Nearing the 20th anniversary of its debut at the Vancouver International Film Festival, Takashi Miike’s Audition has long been regarded as one of the most unsettling films ever made. Audition has been renowned as a tremendous work of Japanese Horror, offering a shocking delivery of terror. It is a divisive work as well, with critics speaking to its contrasting themes.

With Audition’s anniversary in mind, Arrow Video this week released a special 2K restoration of the film; this version comes packaged with a small booklet and lots of features. Including a variety of different interviews and commentary, there’s also a special feature entitled Damaged Romance, with Japanese cinema historian Tony Rayns discussing Miike’s career and sharing an insightful critique of Audition.

Adapted from Ryu Murakami’s novel of the same name, Audition follows Shigeharu Aoyama, a middle-aged widower. His son encourages him to get back out into dating, inspiring Aoyama and a film producer friend of his to arrange a fake audition for the former to find a potential wife. Aoyama is immediately attracted to Asami Yamazaki, a quiet woman who grew up loving ballet, but has lost her ability to dance. The two begin seeing each other, but what starts as romance soon evolves into a world of nightmares.

The twist comes in the form of revealing who Asami is; the viewer learns of her abusive past, and how she has grown to torture and kill those who hurt her. At first, Asami appears as a gentle woman; it’s as the narrative progresses we learn more of her backstory and mentality. Visually, Miike provides context through surreal sequences that interrupt the linear narrative; these transitions are jarring and offer a psychological horror element. There will be moments where we re-watch an interaction between Asami and Aoyama we saw earlier, but this time the dialogue will be different; or, Aoyama may be in a nightmare where he sees Asami, but in the blink of an eye, she has shifted form to look like someone else. Through this mix of cuts and flashbacks, we have context regarding Asami’s past and Aoyama’s state of mind.

When Asami and Aoyama begin seeing each other, she requests that he love no one else but her; when she breaks into his home one night, seeing a photo of his late wife and learning of his son, she loses it and renders him immobile (drugging a drink of his). Her attack on him leads to a graphic segment of dismemberment and torture, as Asami prods Aoyama with needles and cuts off one of his feet with wire.

Other than Audition being known for its disturbing violence, it is also a film of much debate regarding its themes. Given the two primary ways one can read the narrative, there is a mix of opinions between whether or not Audition is a feminist or misogynistic film.

As shared by Rayns in Damaged Romance, Japanese culture has a history of depicting women in hypersexual pornographic roles, often with violence directed towards them, or as the overtly domesticated wife. In staging a fake audition, Aoyama and his friend treat women as objects to be judged based on Aoyama’s desires. It is a manipulating act, serving to only drive what Aoyama wants to find in his ideal wife. It is worth noting the age range of early 20s to 30s for the women, given that Aoyama is well into middle age.

Speaking to the feminist ideas within Audition, one can see Asami as rebelling against sexism and misogyny. Rather than submit to the needs of a man and his control and desires, she is acting against cultural norms, fighting back at anyone who has harmed her. In this manner Audition has some feminist elements to it: the problem, however, is that this view is weak when given the stronger evidence for Audition’s more misogynistic point of view.

On the opposite end, Audition can also be read as an exploration into the fear some men have of women being in control. One can find evidence of this in the surreal sequences, which represent Aoyama’s fears of Asami having sexual power over him. Considering the context of patriarchy in Japan, Aoyama is a figure that would assume control over a relationship. The dream sequences provide context to the concerns Aoyama has coming into a new relationship with a younger, attractive woman (and if that is too much for him to handle).

Because we experience the film through Aoyama’s point of view, it takes away from the film’s feminist angle, cutting away at the significance of Asami’s fight against misogyny. Rather than presenting a powerful story about a woman rebelling against patriarchal ideals, the narrative cares more about addressing a man’s fear of not being in power. To further complicate things, the ending adds another layer of complex ideas; when Asami is left “defeated” by Aoyama’s son, Aoyama is left crippled and severely wounded (physically and mentally). In wounding Aoyama, has Asami succeeded? In her attack, has she driven home the message to him that women are also powerful and not just objects for use?

In its dual ideology and blending of both psychological and body horror, Audition is a significant work of Japanese Horror. For years Audition has been applauded for its use of surreal terror and graphic violence. For fans of Audition, this special release is a must-buy, especially given all commentary that speaks to its thematic ideas. In all its anxiety-provoking tension, Audition is a nightmare-inducing experience, and an essential work of cult cinema.