To close out the series on Japanese Horror, Spit Picks looks at a director known for testing the limits of violence on film
Takashi Miike is best known for three things: He is prolific, versatile, and is no stranger to extremes. With 115 directorial credits listed on his IMDb page (at time of publishing), he has made films in just about every genre imaginable. But from blood-soaked epics like Ichi The Killer and 13 Assassins to a glut of Yakuza films, and even a death-centric musical comedy in The Happiness of the Katakuris, Miike’s films are never shy to show off fountains of gore. But through them all, for better and for worse, Miike always injects his unique style, no matter the genre.
With Bennett Glace and Jim Hickcox, Split Picks finishes its special series on Japanese Horror by comparing Miike’s masterwork to one of his most extreme and disturbing depictions of violence — a film that features an almost hour-long school shooting. With Audition, Miike follows a widowed man, Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi), after his friend suggests they set up a fake film audition to help him find a new wife. When he meets Asami (Eihi Shiina), they quickly fall in love. It doesn’t take long for everyone around Shigeharu to alert him to various red flags, which he gleefully overlooks, until he finds himself in a scenario that ranks among the horror genre’s most infamous scenes. It’s a testament to Audition that, in an era when most successful Asian horror films were remade by Americans, still no one has remade this tale of revenge.
Lesson of the Evil finds a popular and handsome teacher (Seiji Hasumi) on a path to violence against his own students. With a code of morals that makes sense to only him, he tries to stop his students from cheating on tests and uncovers various scandals in the school. As his background comes into focus, he doubles down on what he learned during his time in the United States and, with the assistance of a talking shotgun, he decides to solve his problems in the worst way possible.
The pairing of films provides some fascinating contrasts in tone, and some striking similarities in their overall structure. In this episode, Split Picks discusses how Audition bends time, if Lesson of the Evil crosses the limits of acceptable violence on film, and how As The Gods Will might be the spiritual sequel to Lesson of the Evil that makes black humor work in a similarly morbid scenario.
Editor’s Note: This episode touches on disturbing topics that may be difficult for some listeners. If what you have read sounds like something you may not want to hear discussed, we understand and will see you again for a future episode. Until then, you can listen to previous entries from Split Picks’ October Horror 2023 series on Japanese Horror, with discussions on Ju-On: The Grudge, its American remakes, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa.
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Split Picks theme music by Nick Miller, Lee Walker, and Craig Wright
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