"Batoru rowaiaru" (2000)
Score: 8.0/10
IMDb Score: 8.0/10
Not yet rated
Summary: "I will always protect you."
Tagline: Could you kill your best friend?
Site Features: Archives |
sidenote: I found the theme to
BR is very reminiscent of the Empire Strikes Back theme,
just
listen for yourself to a small part of the BR theme.
At first i hated Battle Royale, the entire premise, watching
little
kids forced to kill each other... but then it starts to sink
in what
this movie is really saying, and you realize why its one of
the most
talked about films ever to come out of Japan.
Battle Royale is a tour de force satire without question. It
makes us
question the way we treat not only our children and social stratus,
but
how our economic, and political strongholds, effect our children,
the
very lifeblood of our culture.
Having gone all to the trouble of finding an import VCD of
this flick,
I'm glad I put in all the effort. The younger and elder Fukusakus
both
exhibit pretty big stones producing a work like this, one which
could
never be duplicated in the states. Even though such a brutal
situation
would be far more likely in the US, recent escalating school
violence
would prevent such a film from ever being made stateside.
Some teenage sappiness does seep in, and the motivations for
some of
the characters, particularly Sickle Girl and the red-haired
boy "there
just for fun," are shallow or dubious. Also, the media
could have been
used for greater effect, adding more absurdity by spinning the
contest
as some kind of reality TV event. The movie keeps a "score"
of sorts,
but imagine slick graphics portraying the kill rates and deaths,
with a
play-by-play from the same adorable gal who gave the students
their
instructions. Knowing how hard Japanese students are worked,
I can see
the motivations behind portraying such a draconian test of worth
of
mere school kids, absurd as it may be. Still, even if you can't
relate
the cultural background of this film, you can't help but wonder
just
what you'd do in the place of one of these frightened students.
BR focuses on shocking people into realizing the wrongs of
the society
that occupies our everyday lives, and while BR may portray this
in a
surrealistic and over the top way, deep down it portrays a biting
satire that really has something important to say.
The directing, dialog, acting, musical score.. are all ingenious,
one
feels deeply for the characters, because of their age, vulnerability,
and friendships. This film made me cry on more then one occasion.
I
scored this film so high because it makes you think, feel, and
consider
responsibility for where our world is headed.
Each scene we unravel the plight and struggle of growing up...
why we
rebel, why we are so difficult as teenagers, we aren't bad we
simply
don't understand things yet, or we are afraid to tell people
we love
them, or we just want to fit in, or be a loser. As each scene
unravels,
we discover, how much we judge the ones we should be protecting.
Chiaki Kuriyama known for her recent tour de force role as
Gogo Yubari
in Kill Bill Vol.1 and Ju-On (TV), plays the girl in the yellow
rain
slicker who just loved to run, until she wakes up from her daydream,
feels the collar on her neck, and remembers where she is...
Takeshi
Kitano ("Zatôichi") is ingenious in Battle Royale
as the teacher, who
impartially runs the games.
I feel positive that if this were a reality, it wouldn't be
for long,
as the United States would eventually stop it. This unforgivable
treatment of our children is sado masochistic and sort of ridiculous.
lol. It'd never happen, no one is that stupid. If you kill off
all the
kids, except one, what will that one become? Well adjusted?
I really
don't think so, not after what you just put him/her through..
so what
kind of future are we creating here? In a sense the biggest
stab in
this movie is at Japan's alleged incompetence as a government
to run a
country in crisis, and a stab at the treatment of our children,
our
lack of nurturing as parents, that we would consider a BR act
as
feasible! So, why was this movie made? Think long about it,
because the
lessons of Battle Royale are far reaching, and more important
then any
horror movie ever made.
Battle Royale has a number of key messages, and "Do you
know what that
means?" is important to that. "Togetherness"
is an important theme, as
is the notion of futility. Both are embodied within the quote.
Ultimately, only four characters find the closure they are looking
for:
Nanahara and Noriko with each other, Kawada with Keiko (his
girlfriend,
killed by him in a previous BR) and Kitano with Noriko (the
former
dying by Nanahara's hands to save the latter). And in the end,
not even
the operator of the BR, Kitano, can escape in life his own problems.
In
that respect, Kitano is not so different from the students,
but I shall
go into that in his profile.Do I know what that means? Yes.
It means we
should always be together, and that escape from Battle Royale
is
futile. It claims all its contestants, even the winner, in one
way or
another.
The initial meaning of "Do you know what that means?"
is thus that we
should be together. This surfaces on numerous occasions besides
this
one however. I will not go into depth here as this analysis
relates to
this quote alone, but the idea is implicit in such unfulfilled
loves as
that felt by Chigusa for Sugimura, Sugimura for Kotohiki, Megumi
for
Mimura, and even Kitano for Noriko. We should be together, but
unfortunately are not. Of course, the whole point is that people
this
age should not have to worry about that sort of thing, yet do
because
of the game. This is of primary reference to the character of
Sugimura,
who makes it his mission to make his death bed confessions,
having
accepted that his death is inevitable, but as mentioned it is
a
resounding message in many of the film's relationships. One
final point
on this regard is that there are two couples who are together
forever:
Kazuhiko Yamamoto and Sakura Ogawa, and Yoshimi Yahagi and Youji
Kuramoto. However, they only achieve this by suicide, underlining
the
futility of the situation. The idea is mocked with Mimura's
insistence
that he will escape with his friends together, given that they
do so in
death, all dying within minutes of each other to Kazuo Kiriyama.
