Dir. Fukasaku Kinji, 2000 , Japan , 117 mins/ Subtitles
Cast:
Fujiwara Tatsuya, Maeda Aki, Yamamoto Taro, Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano
The controversial Japanese modern classic returns in a 2-disc 'Special Edition', taking advantage both of the approaching sequel and of Tarantino fans re-visiting the film that proved such a clear influence on Kill Bill. So a chance to shed new light on the movie or just another money-hungry cash-in? While some of the additional footage added in the first disc is interesting, it's sad to report that the second disc is made up of almost entirely perfunctory extras (and mostly witnessed in a previous limited edition of the film). A couple of forgettable making-of docs, a tedious section on basketball rehearsals and an intriguing-sounding 'TV Spot with Quentin Tarantino' that turns out to last about 15 seconds! Yet, nothing can diminish the power of Battle Royale as a movie - and this thrilling, insane picture almost demands that you own it.
The set-up is simple, and infused with an almost dream-like atmosphere that dismisses gaps in logic as irrelevant. In the near future, with civil order crumbling, forty-two schoolchildren are taken to a remote island to compete in a game. As their old high-school pal Kitano (the ever-charismatic Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano, told by Kinji to play the role as himself!) informs them, the rules are simple. They have three days to kill each other off until there is only one survivor - if there fails to be a single victor then the necklaces placed around their necks will explode. With only their natural instincts to guide them, classmate turns on classmate in a bloody fight to the death.
Based on a popular novel, it's fair to say Battle Royale draws much from Lord of the Flies. Perhaps more oddly, it also recalls the futuristic prison movies popular around ten years ago such as No Escape and Wedlock. Battle Royale, however, has a power all of its own, thanks mainly to the guiding hand of the late cinematic maestro Fukasaku Kinji. The concept almost cries out for controversy, and the film is undeniably violent at times, Kinji taking obvious pride in conceiving inventive deaths for its teens in ways Final Destination could only dream of. Yet the violence never feels gratuitous, managing to raise interesting ideas about society employing brutality to deal with its social ills (the game is supposed to be devised as a lesson to wayward youth) and of the cultural disconnection between adults and youth; unlike Kill Bill there is some degree of substance behind the style here. It also, like Kill Bill, plays a host of scenes in blackly comic fashion (scoreboard countdowns as each student dies, knowingly banal exchanges), almost unnervingly so at times.
Battle Royale is by no means a little art house piece. A big hit in its native country, though still not widely available in the States, the film holds masses of broad appeal - at least for audiences with a high tolerance for bloodshed. It lurches from one insane, memorable scene to another with explosive energy, and there is scarcely pause for breath; witness the measured progression of a quiet schoolgirl breakfast into paranoid massacre. With so many classmates to get through, this isn't really a deeply character-based film (Takeshi perhaps forming a kind of centre for the others to revolve around), but it intercuts its 'contenders' with clips from their previous lives that may help to explain where their violent tendencies come from.
Ultimately, this is a film that poses more questions than answers. View it as an essay on the tragic alienation of youth from the adult world or a probe at the animal instincts that are revealed when polite society is stripped away. However you take it, you'd be hard-pushed to find a more purely exciting thriller East or West that can compete with Battle Royale.
Matt McAllister |
