The Best Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week: NYC Repertory Cinema Picks, February 8-14
Audition (1999)
Directed by Takashi Miike
A truly trickster move would be to take an unassuming date to Audition, which keeps up its façade as a potential romantic drama for an unusually long time (like, a feature film’s length worth of time). But it gives you the icky hints along the way, starting with the very audition in question, conducted by a widower pretending to cast an actress for his non-existent movie as a cover-up to find a new wife. He finds the perfect candidate—or so he thinks—in the beautiful, mysterious ex-ballerina Asami, but the extreme tonal shift about an hour in robs a man of his fantasy and replaces it with his worst nightmare. What’s worse than the sadistic atrocity you’ll see on the screen may be the sound—the cacophonous harmony of wire cutting through flesh and bone—and Asami’s playful “kiri kiri kiri” chant as she punctures her victim’s body. A tip: Get your food order in at Alamo super early. A warning: You may not get a follow-up date. Kristen Yoonsoo Kim (February 14, 9:30pm at the Alamo Drafthouse)