Batoru rowaiaru (2000)

Director:

Kinji Fukasaku

Writers:

Koushun Takami (novel)
Kenta Fukasaku (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 December 2000 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Could you kill your best friend?

Plot:

In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.

Plot Keywords:

Game | Death | Teacher | Japan | Food

Awards:

7 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Tatsuya Fujiwara	...	Shuya Nanahara - otoko 15-ban
Aki Maeda	...	Noriko Nakagawa - onna 15-ban
Tarô Yamamoto	...	Shôgo Kawada - otoko 5-ban
Chiaki Kuriyama	...	Takako Chigusa - onna 13-ban
Sosuke Takaoka	...	Hiroki Sugimura - otoko 11-ban
Takashi Tsukamoto	...	Shinji Mimura - otoko 19-ban
Yukihiro Kotani	...	Yôshitoki Kuninobu - otoko 7-ban
Eri Ishikawa	...	Yukie Utsumi - onna 2-ban
Sayaka Kamiya	...	Satomi Noda - onna 17-ban
Aki Inoue	...	Fumiyo Fujiyôshi - onna 18-ban
Takayo Mimura	...	Kayoko Kotôhiki - onna 8-ban
Yutaka Shimada	...	Yûtaka Seto - otoko 12-ban
Ren Matsuzawa	...	Keita Îjima - otoko 2-ban
Hirohito Honda	...	Kazushi Nîda - otoko 16-ban
Ryou Nitta	...	Kyôichi Motobuchi - otoko 20-ban
Sayaka Ikeda	...	Megumi Etô - onna 3-ban
Anna Nagata	...	Hirono Shimizu - onna 10-ban
Yukari Kanasawa	...	Yûkiko Kitano - onna 6-ban
Misao Kato	...	Yumiko Kusaka - onna 7-ban
Hitomi Hyuga	...	Yûko Sakaki - onna 9-ban
Satomi Ishii	...	Haruka Tanizawa - onna 12-ban
Asami Kanai	...	Chisato Matsui - onna 19-ban
Satomi Hanamura	...	Yûka Nakagawa - onna 16-ban
Yousuke Shibata	...	Mitsuru Numai - otoko 17-ban
Shirô Gô	...	Ryûhei Sasagawa - otoko 10-ban
Yuuki Masuda	...	Hiroshi Kuronaga - otoko 9-ban
Shigeki Hirokawa	...	Shô Tsukioka - otoko 14-ban
Tamaki Mihara	...	Izumi Kanai - onna 5-ban
Tomomi Shimaki	...	Sakura Ogawa - onna 4-ban
Yasuomi Sano	...	Kazuhiko Yamamoto - otoko 21-ban
Shin Kusaka	...	Yoshio Akamatsu - otoko 1-ban
Gouki Nishimura	...	Tatsumichi Ôki - otoko 3-ban
Shigehiro Yamaguchi	...	Toshimori Oda - otoko 4-ban
Osamu Ohnishi	...	Yôji Kuramoto - otoko 8-ban
Satoshi Yokomichi	...	Tadakatsu Hatagami - otoko 18-ban
Junichi Naitou	...	Yûichiro Takiguchi - otoko 13-ban
Tsuyako Kinoshita	...	Mizuho Inada - onna 1-ban
Mai Sekiguchi	...	Kaori Minami - onna 20-ban
Takako Baba	...	Yoshimi Yahagi - onna 21-ban
Haruka Nomiyama	...	Mayumi Tendô - onna 14-ban
Ai Iwamura	...	Onna no hito - won last Battle Royale
Ai Maeda	...	Shiori - Kitano no aijô (voice)
Minami	...	Keiko
Michiko Yamamura	...	Reporter
Suzuka Tonegawa	...	Young Mitsuko (in Special Version)
Tarô Suwa	...	Middle-aged man (in Special Version)
Reiko Kataoka	...	Mitsuko no okâsan (in Special Version)
Takeyuki Hirai	...	Soldier
Tomu Asakawa	...	Soldier
Yûya Nakahara	...	Soldier
Takashi Komori	...	Soldier
Ryôta Nakamura	...	Soldier
Akihiro Ugajin	...	Soldier
Yôichi Murakami	...	Soldier
Tsuguharu Niizaki	...	Soldier
Jun'ichi Nashiki	...	Soldier
Hiroshi Kitagawa	...	Soldier
Hideaki Kawashima	...	Soldier
Umiji Tasaki	...	Soldier
Mitsuaki Tachikawa	...	Soldier
Hidetsugu Okumura	...	Soldier
Daisuke Yazawa	...	Soldier
Nobuki Baba	...	Soldier
Naoki Iwasawa	...	Soldier
Kôji Tokuhisa	...	Soldier
Mikiya Sanada	...	Soldier
Kazuhiro Yokokura	...	Soldier
Shigeki Homma	...	Soldier
Kazuo Araki	...	Soldier
Gôshi Matsuhara	...	Soldier
Akira Yoshizawa	...	Soldier
Kenzô Shirahama	...	Soldier
Kanji Okumura	...	Soldier
Shôji Takano	...	Soldier
Ryôji Sugimoto	...	Soldier
Hajime Yoneda	...	Soldier
Hideaki Kojima	...	Soldier
Nanami Oota	...	Mitsuko no tomodachi (in Special Version)
Ayana Noguchi	...	Mitsuko no tomodachi (in Special Version)
Tetsu Masuda	...	Kurasu 3A no sensei (in Special Version)
Kazutoshi Yokoyama	...	Basketball referee (in Special Version)
Kotaru Kamijou	...	Jô Kitô, Basketball player of Class 3-A (in Special Version)
Hirobumi Seki	...	Kôsuke Okiyama, Basketball player of Class 3-A (in Special Version)
Kiyoyuki Matsumoto	...	Shinichirô Tanaka, Basketball player of Class 3-A (in Special Version)
Gou Ryugawa	...	Lieutenant Anjo
Takashi Taniguchi	...	Nanahara no otôsan
Ken Nakaide	...	Hayashida-san - Kurasu 3B no sensei
Kanako Fukaura	...	Basugaido
Yûko Miyamura	...	Training Video Girl
Kou Shibasaki	...	Mitsuko Sôma - onna 11-ban
Masanobu Ando	...	Kazuo Kiriyama - otoko 6-ban
Takeshi Kitano	...	Kitano-sensei (as Bito Takeshi)

