It is no secret that the Japanese regularly produce some of the most all-fired messed up movies ever made, but recently a film was released over there that tested even the normally bloodthirsty native film industry. That film is BATTLE ROYALE, and having finally seen it, I can see why it caused such uproar.
The setup in a nutshell: at the dawn of the millennia, students have taken to boycotting school and have become a bunch of indolent little turds. The teachers have virtually no control over them, and the kids have even begun to assault authority figures without fear of the consequences. As a result of this anarchy, the Millennium Educational Reform Act, a.k.a. the BR act, is passed into law. The BR act renders it legal for a student class chosen by lottery to be kidnapped and taken to an island in the middle of nowhere that is policed by armed troops. Once on the island, the students are informed that they are now unwilling participants in Battle Royale, a three-day, no rules, literal fight to the death to see which student deserves to return to society. All participants are issued a kit containing a map, a flashlight, food and water, "personal" items for the girls, and a weapon. They also find that they have been fitted with collars that will explode and kill them if they don't participate. Every six hours, the students are updated on the status of dead participants and which areas of the island are "danger zones"; if they don't steer clear of the danger zones, their collars will blow their heads off. As a result, there is no hope of holing up in one place for the whole three days. By the end of three days, there can only be one survivor; if there is more than one, all that remain will die.
The story follows an unlucky class of ninth graders who are gassed into unconsciousness and kidnapped during what they think is a school trip. Upon waking, they are presented with the previously outlined situation and turned loose, one by one, onto the island. Since this is a do-or-die scenario, the kids take drastic measures; some become vicious predators while others, realizing that they are in no way cut out for this, commit suicide. Former members of the same clique betray their superficial bond and turn on their friends, formerly put-upon kids feel the power that a weapon grants them, and virtually no one can be trusted.
The three main protagonists are Shuya (a sensitive kid who ends up in a foster home after his loser father hangs himself out of utter despair), Noriko (a sweet young thing who ends up being the "princess" that Shuya vows to protect), and Kawada (the mysterious, bandana-wearing tough guy), all of whom are forced to rely on each other during the three-day hell. Since their fellow participants are armed with weapons that run the gamut from grenades to pump-action street sweeper shotguns, mercy is a thing that is best forgotten, and Shuya and Noriko clearly undergo sweeping changes by the end of the story.
Two other characters of note are Mitsuko and Kirayama. Mitsuko is the class hottie, and once the deadly seriousness of their situation is apparent, she becomes a frighteningly efficient predator, dispatching her classmates with icy precision. If you see this sickle-wielding beauty coming, RUN. Kirayama is the other side of the Mitsuko coin; an exchange student who joined the class because he knew the Battle Royale was going to take place. Merrily blasting his way through the other participants with a machine gun, Kirayama is an unbridled psychopath whose total disregard for human life is truly numbing to behold.
The rest of the remaining 42 students serve as a cross-section of every student type you've ever known, and it is fascinating to see their approaches to their situation. Techno-nerds prove to be a force to be reckoned with, groups of girls try to be peacemakers with varying degrees of success, previously unexpressed love plays out with tragic results, and the whole group struggles with the fact that when the end comes there can only be one left.
When BATTLE ROYALE hit the Japanese theaters, it kicked box office ass, but was eventually removed from theaters by concerned parents groups and defenders of public decency. Needless to say, in the post-Columbine climate this movie doesn't stand a chance in hell of landing an American distribution deal, especially in its unedited form. We're talking instant NC-17 here, kids, which is sad because the violence and gore in this film would have passed with an R rating back in the mid-to-late seventies. However, bear in mind that this no mere exploitation movie; the director wanted kids the age of its protagonists to see it to remind them that authority over them does still exist, and to stop acting like a bunch of douchebags. Imagine if an American director went public with that sentiment!
