In his book “Outliers,” Malcolm Gladwell asserted that 10,000 hours of focused practice is the key to achieving top-flight expertise in any field. It’s a convenient and easy-to-package theory, but the “10,000 Rule” hardly accounts for the standards demanded by the characters in Ina Weisse’s sophomore feature effort, “The Audition.” The austere and chilly picture presents an equally austere and chilly chamber orchestra ensemble who don’t necessarily act like real humans; instead, they are embodiments of varying levels of emotional cruelty that eventually manifest into a shocking conclusion. “The Audition” is a harsh, and often cheap, picture that offers a fragmented view of a family diseased by the pursuit of perfection, who yet enable the behavior to continue at the ongoing cost of their happiness.
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Anna (Nina Hoss) is an exacting violin teacher but knows potential when she sees it. Alexander (Ilja Monti) may not have the technique, but Anna advocates for his scholarship following his tryout for the school where she teaches. The goal is to get him ready for a more important audition, one that could put him on the path to elite levels of classical music. While Anna’s professional life might be orderly, her home life is in disarray. Her relationship with her husband Philippe (Simon Abkarian) is tense and strained, while any connection with her son Jonas (Serafin Mishiev) remains elusive. And as if Anna’s life needed further complication, she’s carrying on a casual affair with Christian (Jens Albinus), a colleague at the school.
Perhaps it’s no wonder then that Anna seems just on the edge of a breakdown. Her parents refuse to trade in sympathy, while Philippe tells Anna things like, “I can’t spend all my days having feelings.” Anna is no mere victim, however, as she’s also plenty capable of being viciously removed from those around her. In particular, Jonas feels this most, as Anna exceedingly pressures him in his violin studies, despite his apparent interest in hockey. Soon, an unspoken rivalry develops between Jonas and Alexander, with the former seeing the latter acting as the son Anna wants. The pressure is intensified as Anna prepares for her return to public performance with a small group of teachers.
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At the heart of this dreary drama is the question of what happens if you never become great at the one thing where all your talent lays. According to Anna, a single lifetime is hardly enough to master an instrument, which justifies the pressure she puts on Jonas, and the increasing harshness placed upon Alexander. But it’s hard to establish what anyone in this story identifies as a satisfactory result from becoming a maestro. Most of these characters, so reluctant to show any affection, except when socially required—such as Philippe singing to Anna on her birthday—don’t seem like they’d suddenly soften upon wider recognition of those related to them. And if the only way to earn acknowledgment from those around you is to pursue excellence at any cost, is it worth it? That’s likely one of the provocative questions Weisse and her co-writer Daphné Charizani wanted to leave with the audience. But the picture doesn’t earn placing that question on viewers, because it doesn’t spend enough time examining why anybody in the picture chooses to act how they do.
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“The Audition” suffers because its characters feel so hermetically sealed in a story that takes place in an environment that already operates with an air of exclusivity. Just as the characters keep each other at a distance, so too does the film keep the audience an arm’s length away. It’s dispiriting to see someone so immensely talented as Nina Hoss effectively constrained by a role that doesn’t give her many avenues to go down. That said, Weisse does conjure enough unease and tension to keep viewers invested in the inevitable dramatic release that comes, but it’s so predictable its impact immediately deflates.
With little offered in the way of a point of entry, even at a slim 99 minutes, “The Audition” can be both an exhausting and onerous experience. There might be something to Gladwell’s “10,000 Hour Rule,” but sometimes a bit of personality goes much further than rigorous, technical proficiency. [D]
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