Audition

A lonely widower lets his producer friend run a fake film audition so he can screen candidates for a new wife, and settles on a soft-spoken former ballerina whose resume does not quite check out. For an hour Miike shoots it as tasteful, aching romantic drama. That hour is the trap, because the patience is what makes the last reel unbearable. Adapted from a Ryu Murakami novel and built entirely on your willingness to fall for the same woman the hero does, it left faintings and walkouts across the whole festival circuit, and it is the film that made Miike a name outside Japan.