Film Review: The Audition (2019) | OUT OF FRAME

The Audition: A Quiet Portrait of Ambition and Obsession

When it comes to psychological dramas centered on artists, landmark examples include The Piano Teacher, Whiplash, Tár, and Black Swan. Then there’s The Audition, a little-known German film that explores similar territory, offering a quiet exploration of ambition and self-destruction.

Anna (Nina Hoss, Pelican Blood), a violin teacher and mother, takes on the introverted Alexander (Ilja Monti) as her protégé, coaching him for a prestigious audition. As Alexander falters under pressure, tensions rise, and Anna’s personal life begins to collapse.

The Cost of Perfection in Art and Life

As a character-driven film, The Audition incisively portrays the turbulent relationship between mentor and protégé. Anna pushes Alexander past his limits, desperate to draw out his potential, but he resists, burdened by fear and uncertainty. Their fraught dynamic draws a compelling parallel: Anna, once an aspiring performer herself, was forced to give up her dreams when crippling anxiety kept her from performing.

Through coaching Alexander, a student even more withdrawn, she sees a chance to help him achieve what she herself could not. Her vigorous mentoring thereby becomes an earnest attempt to help him embrace music and better express himself through the art of violin — yet it also reveals her own unresolved regrets, adding remarkable depth to the story.

Around Anna, others wrestle with similar creative disillusionment. Her husband, Philippe, a failed musician, now repairs instruments for a living. Her son, Jonas, is also made to study the violin, but no longer shows any real passion for it. Through these characters, the film exposes how the relentless pursuit of perfection, especially in the arts, can devour more than it rewards.

The Audition is not merely a tale of artistic passion, but a probing look at the obsession, vulnerability, and insecurity that so often accompany ambition. By the end, the film stands as a tale not of triumph, but of corrosion—a quiet and haunting depiction of how desire and envy can consume those who surrender to them.

Watch The Audition on CinemaWorld.

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ABOUT THE FILM CRITIC:

Jayden is a youth filmmaker who enjoys immersing himself in the diversity of cinema across genres, cultures, and time periods. Through working on narrative short films and non-fiction videos, he continues to develop his craft in storytelling through the medium of film.