Do you know what it means? Signifies that we cannot judge our
children
to have all the answers when we ourselves are full of questions.
Later on, following the lighthouse massacre, the line evolves
in
meaning. We see it in two title cards. We also see Nanahara
scream out
loud, as if he can see the cards, "Know what that means!?
How am
supposed to know what that means!?" This might appear to
be a sacrifice
of realism, but this is in part due to the Japanese style of
cinema.
They focus upon hermeneutic codes (narrative enigmas) as opposed
to
proairetic (action) codes as favoured by Hollywood. If my Media
Studies
teacher, Steve McGivern, is reading this, note how I am applying
analytical techniques gained from your class! A skill for life….
Thank
you! Japanese audiences will not see it as odd in the slightest
that a
character might "see" the title cards. Of course,
more likely is that
he is simply recalling what Utsumi said previously, having realized
that his situation is hopeless.
This is the meaning of the phrase in the later stages. It all
stems
from Nanahara's realization, and nicely introduces the remainder
of the
film. By this stage, we only have to see the conclusion of the
Sugimura
and Mimura sub-plots and the end of Souma Mitsuko before we
reach the
final showdown. All Hell breaks loose, with no characters achieving
their aims successfully, although all do so in part. I have
already
mentioned how what "that" means relates to these subplots,
and it will
be more specifically mentioned in the discussion of those sub
plots.
But it is also a love story.
We see a love triangle already in Battle Royale, with Hiroki
Sugimura,
Takako Chigusa, and Kayako Kotohiki. The effects and implications
of
this I will discuss in a later analysis. In Noriko and Nananhara
we see
a strong couple who barely know each other at the start of the
film,
but are brought together by loyalty to Yoshitoki Kuninobu. It
is
essential to the film's key message that trust and loyalty can
withstand even as great an attack as Battle Royale that they
are not
broken apart, and if Utsumi were allowed to start a relationship
with
Nanahara this would be broken. There are possible comparisons
here with
the relationship between Megumi Etou and Shinji Mimura (the
former has
a secret crush on the latter, which Mimura never discovers owing
to
Megumi's early demise).
We also have to assume that the collars could be removed somehow.
Maybe
if a few got their items together and could create something
that could
release them... kinda far fetched but maybe... well, that's
exactly
what happens, sort of...
When watching Battle Royale it's obvious to any sane individual,
that
if you get out of this alive you're gonna find some way to change
things. You're gonna be really pissed off, your best friends
are dead,
because you were forced to kill them, the mental cruelty is
unforgivable. I'd start a fuckin war. Which is exactly what
BR 2 is...
a obvious and predictable but unalterable reality when given
the
circumstances created by this unreality, this fascist and morally
impotent future Japan. But that review will come later...
Sadly, Kinji Fukusaku died on the 12th January 2003, having
been taken
to hospital following complications of cancer some weeks earlier,
during the filming of Battle Royale II.
Links
http://www.mandiapple.com/snowblood
http://www.battleroyaleonline.com/
is Bawpsherep's totally excellent, comprehensive fan site -
everything you could ask for, and much much more besides
The official English language site for the movie is here: http://www.battleroyalethemovie.com/
Battle Royale 2 is incoming!!! Find out all about BR1 and BR2
here: http://tjfweb.com/br2/
http://battleroyalefilm.com/
- Mike Jonas's enormous site, chock full of information regarding
both the original and the upcoming sequel, and much much more
besides
Make yourself a BR Collar with Mike Jonas' recipe: http://www.geocities.com/themikejonas/collars.html
Dan Wang's excellent Battle Station fansite is here: http://brstation.tjfweb.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/film/battle_royale0/
- Nakiko Akane's great BR fanfiction-dedicated site...
http://halfbakered.blogspot.com/2003_11_23_halfbakered_archive.html#107008306310977551
- about halfway down the page is Mike Hollihan's very thorough
and excellent 4000-word analysis of the movie, highly recommended
http://membres.lycos.fr/puremoon/sommaire_entier.htm
- an enormous fansite dedicated to Masanobu Ando, for all you
Kiriyama fans out there - a really spectacular site!!! [French
only]
http://www.eyecandy-garden.com/mycos/br.htm
- the world of Battle Royale cosplay...
http://www.angelicstar.net/cosplay/battleroyale.html
- ... and even more creative cosplay genius here ...
http://www.angelicstar.net/katsubr.html
- ... and here too!
http://reve.sans.fin.free.fr/BattleRoyale/
- another dedicated site [French only]
http://www.suisen.sakura.ne.jp/~kyo/battle/
- and another [Japanese only]
http://chiaki-kuriyama.zanlius.com
- fansite dedicated to Chiaki Kuriyama, with lots of pictures,
information and all kinds of goodies
http://www.battleroyale-movie.tk/
- a brand new fansite by Mark Evans
Visitors:
417
