Battle Royale (2000) Review
April 12th 2010 18:47
Could you kill a friend? A best friend? The Girl you always had a crush on? In the year 2000 director Kinji Fukasaku asked us this
question, when promoting the action thriller Battle Royale. This film is another one of those “Reputation” movies that you always hear about a thousand times long before you actually get it see it.
The idea behind this movie is so shocking, one hardly can believe a movie like this could exist. Indeed, in Japan several members of parliament tried to have the novel this movie is based on banned several times, and when the movie was made, they tried to ban it's release. Here's the premise in a nutshell: In the near future, Japan's economy has crashed, and the adults in the country fear the youth. As part of a program to pacify the masses, and keep the population under control, every year a high school class is randomly selected to be dropped off on a deserted island and fight to the death. In case your skimming let me reiterate that last one; a group of high school kids are dropped off on a deserted island with randomly assigned weapons, and forced (via explosive collars that detonate if you don't play along) to kill each other until only one is left. Don't think for a minute that this film is a brainless action flick either, it depicts the fear, backstabbing, and madness that would run rampant in a situation like this one. Some kids try to hide, other become heartless and ruthless,
others strive to rebel against the system and fight back even if it kills them. The movie plays out with both shocking realism and extremely dark humor. I felt dirty after laughing at the grisly jokes, but oftentimes this movie's concept is so delightfully absurd it'll make you laugh.
While there are many stories among the 42 students involved in the “game” the story of Shuya is the primary one and the most touching. Shuya decides that no matter what happens he'll protect Noriko, a girl he's always had a crush on. Even if it costs him his life, he is determined to protect her. He joins up with a transfer student, that turns out to be a previous year's “Winner” who was sent back into the competition after he spoke out against it, their journy seems hopeless, thir goal unatainable, but they ignore the odds and press on, fighitn thier fellow students as well as the hearless system that put them in the situation in the first place. Japanese superstar Tekashi Kitano plays the “principal” and officiator of the games, who heartlessly chides at the children over a loudspeaker. At one point he reads a list of the day's fatalities starting with “Here is a list of your friends, in the order they died.” his chilling performance in this darkly humorous role is a highlight of this macabre film.
In Japan this movie one of the top grossing films of all time, but while it's notorious in America, it's remarkably hard to find. Battle Royale's makers, ,Toho studios demands a large licensing fee for distribution of the films in other countries. Sadly, any distributor edgy enough to want this movie are to small to afford the fee, and distributors with enough money to pay the fee don't want to touch something this controversial. For a time, region free versions were available through Hot Topic stores, but have since been discontinued. The best place to find this movie is used video shops and mail-order services, or at Anime or comic book conventions.
The movie isn't ultra-violent or distasteful as many think, it's a well made social comme'sntary that explores what it means to be a kid in an unforgiving world. It an unrealistic premise, but it works as an allegory for the confusion of those teenage years. It's been said that this movie is in poor taste, irresponsible and incites violence, but I don't think so. It's a chilling vision, but that's the reason it's so effective at getting it's point across. Sometimes high school is like a battlefield, in this particular case it's literally so.
The gritty, unforgiving world of Battle Royale is highlighted well in it's promo poster
Most people have seen bloody shootouts, but how many involving reluctant highschool kids?
In Japan this movie one of the top grossing films of all time, but while it's notorious in America, it's remarkably hard to find. Battle Royale's makers, ,Toho studios demands a large licensing fee for distribution of the films in other countries. Sadly, any distributor edgy enough to want this movie are to small to afford the fee, and distributors with enough money to pay the fee don't want to touch something this controversial. For a time, region free versions were available through Hot Topic stores, but have since been discontinued. The best place to find this movie is used video shops and mail-order services, or at Anime or comic book conventions.
The movie isn't ultra-violent or distasteful as many think, it's a well made social comme'sntary that explores what it means to be a kid in an unforgiving world. It an unrealistic premise, but it works as an allegory for the confusion of those teenage years. It's been said that this movie is in poor taste, irresponsible and incites violence, but I don't think so. It's a chilling vision, but that's the reason it's so effective at getting it's point across. Sometimes high school is like a battlefield, in this particular case it's literally so.
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