AUDITION aka ODISHON

Year: 1999
UK: Metro Tartan
Cast: Renji Ishibashi, Ryo Ishibashi, Miyuki Matsuda, Eihi Shiina, Tetsu Kuremura
Director: Takashi Miike
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese (English subtitles)
UK: 115 mins
UK Certificate: 18 contains scenes of strong psychological horror and gore
UK Release Date: 16 March 2001

Synopsis

Having lost his wife 7 years earlier, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) and his son Shigehiko (Tetsu Sawaki) are still living together and Shigehiko thinks his father should remarry. While chatting to Yoshikawa (Jun Kunimura), a work colleague one day, Shigeharu seeks his advice on how to go about meeting women with a view to marriage and Yoshikawa tells him about a movie project where he could set up casting sessions to view potential wives.

This scheme works and results in him choosing ex-dancer Asami Yamasaki (Eihi Shiina). They start dating but Yoshikawa has doubts about Asami and despite warning his friend, Shigeharu goes away for a weekend with her to propose marriage. Asami disappears half way through the weekend and Shigeharu is drawn into a terrifying web in his effort to track her down.