I'm not sure how Strange Circus and Audition can be seen as having similar elements, unless you're saying they're both Japanese revenge films?
Audition is about a film director whose wife dies, and his best friend convinces him to 'audition' for a new wife. He meets an aspiring actress who's looking for a major film role, and he gives her the role - although there's not actually a film to direct. She eventually realises that she's not going to be a film star, and as she's psychotic she decides the best thing would be to make him pay for abusing his position as a film director. The director is a genuinely nice guy whose only mistake was to cast her for a film that didn't exist: he didn't deserve to suffer.
Strange circus is about a girl called Mitsuko who decides to have a mastectomy when she's older, as part of a revenge plot - she was molested regularly from the age of 12, and her mother also took part by allowing the husband to carry on his evil deeds. When Mitsuko grows up, she manages to secure a job working with her mother (who doesn't know Mitsuko isn't actually a man). After worming her way into her life, Mitsuko amputates her father - and then proceeds to do the same with her mother. In the end, Mitsuko has ended up just as twisted as her parents.
I really can't see many similarities between the film.
Audition:
1. Has 1 twisted character (the woman)
2. Protagonist (director) is overall a good guy
3. Pacing of film is very slow, even for a Japanese film
4. The premise of the story is that the director is looking for love
5. The film works fine with just 2 characters (director and love interest)
6. Revenge is only an option once woman realises she won't be cast in a film
Strange Circus:
1. Has 3 twisted characters (Mitsuko and her parents)
2. Protagonist (Mitsuko's mother) is overall a bad person
3. Pacing of film is fast for a Japanese drama
4. The premise of the story is that Mitsuko is looking for revenge
5. The film only works with all 3 twisted characters
6. Revenge was there right from the start
I could probably find more differences. So really, I'd like to know why you think these two films have elements that are similar. If anything, I'd say that Strange Circus inspired "The Skin I Live In". I'm not sure what would have inspired Strange Circus, but I honestly can't see how Audition would have inspired it.
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