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Battle Royale,
a film by the veteran Japanese director Kinji Fukasaku, tells the story
of a dystopic future in which each year, a randomly-selected 9th grade
class is kidnapped and sent to a deserted island where they are
equipped with weapons (some with guns, some with simply a pot lid -
such is the unfairness of life) and have 3 days in order to wipe each
other out, but only one can survive and if not they shall all die.
From the get-go, Battle Royale
sucks you in. The sheer terror, tension and unrelenting suspense is
unbelievable. Within minutes of the film beginning, the audience is
just as bemused as the characters as to what is happening to the class
of youngsters who left in the morning on what they believed to be an
every day field trip. As they learn of their predicament, you learn of
the predicament, as you see their teacher throw a knife into a 15 year
old girls head without a hint of regret, as they begin to become
sickened with fear, you become sickened with fear. It's an
indescribable feeling.
It's essentially Survivor
with
guns, and is an absolutely fascinating tale of the human instinct for
survival. There is a real macabre atmosphere which resonates throughout
the film, as you watch these children having to become adults, and just
as quickly, become animals in the ultimate test of survival of the
fittest.
The brilliance of the film comes from the
characters. Unlike your average slasher, violent film (Hostel
is Bambi
compared to this) you quickly get to know the characters (as they learn
about each other) and genuinely feel sorrow for them. It's an amazing
achievement of a film-maker to be able to make an audience empathise
with the death of one character, let alone 40 within the space of 90
minutes. While some may enjoy the graphic and often inventive violence
of the picture, it's the painful reality of stretched friendships of
fearful children (some go mad, some taking their own lives, some
bonding, some scheming to kill others). We all wonder what that quiet
kid in the corner of the classroom was capable of, now imagine you were
trapped on an island and he had a bevy of weapons at his disposal.
Imagine the fear that you would succumb to.
Some of the dialouge
is often a bit corny (whether this is a problem in the translation of
the film, I'm not sure) and some deaths are rather melodramatic
(everyone seems to have philosophic to say in their final moments) and
the moral of "true friendship" is perhaps hammered home a bit to
bluntly - but considering the circumstances and the sheer pace of 40
odd deaths in a matter of days, such tiny details can be forgiven.
What
works best towards the end of the film is the increasing sense of
paranoia which continues to build. Who can you trust? Are they really
your best friend? As a director, Fukasaku somehow manages to convey
this so seamlessly within an audience, it's amazing.
Battle Royale
premiered in Japan on December 16, 2000 amidst much controversy and is
based on a bestselling novel by Koushun Takami. It is also the film
which inspired Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, which
also stars Kou Shibasaki who plays the ruthless Mitsuko.
There
are some excellent performances from Tatsuya Fujiwara and Aki Maeda as
the two young lovers Shuya and Nuriko that stick together, Masanobu
Ando the quiet cold blooded killer Kiriyama and Taro Yamamoto as the
helpful but mysterious transfer student Kawada and there is Takeshi
Kitanoas as Takeshi, their year 7 ex-school teacher that looks over
them on the island, and is on the brink of destruction himself.
The
classical music played throughout the film gives an epically disturbing
vibe- as if it's in the spirit of the game and truly excentuates the
tension. There is an underlying bitter satire on today's Japanese
society, there is more to it than just students riddling each other
with bullets.
While not everyone will be able to stomach
the
violence and tense nature of the film, I don't think I could reccomend
a film more highly. Definitely one of those films you must see before
you die, especially if you only have three days and have an exploding
sensor strapped to your neck...
DVD EXTRAS
There
aren't a great deal of extras here. Just the original theatrical
trailer, and of course a selection of several types of subtitles.
Conclusion:
Movie 90% Extras: 50%
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