Battle Royale
Survivor with the cast of the Breakfast Club

by Face
August 28, 2004

Classmate murdering 101

Imagine a world vaguely similar to ours. National pride is at an all time low, unemployment is at an all time double-digit high, and the nation's youth are more chaotic and unpredictable than ever before. Imagine a Government pushed to the limits by the rebellious younger generations. Imagine being kidnapped during your 9th grade school trip, and forced to compete in a three-day death match amongst your fellow classmates and dear, dear friends.

You can try, but with Battle Royale, veteran director Kinji Fukasaku doesn't give us any time to merely imagine. Instead, he throws us head first into the madness, with nothing to break our fall besides a couple dozen teenage corpses. Throughout his career, Fukasaku has directed over 60 films (with Battle Royale being his last), and almost all of them start with a rough and bumpy ride before they escalate into a much more painful and violent adventure. And he pulls no punches here as he uncompromisingly fixates on the brutal teenage violence created by the game, and at times it can be difficult to stomach. But this time, it's the film that's painful, not the adventure; in fact, it's downright excruciating.

Based on the controversial novel by Koshun Takami, Battle Royale is kind of like an episode of Survivor with the cast of The Breakfast Club. It's a gruesome and disturbing send-up on reality TV, and has caused quite a bit of controversy throughout Japan and much of the world. Despite the cries and complaints, this bizarre, muddled ill-boding tale was nominated for seven awards by the Japanese Academy, and I haven't the foggiest idea why.

As expected, Battle Royale gets things kicking with a disturbing opening scene, involving a vividly blood-drenched young girl. Soon after, the 9th grade class of unsuspecting victims is quickly abducted while on their way to a fun-filled school trip. Legendary Japanese Actor Beat Takeshi stars as the brutal and coldhearted school teacher/coordinator of the Battle Royale, aptly named Kitano. His character is strikingly similar to the roles he has played in the past, and fans will most undoubtedly recognize his conflicting apathetically-violent personality. He is quiet and outwardly content, yet, at the most unexpected moments, lashes out with lightning bolt strikes of violence.

Before heading into the wilderness, all 42 of the students are shown a lively video outlining the rules of the game. They have three days. There are no rules. And only one person is allowed to leave the island alive. To complicate matters, a necklace laced with a deadly explosive has been securely locked around everyone's neck. If they attempt to leave the island or take the necklace off, it will instantly explode. Scared out of their minds and armed with an array of weaponry, both traditional and more unconventional, the students begin to unwillingly play this twisted version of cat-and-mouse. But not all of them participate in the wisest of ways. Some, desperate to return to their homes, enter the battlefield with a blank and crazed preconception, while others use the opportunity as a means to settle old scores with enemies. Others are entirely unwilling to kill close friends and classmates, and decide the only way out is suicide. Some unsuccessfully attempt to rally one another in a grand effort for peace. And of course, there are our two heroes, Shuya and Norika, who avoid danger at all costs, attacking only when forced to attack. As the movie goes on, people come and go like flies, and rarely did I find myself the least bit concerned that expendables were being dispatched. As the numbers slowly dwindle away, each death is documented by a cold and darkly comical subtitled score card, which records their name, and the number of survivors left standing. It's a brutal and cleverly effective way for us to keep track of the chaos that never seems to cease.

Much like Kinji Fukasaku's run-and-gun films from the 60's and 70's, Battle Royale is deeply and clumsily rooted in excessive and repetitive cartoon-style violence, with seemingly no attempt at context or logic. Action sequences are marred time and time again by students who just won't die. They are shot, stabbed, tomahawked, electrocuted, pulverized, and blown to smithereens countless times, and yet somehow they manage to continue their desperate struggle for life. But beneath all of those mutilated corpses, and hidden within the rivers of freshly spilled blood is an attempt at satire, a misplaced stab at mordancy as the filmmakers haphazardly reference social issues amidst the mindless chaos. The result is an often vague and jarred message that doesn't always make it back from the battlefield alive.

The problem is Battle Royale constantly juggles violence and satiric irony with an ever-present array of emotional baggage, and it can't ever seem to keep the ball rolling. Throughout the 110 minutes of the film, there are several drastic and disorienting content shifts. The beginning scenes are played out with a brooding and pathological sense of urgency as the students are first introduced to the ins and outs of the Battle Royale. As the death count gradually piles up, however, there is an obvious switch of focus that mainly keys in on the tedious violence between the predominantly anonymous students. Regrettably, the inconsistent content and fluctuating tone hurt the end result of the film, and leaves much to be desired by anyone who looks for more than action without purpose, mind or excitement. I for one am disappointed.

Battle Royale is the type of film that navigates in the dark, stumbling as it walks and stuttering as it talks. Even with two hours, it fails to find a path to follow. If only they brought a flashlight...

Director:
Kinji Fukasaku
Writer:
Kenta Fukasaku
Starring:
Tatsuya Fujiwara
Aki Maeda
Taro Yamamoto
Chiaki Kuriyama
Released:
12/16/2000
Production:
Toei Company
Also known as:
Batoru rowaiaru
Links:
IMDB Profile
Theatrical Trailer