BATTLE ROYALE is easily the most thought-provoking film I've seen in a long time, and I give it my highest recommendation. It is available in the states on an all-regions subtitled DVD and is well worth searching out. It's either BATTLE ROYALE or NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE. How will you choose?
The setup in a nutshell: at the dawn of the millennia, students have taken to boycotting school and have become a bunch of indolent little turds. The teachers have virtually no control over them, and the kids have even begun to assault authority figures without fear of the consequences. As a result of this anarchy, the Millennium Educational Reform Act, a.k.a. the BR act, is passed into law. The BR act renders it legal for a student class chosen by lottery to be kidnapped and taken to an island in the middle of nowhere that is policed by armed troops. Once on the island, the students are informed that they are now unwilling participants in Battle Royale, a three-day, no rules, literal fight to the death to see which student deserves to return to society. All participants are issued a kit containing a map, a flashlight, food and water, "personal" items for the girls, and a weapon. They also find that they have been fitted with collars that will explode and kill them if they don't participate. Every six hours, the students are updated on the status of dead participants and which areas of the island are "danger zones"; if they don't steer clear of the danger zones, their collars will blow their heads off. As a result, there is no hope of holing up in one place for the whole three days. By the end of three days, there can only be one survivor; if there is more than one, all that remain will die.
The story follows an unlucky class of ninth graders who are gassed into unconsciousness and kidnapped during what they think is a school trip. Upon waking, they are presented with the previously outlined situation and turned loose, one by one, onto the island. Since this is a do-or-die scenario, the kids take drastic measures; some become vicious predators while others, realizing that they are in no way cut out for this, commit suicide. Former members of the same clique betray their superficial bond and turn on their friends, formerly put-upon kids feel the power that a weapon grants them, and virtually no one can be trusted.
The three main protagonists are Shuya (a sensitive kid who ends up in a foster home after his loser father hangs himself out of utter despair), Noriko (a sweet young thing who ends up being the "princess" that Shuya vows to protect), and Kawada (the mysterious, bandana-wearing tough guy), all of whom are forced to rely on each other during the three-day hell. Since their fellow participants are armed with weapons that run the gamut from grenades to pump-action street sweeper shotguns, mercy is a thing that is best forgotten, and Shuya and Noriko clearly undergo sweeping changes by the end of the story.
Two other characters of note are Mitsuko and Kirayama. Mitsuko is the class hottie, and once the deadly seriousness of their situation is apparent, she becomes a frighteningly efficient predator, dispatching her classmates with icy precision. If you see this sickle-wielding beauty coming, RUN. Kirayama is the other side of the Mitsuko coin; an exchange student who joined the class because he knew the Battle Royale was going to take place. Merrily blasting his way through the other participants with a machine gun, Kirayama is an unbridled psychopath whose total disregard for human life is truly numbing to behold.
The rest of the remaining 42 students serve as a cross-section of every student type you've ever known, and it is fascinating to see their approaches to their situation. Techno-nerds prove to be a force to be reckoned with, groups of girls try to be peacemakers with varying degrees of success, previously unexpressed love plays out with tragic results, and the whole group struggles with the fact that when the end comes there can only be one left.
When BATTLE ROYALE hit the Japanese theaters, it kicked box office ass, but was eventually removed from theaters by concerned parents groups and defenders of public decency. Needless to say, in the post-Columbine climate this movie doesn't stand a chance in hell of landing an American distribution deal, especially in its unedited form. We're talking instant NC-17 here, kids, which is sad because the violence and gore in this film would have passed with an R rating back in the mid-to-late seventies. However, bear in mind that this no mere exploitation movie; the director wanted kids the age of its protagonists to see it to remind them that authority over them does still exist, and to stop acting like a bunch of douchebags. Imagine if an American director went public with that sentiment!
BATTLE ROYALE is easily the most thought-provoking film I've seen in a long time, and I give it my highest recommendation. It is available in the states on an all-regions subtitled DVD and is well worth searching out. It's either BATTLE ROYALE or NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE. How will you choose?