 'Sound Like' 'The Washingtonians' 'The Damned Thing' 'Dream Cruise' and 'The V Word'.
One of the most notorious J-horror films ever made, Takashi Miike's Audition exploded onto the festival circuit at the turn of the century to a chorus of awards and praise. The film would catapult Miike to the international scene and pave the way for such other genre delights as Ichii the Killer and The Happiness of the Katakuris. Recent widower Shigharu Aoyama is advised by his son to find a new wife, agreeing Shigeharu seeks the advice of a colleague having been out of the dating scene for many years. Taking advantage of their position as a film company they stage an audition. Interviewing a series of women, Shigeharu becomes enchanted by Asami, a quiet, 24-year-old woman, who is immediately responsive to his charms. But soon things take a very dark and twisted turn as we find that Asami isn't what she seems to be Pulling the audience into a story that will lead to one of the most harrowing climaxes in cinema history, Miike twists and turns us through delirious editing and shocking visuals for one of the most depraved nightmares of all time! LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS: Limited Edition Steelbook Brand new 2K restoration of original vault elements Original 5.1 audio (DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray) Optional English subtitles Audio commentary with director Takashi Miike and screenwriter Daisuke Tengan Brand new commentary by Miike biographer Tom Mes examining the film and its source novel Introduction by Miike Ties that Bind A brand new interview with Takashi Miike Interviews with stars Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Renji Ishibashi and Ren Osugi Trailers Gallery including behind-the-scenes images Booklet featuring new writing on the film More to be announced!
Much of the controversy surrounding Takashi Miike's Audition centres on the disturbing nature of the later part of the film--understandable when you consider the imprint these admittedly horrific images leave on the viewer--but fails to note the intricate social satire of the rest. This is a film that offers insight into the changing culture of Japan and the generation gap between young and old. Shigeharu Aoyama is looking for an obedient and virtuous woman to love and asks, "Where are all the good girls?"--a comment that seals his fate. A fake audition is organised to find Aoyama a wife. Asami Yamazaki is introduced as the virtuous woman he is looking for, dressing for the majority of the film in white and behaving with the courtesy of an angel, especially when juxtaposed against the brash stupidity of the other girls at the audition. Although his friend takes an immediate "chemical" dislike to her, Aoyama begins a love affair to end all love affairs. But as Asami's history unfolds we see her pain and torture and slowly understand that the tortured in this instance holds the power to become the torturer. Aoyama is slowly drawn away from his white, metallic and homely environment into the vivid- red and dirty-dark environment of Asami's sadistic world. Audition can be viewed on a number of levels, with important feminist, social and human rights issues to be drawn from the story. However, the real power of this film is its descent into the subconscious, to a point where reality is blurred and the audience is unable to decide whether the disturbing images on screen are real or surreal. This refined, hard-hitting and essentially Japanese style of horror is ultimately much more powerful than anything offered by Hollywood. This is a film that will get under your skin and infect your consciousness with a blend of fearless gore and unimaginable torture. It is not for the faint-hearted. --Nikki Disney
Written, directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano, Brother is the story of a displaced yakuza gangster (Takeshi Kitano), whose crime family is annihilated in a Tokyo gang war, and who flies to LA in search of his brother.
When maverick director Mike Takashi unleashed this stylish slice of extreme cinema upon his unsuspecting audience few were ready for what they were about to see. Since then this twisted vision of a hell on earth has become a notorious critically acclaimed classic. Following his son's advice widower Shigeharu Aoyama decides that it's time to look for a new wife. By devising a plan to audition for the part of a female lead in a non-existent production he uses his professional position to track her down. Among the many applicants he is struck by the mysterious charms of Asami a quiet 24-year-old woman. It transpires that Asami is responsive to his attentions and Aoyama becomes convinced that she is the woman for him. But when he asks her to accompany him on a romantic holiday things take a dark and disturbing turn. Soon Aoyama will discover that there is a side to Asami that he could never have imagined even in his most depraved nightmares.
Blue Tiger explores the bloody-minded determination of a mother to avenge the tragic death of her young child fatally shot in the crossfire of a Yakuza 'hit'. Her only clue to the identity of her son's killer is the ripped shirt of the hitman and a lurid Blue Tiger tattoo emblazoned across his chest. Disguising herself as a voluptuous cocktail waitress she infiltrates known Yakuza haunts seducing suspects in the hope of finding the tell tale tattoo and exacting her burning revenge. According to Samurai legend the Blue Tiger is always in search of the Red Tiger; when they finally meet someone always pays with their life!
Three classics to remind you why the new wave of Asian horror has been ripped off by Hollywood so often! A single man looking for a good time finds terror instead in the notorious Audition directed by cult auteur Takashi Miike (Ichi The Killer Visitor Q). T he man who kicked off the J-horror wave with Ring Hideo Nakata increases the tension realism and unease in the urban nightmare Dark Water since remade by Hollywood. Finally Pan-asian auteurs The Pang Bros. bring their famed editing skills to bear on the horror genre in the tense terrifying The Eye.
It's time to clean house! Not since Pulp Fiction has a film captured the violence and terror of gangland warfare and underworld killers blended with sharp black humour and a sense of street style. See the blood soaked trials and tribulations of two Yakuza hitmen and their unlikely bonding with a mentally unbalanced ex-cop and his feisty teenage daughter.
What she just saw could kill her. Blue Tiger explores the bloody-minded determination of a mother to avenge the tragic death of her young child fatally shot in the crossfire of a Yakuza 'hit'. Her only clue to the identity of her son's killer is the ripped shirt of the hitman and a lurid Blue Tiger tattoo emblazoned across his chest. Disguising herself as a voluptuous cocktail waitress she infiltrates known Yakuza haunts seducing suspects in the hope of finding the tell tale tattoo and exacting her burning revenge. According to Samurai legend the Blue Tiger is always in search of the Red Tiger; when they finally meet someone always pays with their life!
Please wait. Loading...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy