Konichiwa, welcome to Battle Royale (Battle Royale (DVD))

Name: eggerman

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Product:	Battle Royale (DVD)
Date:	23/04/06 (184 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Entertaining idea, Japanese are good at violent movies

Disadvantages: Not to be taken seriously, far fetched

Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru, 2000) tells a tale of raw rebellion. Japan is struggling with ever-increasing unemployment rates, and violence amongst youths in Japanese schools is at an all time high. Kinji Fukasaku (Double Cross, Virus) directs an action/thriller, questionably horror, film of solving both problems at once, with the B.R.A (Battle Royale Act).

Once a year, every class from the nation’s schools are put into a lottery. One class is drawn as the ‘winner’ and are taken to a deserted island on what they believe be a school trip. Here, they are given food and water, a map, torch and compass, and one weapon, and are told that they must kill each other within 3 days to have a chance of surviving. The last one alive is the only one allowed to go home. The B.R.A injects fear into rebellious youths, and cuts down on some of the population soon to become unemployed.

With our narrative changing every time someone dies, and the overall internal conflict of 42 teenagers to deal with, the only consistent factor in the film is the state of the island and the trouble that it brings. The climate terrorises our characters further, resulting in a more brutal action scenes, yet also creates the sensation of perseverance as the film draws to a close. The surrounding waters highlight the state of isolation, and the uneven terrain symbolises not only the unpredictability of the children, but current state of the economy in Japan at the time. The location was expertly chosen to have sets suitable for many situations, and the context that it is in is simply mirrored by the weather.

The first view we get of the island is a computer-generated image. This demonstrates the falsity of the theme, the underlying danger imposed upon the pupils as a simple game. This is almost making a mockery of the students; as much of their life was spent playing computer games and skiving school, and so now they must play a game in order to keep their lives.

Next the students are given another computer-generated image of the island divided into sections. This is done to give Battle Royale some structure, adding to the realism of the movie, as these are only school children and ironically have to learn new things all the time. Also, Fukasaku has made a vast juxtaposition here, because the reason these kids are so out of control is because of their lack of structure, and this is probably the first time that they have been taught something that they have had to listen to.
The students are informed of the danger zones, in which if they are found hiding in for too long they will be executed.

The design runs on the fallacy that Battle Royale is a game. The video that the children watch is portrayed in an enthusiastic and upbeat manner, as if fun is to be had from killing all of your friends. Kinji Fukasaku even named this scene ‘life is a game’ and included the line in the script just before the end. This is similar to his dream scene in A Chaos of Flowers 1988 in which real-life and dreams intertwine.

The filmmakers used the island of Hachijo-Kojima, one of the Izu islands, 300 miles south of Tokyo. It has been uninhabited for many years due to a lack of water, and so rough terrain and erratic weather were bonuses when filming around the island. We learn that although it is deserted, it only has a circumference of 10km, and so the ensuing action will be condensed and fast paced.

Adventures across the landscape are made difficult further by the costume of choice. Mountaineering the hills of this island is hard enough, but the characters had to also wear their school uniform and carry heavy bags all the time, making the audience more enthralled by their inability to run away.

In true tartan cinema style, the storyline is reduced to encapsulate more action. It is not the characters involvement that carries the tale (although it may seem that way) but simply the form of the film that aims for recognition. The plot was soft, but overall it was entertaining.

Summary: Watch if you like japanese/violent genre movies