Directed by
Kinji Fukasaku

Writing credits
Koushun Takami		(novel)
Kenta Fukasaku		(screenplay)

Produced by
Kenta Fukasaku	....	producer
Kinji Fukasaku	....	producer
Kimio Kataoka	....	producer
Chie Kobayashi	....	producer
Toshio Nabeshima	....	producer
Masumi Okada	....	producer

Original Music by
Masamichi Amano

Cinematography by
Katsumi Yanagijima

Film Editing by
Hirohide Abe

Production Design by
Kyôko Heya

Production Management
Motoki Ishida	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Kenta Fukasaku	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Yasushi Nakayama	....	designer: main title logo
Motomu Takaba	....	designer: BR logomark

Sound Department
Kunio Ando	....	sound

Special Effects by
Kikuo Notomi	....	armourer
Kikuo Notomi	....	pyrotechnician

Visual Effects by
Yoshiaki Nakaichi	....	digital effects artist

Stunts
Ai Iwamura	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Music Department
Masamichi Amano	....	conductor

Other crew
Makoto Ashikawa	....	stand-in
Haruhi Terada	....	voice trainer

Production Companies

• Battle Royale Production Committee
• Fukasaku-gumi (in association with)
• GAGA
• Kobi Co.
• M Associates
• MF Pictures
• Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Nippan) K.K.
• Toei Company
• WoWow

