Audition

is a 1999 horror film directed by Takashi Miike, based on the 1997 novel by Ryu Murakami. Starring Ryo Ishibashi and Eihi Shiina, the film is about a widower, Shigeharu Aoyama (Ishibashi), who stages a phony audition to meet a potential new romantic partner. After interviewing several women, Aoyama becomes interested in Asami (Shiina), whose dark past affects their relationship. Audition was originally a project of the Japanese company Omega Project, who wanted to make a horror film after the great financial success of their previous production Ring. To create the film, the company purchased the rights to Murakami's book and hired screenwriter Daisuke Tengan and director Miike to film an adaptation. The cast and crew consisted primarily of people Miike had worked with on previous projects, with the exception of Shiina, who had worked as a model prior to her career in film. The film was shot in about three weeks in Tokyo. Audition premiered, with a few other Japanese horror films, at the Vancouver International Film Festival, but it received much more attention when it was shown at the Rotterdam International Film Festival in 2000, where it received the FIPRESCI Prize and the KNF Award. Following a theatrical release in Japan, the film continued to play at festivals and had theatrical releases in the United States and United Kingdom, followed by several home media releases. Audition was received positively by Western film critics on its release, with many noting the final torture sequence in the film and how it contrasts with the non-horrific scenes before. The film has appeared on several lists of the best horror films ever made, and has had an influence on other horror films and directors including Eli Roth and the Soska sisters.