Battle Royale (2000)

Battle Royale (2000) 114m

Some films are censured as soon as they hit the cinemas, but just a synopsis of this one is enough to start controversy: In the near future, a class of 40 Japanese ninth-grade students are rounded up as part of a delinquency control act called 'Battle Royale' (wrestling terminology for a free-for-all fight), set loose on an island with an assortment of survival aids and instructed to kill each other within three days until only one remains or forfeit all their lives instead. Naturally, the resulting furore over the release of BATTLE ROYALE in its native Japan could do nothing but contribute to its publicity and high box office. Undoubtedly, its content will earn it a following from as many witless viewers as it will thoughtful ones, but that's no reason to condemn it. It's a familiar idea – we've seen it as early as THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME in 1932 – which may remind you not only of other movies, but also 'reality television' gameshows which incite contestants to become the last man standing by progressively eliminating their competition. I'm not too surprised by the story, having already seen similar features (particularly THE RUNNING MAN and Peter Watkins' GLADIATORERNA) and other gimmicks like the 'exploding collar' in a number of futuristic prison flicks (at least in this film they're content to rupture the jugular instead of blowing up the whole head), but I will admit there is an edge and resonance to BATTLE ROYALE that sets it significantly apart from the rest of the pack.

To begin with, although the expendable cast is very large none of the characters appear one-dimensional or disposable. We don't have enough time to be presented with stock high school types (the nerd, the jock, the fat kid, the rebel, etc), and the students are put in the firing line before we can even decide whether they merit such outlandish punishment (the brief prelude shows a class taking the day off, and a teacher clipped by a knife during a mad dash down a corridor; hardly offenses deserving of a group massacre). Basically, they seem like a nice bunch of kids, but of course that is part of the film's strategy – that even nice kids are capable of killing to stay alive. However it is not the violence that is devastating so much as the tearing asunder of friendships and values, the things that matter most to these teenagers. There are exceptions of course, notably one student who approaches the ordeal with cold-blooded calculation ("Die, ugly," she sneers at a classmate she didn't particularly like), and a ringer who looks like he warped in from a live-action anime feature. The truth is that almost none of the class wants to participate, and it is their personal torment – not necessarily their deaths – that may resonate with you afterwards. In the film's most striking scene a group of girls suddenly turn upon each other as the fragile tension of trust finally shatters.

BATTLE ROYALE has enough clout to keep it from being dismissed as exploitative schlock: its source is a novel (which in itself was controversial); it was brought to the screen by a veteran, award-winning 70-year old director (Kinji Fukasaku); and has a key role by accomplished actor/director/screenwriter 'Beat' Takeshi. With this pedigree, many critics opted to brand the film as a satire (on the government, society, the generation gap, whatever), while Japanese politicians protested it as being irresponsible and damaging (there are practically no adults in the film, giving us the feeling that society has simply abandoned their kids in the wasteland) but I see it more as a cathartic – a literal bloodletting – that becomes every stupid high school scenario you've seen in teen movies given vent with axes, crossbows and assault rifles. It's a complete hormonal explosion in which most of the killings (and suicides) are done by students who are irrationally in love, rejected, besotted, jealous, bitchy, outcast, lustful, sexually frustrated, promiscuous or just plain emotionally confused. It's a sure thing that BATTLE ROYALE caused some outrage because of its primary visual motif of school uniforms spattered with blood (the characters responsible for most of the carnage choose not to wear uniforms anyway). Uniforms present order, purpose, and conformity, values held with some regard in Japan: no wonder the politicians there had a seizure. However this is the same culture that fetishizes such school attire in pornography and manga, or both simultaneously (let's not even start talking about the 'Rapeman' comic books) and Uzi-toting students probably don't look any more weird than half of the other stuff screening on Japanese TV.

BATTLE ROYALE could have been a reckless satire dehumanizing the characters for the sake of making it okay for us to laugh at the violence or it could have been a serious, visceral drama which would have had us feeling real anger toward the film and the people who made it. As it turns out, Fukasaku and his son Kenta (who adapted the novel) get the right balance – some of the absurdity is intentionally funny, but not to the expense of the characters, and even though the entire scenario is too illogical and extreme to be taken seriously, the human element – i.e. the diverse reactions of the students to their dilemma – keeps us involved during every minute of the running time. This film throws us bodily into their hopeless situation and makes us think: What would we do? What could we do? Which choice would we make? Your mind may race with alternatives as you watch the body count inexorably rise. The possibilities are surprising, and in BATTLE ROYALE, they are all covered.

sburridge@hotmail.com

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