Before Martin Scorsese joined creative forces with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in the stunning movie Killers of the Flower Moon, he decided to cast them in a completely different project. This project was called The Audition, and while it had a hefty budget of $70 million, it only took up 15 minutes of screen time. This short film was the perfect solution for those viewers who had little time or just wanted to enjoy a light and relaxed spectacle.
It is important to note that The Audition was not as ambitious a project as Killers of the Flower Moon. Nevertheless, the short film is worthy of attention due to its unique style and presentation. It ended up being a great publicity stunt to promote the Studio City casino resort in Macau, China.
Although The Audition did not receive wide distribution, it was screened at the grand opening of Studio City and at the Busan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea. It was later shown in front of feature films in China, emphasizing its significance as a unique promotional and cinematic phenomenon.
The Audition was scheduled to be screened at the Venice Film Festival but was removed from the program due to “technical problems.” This caused a lot of speculation, as many believed that the real reason for the canceled screening was creative differences. Especially considering that the movie was funded by a casino as a promotional campaign. Many guests and the festival jury felt that it would be unethical to show a movie created to benefit casinos, especially when many regular users are suffering from problem gambling. You can check out the methods casinos use to attract customers. In such a paradigm, Scorsese’s movie can also be attached to these methods.
The Audition is a masterpiece work where the great filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Robert De Niro perform enlarged versions of themselves. In this short film, DiCaprio and De Niro, who have collaborated with Scorsese many times before, compete for the same role in the director’s new project.
At first, the heroes believe that they got roles in the fictional movie as co-writers, which would be an unusual phenomenon for Scorsese’s filmography. However, it soon turns out that they are applying for the same role. And although the actors try to convince the director to choose them, they find themselves overshadowed by other Hollywood stars.
Despite a $70 million budget, The Audition didn’t receive the same acclaim as Gangs of New York or The Departed, nor did it generate a lot of talk and reviews from critics and fans upon release. However, this does not mean that the movie was a failure. There are viewers who find something special about it. For example, one recent review on Letterboxd states: “I will probably rank this movie above Raging Bull, and you won’t be able to stop me.”
Despite the superb cast, the short film still feels like an advertisement because that’s its direct purpose – even if the director of the Venice Film Festival claims it’s a Scorsese movie, not marketing. Perhaps in the future, Scorsese will bring this project to mind when speaking out against Marvel and the “death of big movies,” but that’s another story.
In the meantime, viewers interested should watch the eccentric short film as a preface before watching Killers of the Flower Moon. The beauty of The Audition is that nothing exciting happens here to make you wonder what happens next, and the movie itself doesn’t demand excessive attention. It simply shows that boys are still boys, which will be a good counterbalance to the depth and emotionality that Killers of the Flower Moon is filled with.
