Post by Nirsao on Jan 17, 2006 0:36:49 GMT -1
Battle Royale(2001)
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Beat Takeshi Kitano, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda
Genre: Asian Action
Based on a popular novel by Koshun Takami, Battle Royale is the ultimate game of survival. With the Japanese economy in a tailspin (title cards let us know that unemployment figures have swelled into the double digits) and the youth of the country increasingly becoming more violent and wayward, the government enacts the Millenial Reform School Act (also known as the BR Act). This governmental edict stipulates that each year, one class of ninth-grade students is chosen at random, taken to a small island, armed, and forced to fight to the death.
This year’s battle involves Class B from a local middle school, a class that comprises your usual assortment of high-school kids. They’re rounded up for what they think is a school field trip, but awake to find themselves on an island, held hostage by armed guards commanded by the game’s ringleader, Kitano (the always-entertaining Takeshi Kitano).
The students are forced to watch a videotape (totally Japanese, with a cheerleader-like announcer urging them to do their best) highlighting the rules of the game. The rules are simple—kill everyone.
Each student is fitted with an electronic collar, which will detonate if the student wanders into various "danger zones" on the island, or if there is more than one survivor left at the end of 72 hours.
Each is then given a bag with food, water, a map of the island, and a weapon. Some are luckier than others (a few get guns, one gets an Uzi); others wind up with binoculars, or a global positioning system.
The rules in place, the kids are released on to the island, and the game begins. What follows is both an interesting commentary on human nature and trust, as well as some biting social commentary aimed at the traditional Japanese values.
Though we get to know most of the class in at least some fashion (even if it is in the moments before they die a particularly violent, painful death), the story focuses primarily on two characters—Shuya (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and Noriko (Aki Maeda).
This young couple spends most of its time trying to avoid confrontation and find a way out—only killing when the two are forced to defend themselves.
Several other characters figure prominently into the narrative—including two transfer students—Kawada and Kiriyama—who’ve been brought into the game under mysterious circumstances.
Faced with a kill-or-be-killed situation, the students all react differently. Some refuse to kill, and kill themselves (or are quickly picked off by more aggressive classmates), others look at the game as an opportunity to take revenge on their enemies. Some try and hack into the computers of the control center and end the game, and others simply try to lay low and stay alive.
Meanwhile, Takeshi oversees things from his command center, announcing the newly dead every few hours, along with the new "danger zones" that are off-limits. He’s also watching his personal life slowly unravel, through a series of phone calls with his family.
Battle Royale has a somewhat humorous approach—as each victim is killed, we’re treated to an updated scorecard that lists who died and how many students are left. It’s sort of a morbid touch, but I found it amusing anyway.
Needless to say, Battle Royale caused quite the outrage in Japan, where student violence is starting to become an issue, like it is here in America.
Grandstanding politicians (who found Battle Royale an easy target, guaranteed to boost their popularity) expressed outrage, and the film was nearly banned (no small feat in Japan, a country that has very few issues with cinematic violence). The end result was a rating that restricted viewing to those over the age of 15.
It’s my estimation that the reason for the outrage is twofold. Fukasaku (who directed the Japanese segments of Tora, Tora, Tora, and at age 70 is no stranger to cinematic mayhem) runs wild with the idea, dropping many of the novel's reported social statemtents (the Japan here is an alternate Japan, one that was victorious in World War II) and turns Battle Royale into an exploitation film of first order.
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Beat Takeshi Kitano, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda
Genre: Asian Action
Based on a popular novel by Koshun Takami, Battle Royale is the ultimate game of survival. With the Japanese economy in a tailspin (title cards let us know that unemployment figures have swelled into the double digits) and the youth of the country increasingly becoming more violent and wayward, the government enacts the Millenial Reform School Act (also known as the BR Act). This governmental edict stipulates that each year, one class of ninth-grade students is chosen at random, taken to a small island, armed, and forced to fight to the death.
This year’s battle involves Class B from a local middle school, a class that comprises your usual assortment of high-school kids. They’re rounded up for what they think is a school field trip, but awake to find themselves on an island, held hostage by armed guards commanded by the game’s ringleader, Kitano (the always-entertaining Takeshi Kitano).
The students are forced to watch a videotape (totally Japanese, with a cheerleader-like announcer urging them to do their best) highlighting the rules of the game. The rules are simple—kill everyone.
Each student is fitted with an electronic collar, which will detonate if the student wanders into various "danger zones" on the island, or if there is more than one survivor left at the end of 72 hours.
Each is then given a bag with food, water, a map of the island, and a weapon. Some are luckier than others (a few get guns, one gets an Uzi); others wind up with binoculars, or a global positioning system.
The rules in place, the kids are released on to the island, and the game begins. What follows is both an interesting commentary on human nature and trust, as well as some biting social commentary aimed at the traditional Japanese values.
Though we get to know most of the class in at least some fashion (even if it is in the moments before they die a particularly violent, painful death), the story focuses primarily on two characters—Shuya (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and Noriko (Aki Maeda).
This young couple spends most of its time trying to avoid confrontation and find a way out—only killing when the two are forced to defend themselves.
Several other characters figure prominently into the narrative—including two transfer students—Kawada and Kiriyama—who’ve been brought into the game under mysterious circumstances.
Faced with a kill-or-be-killed situation, the students all react differently. Some refuse to kill, and kill themselves (or are quickly picked off by more aggressive classmates), others look at the game as an opportunity to take revenge on their enemies. Some try and hack into the computers of the control center and end the game, and others simply try to lay low and stay alive.
Meanwhile, Takeshi oversees things from his command center, announcing the newly dead every few hours, along with the new "danger zones" that are off-limits. He’s also watching his personal life slowly unravel, through a series of phone calls with his family.
Battle Royale has a somewhat humorous approach—as each victim is killed, we’re treated to an updated scorecard that lists who died and how many students are left. It’s sort of a morbid touch, but I found it amusing anyway.
Needless to say, Battle Royale caused quite the outrage in Japan, where student violence is starting to become an issue, like it is here in America.
Grandstanding politicians (who found Battle Royale an easy target, guaranteed to boost their popularity) expressed outrage, and the film was nearly banned (no small feat in Japan, a country that has very few issues with cinematic violence). The end result was a rating that restricted viewing to those over the age of 15.
It’s my estimation that the reason for the outrage is twofold. Fukasaku (who directed the Japanese segments of Tora, Tora, Tora, and at age 70 is no stranger to cinematic mayhem) runs wild with the idea, dropping many of the novel's reported social statemtents (the Japan here is an alternate Japan, one that was victorious in World War II) and turns Battle Royale into an exploitation film of first order.
