Audition (1999)

116m

an unforgettable film

strong stuff

"You only realize who you are by going through pain and suffering."

a child's handwritten note on the surface of a cobstruction-paper flower: "Dear Mom, Get well soon"

lingering on his slightly hunched back--so sad

"I don't know much about ovaries"

editor "All Japanese are so lonely."

"Quite attractive. Smart and well-bred. Obedient and well-trained. The kind you'd want your son to marry."

Asami: "Living is another way of reaching death."

intrusive questioning, objectification

clearly aware his double-dealing is wrong

audition a series of actresses--or wannabe actresses--damaged by their dreams of fame and/or mistreatment by lascivious men (one shows her suicide-attempt scars)

Asami's essay: giving up on a dream is like accepting death

"There is always something beyond our control in our lives. You just have to accept it."

"A man can't function without a woman's help."

24

"Love is blind" (son)

"Please love me. Only me." an ambiguous comment not only about monogamy, but non-superficial attraction

lulls the viewer

two lonely, emotionally vulnerable people: victim of childhood abuse/middle-aged widower

when knocked out, has a dream epiphany of whom they both are

"All guys are the same." "Words create lies. Pain can be trusted."

an actress who's learned her lines