Odishon (aka Audition) (1999)

 A middle aged widower (Ryo Ishibashi) is encouraged by his son (Tetsu Sawaki) to get married again. With the help of a film producer friend (Jun Kunimura), he stages an audition for actresses for a film but what he's really looking for is a wife. He becomes obsessed with one of the contenders (Eihi Shiina) and romances her even though his producer friend says there's something "not right" about her. Based on the novel by Ryu Murakami and directed by Takashi Miike, this acclaimed horror film left me split. I found the first half intriguing and was anticipating the payoff but the second half was a major disappointment. There are several ways one could interpret the film, either as a misogynistic male fantasy or a feminist attack on the domination and objectification of women by men. Whatever view one takes, it doesn't make it a better movie. I couldn't find myself sympathizing with Isibashi's protagonist. He is exploiting these women and even when he is warned  by his friend about Shiina (even we can see there's something off about her), his ego thinks he can "handle" her. Yet I couldn't sympathize with Shiina's avenging angel either as she's clearly a highly disturbed individual (apparently a victim of child abuse). Thought provoking horror films are rare and I had high hopes for this one. I won't soon forget it however and perhaps a second viewing will make me more receptive.