Saturday 14 May 2011

Under the Radar - Great films that may have passed you by: Battle Royale

Battle Royale - Kinji Fukasaku - 2000

It’s hard to sum up the premise of this film better than the opening prologue:

“At the dawn of the millennium, the nation collapsed. At fifteen percent unemployment, ten million were out of work. 800,000 students boycotted school. The adults lost confidence and, fearing the youth, eventually passed the Millennium Educational Reform Act, AKA the BR Act...”


In a near future world where adults are trying to regain the respect of the rebelling younger generations, a new programme is established whereby classes are arbitrarily selected to compete in the Battle Royale; a sadistic, kill or be killed game ,which can only have one winner.

En route to their ‘field trip’, Class B are gassed and taken to a deserted island where they are introduced to the programme by Kitano, their worldy-weary former teacher; ‘You mock your elders’ is the sole reasoning he gives when challenged about their involvement. Equipped with their wits and a randomly assigned weapon, the 42 classmates set out against one another.

As with Lord of the Flies the students are forced into a situation where they are required make a choice if they are to succeed, it just so happens that this time, the choice lies at the end of the barrel of a gun. Some choose to fight each other, some choose to fight the system and some choose to simply run or end their life there and then.

The film is by no means an attempt to condone violence or advocate corporal punishment. In the same way that the violence in American Psycho is a comment on the monotony of 21st century life, and one man’s attempt to feel something, the violence in Battle Royale isn’t just gratuitous, it is a comment on society, dealing with themes such as innocence, respect and honour.

Given this subject matter, as a viewers we are strangely accepting of the normality of it all, not once did I sit back and think ‘this is ridiculous, this would never happen’ despite the ludicrous premise; a comment in itself on our de-sensitisation to violence through films and computer games.

Similarly, it takes the elements of a high school teen drama - popularity, jealousy, bullying and cliques - massively subverting the genre conventions and ruthlessly placing them in a heightened situation where the characters can, and are encouraged to act out their darkest desires, cleverly inviting the question, what would you do in the situation?

However, it’s not all blood, gore and massacre, it is a thoughtfully scripted and incredibly funny piece of cinema.

Throughout the film, the classical and operatic score - symbols of structure, order and collaboration - perfectly offset the manic chaos of the plot.

Verdi’s Dies Irae (‘Day of Wrath’) blasting over the opening scenes of waves crashing against the shore, along with the ‘Right Way to Fight a Battle Royale’ educational video instantly set the melodramatic, yet darkly comic tone for the film. From the outset the audience is encouraged to laugh along, rather than shy away from the black subject matter.

Similarly, Fukasaku Kinji cleverely balances acts of violence with acts of bravery and nobility. The film’s protagonist Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara), grieving over the murder of his friend Nobu (Yukihiro Kotani) swears to protect Noriko Nakagawa (Aki Maeda), the object of Nobu’s affections.

Its cult and critical success stems from its unabashed ability to deal with the themes in whatever way it wants. It shatters one of the unwritten, yet fundamental rules of mainstream western cinema: you don’t kill children. This ‘anti-westernness’ - that it is so different to anything you’ll see come out of Hollywood - is what makes it so appealing.

Similarly, the context of the film is particularly pertinent for contemporary British viewers, given the current unemployment rates and ASBO society in which we live, which is probably why Battle Royale still resonates with audience eleven years after its release.

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