Distributors

• Bir Film (2003) (Turkey) (theatrical)
• Líder Films (2002) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Manga Films (2002) (Spain) (theatrical)
• SND (2001) (France) (theatrical)
• Toei Company (2000) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Asian Cult Cinema (video)
• Astro Distribution (2004) (Germany) (DVD) (uncut version)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS) (retail)
• Intercontinental Film Distributors (HK) (2001) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• Palisades-Tartan Acquisitions (2008) (UK) (DVD)
• Starmax (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Tartan Video (200?) (UK) (DVD)
• Toei Video Company (2004) (Japan) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. (2001) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• Visual Filmes (2007) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Malin Post (visual effects)
• Nippon Eizo Creative (visual effects)
• Toei Labo Tech (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Geiyu  stand-ins
• Gekidan Himawari  stand-ins
• Toei Academy  stand-ins
• Tohai  stand-ins
• Carrot  stand-ins
• Wakakusa  stand-ins
• Nac  stand-ins
• Aoi Studio  post-production sound services
• BA-TSU  school uniform design
• Continental Far East  Dolby consultant
• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Malin Post  title design
• NAC Image Technology  camera equipment supplied by
• Nihon Shomei Co.  lighting equipment supplied by
• Toei Labo Tech  film processing
• Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra  orchestra (as Warsaw Polish State Philharmonic Orchestra)

Also Known As:

Battle Royale (International: English title) (UK) (USA)

Runtime:

114 min | Japan:122 min (director's cut) | South Korea:120 min | USA:121 min (director's cut)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Taiwan:R-18 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Portugal:M/18 | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) (cut) | Canada:18A (Alberta) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Belgium:KNT | Canada:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Singapore:(Banned) (original rating) | Singapore:R(A) (edited for re-rating) | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) (uncut) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Company:

Battle Royale Production Committee

Trivia:

Kiriyama, the film's main villain, does not utter one word throughout the entire film. He does, however, make a noise through a megaphone at one point.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Noriko tells Kawada that the food that he cooked was good, we hear him reply that his father was a cook even though at that moment his mouth doesn't move.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Reporter: This year Zentsuji Middle School number 4's Class E was chosen from among 43,000 Ninth grade classes. This year's game, said to be more blistering than the last - - Oh look there! There she is! The winner's a girl! Surviving a fierce battle that raged two days, seven hours, and 43 minutes - the winner is a girl! Look, she's smiling! Smiling! The girl definitely just smiled!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Lost: Confirmed Dead (#4.2)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Air

Disturbing

Battle Royale is based on the shockwave novel by Koushun Takami, which is a bestseller in Japan, and which has become very controversial in a very short time (and it is really easy to understand why). The plot is relatively simple (a class of junior high school students are forced to kill each other on a desert island, the last survivor wins and can go back home), but it is this simplicity that makes its strength. No need for a very long prologue before we enter the main act. Each of the 42 pupils involved in this "game" are not volunteers (no one would be..,), and of course they are forced to kill their best friends /girlfriends in order to survive this horror. The personalities and characteristics of each of the participants are of course very contrasted and even if there are some cliches, well, the worst has been avoided. There are even quite "realistic" (even if it is very difficult to judge what can be realistic with such a plot) moments. The transcription of the inner thoughts of the characters, which is one of the strengths of the book, is averagely well retranscripted. Takeshi Kitano plays a "teacher" (whose name is ...Kitano), leading the operation of surveilliance of this "game". It is very difficult to give an objective comment on this movie. Violent. Ultra-Violent. And bloody. This is for sure. The book has to be read for a more complete description of the hesitations and fears, but the movie restranscripts very well the book is the sense that it is all "absurd". There is no real meaning to this violence. The students know this, but it can not be avoided. It is quite sad that the movie dropped an essential background element of the book (the story in the book takes place in an imaginery Japan which would have not lost WWII, and the movie takes place in a slightly modified modern Japan), but I guess that making this happen in the "real-world" shows that there is no need to go to an imaginary world to see to what extreme behaviors humans are capable of.

Highly disturbing. Rated R-15 (forbidden to under 15), very, very violent, but nonetheless interesting.