The Final Countdown

A violent dystopic vision of the future, Kinji Fukasaku’s 2000 feature film Battle Royale sets up a scenario in which adults do not trust children – as a lack of jobs, student protests and many other ominous happenings have led to the government passing the controversial BR Act.

Selecting one class each year, the students will be transported to an uninhabited island where they will have to duke it out until only one teen is left alive. A more intense, visceral example of The Hunger Games, it is set up to quash the idea of rebellion, dissidence and youthful exuberance – a horrific example of a totalitarian government with no scruples when it comes to curtailing the behaviour of its people.

Mixing both school and personal flashbacks that give us a wider vision of the forty-two students selected (two of which are not from the class, but are tournament champions from past years), class B-2 are in shock when they find themselves in a room full of military, led by their former teacher Kitano (Takeshi Kitano). Forced to watch an overly cheerful tutorial on what to expect when they leave the briefing, each student will be provided with a kit that contains food, water and a variety of weapons (a student could receive anything from a machine gun or sickle, to binoculars or a tracking device). As in life, luck plays an integral part in the brutal games. A few times each day, they will receive reports by way of a loudspeaker, highlighting certain zones that are off limits as well as naming those who have been killed. They are controlled by a device placed around their necks, which can be exploded if they do not follow the rules, or enter said zones.

This will probably be one of my shortest reviews, as I do not wish to divulge any of the events that take place during the game, as each comment would provide you with a bright flashing light that would indicate that a particular character will make it deep into the competition. I will say that these young actors do a great job at creating interesting characters (sometimes with limited screen time).

A brutal take on the tumultuous teenage years, Battle Royale is an allegory revealing the cliques and gangs that form, as well as the loners that go at it alone. Will friendships be able to hold strong under these more than strenuous circumstances? Will unsettling alliances be made amongst bitter enemies?

It also speaks to the trust, betrayal, hatred, love and so many other emotional issues that exist at a heightened level during secondary school (sometimes simmering just below the surface, other times exploding). Those hidden secrets or revelations revealed can have dire consequences on a teen’s psyche, no more so than in this torrid environment. There may be no better film that demonstrates the true bonds of friendship or the horrors of cruelty and hatred.

The film’s score, composed by Masamichi Amano and performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, utilizes many pieces of classical music (those of Bach, Verdi, Strauss Sr., Strauss, Schubert) to great effect. There is a certain emotion evoked when fusing the beauty of the classics with violence onscreen, witnessed here as well as in films like A Clockwork Orange and Platoon. It has a memorable and somewhat jarring effect, a score most definitely worth noting.

A more than controversial movie, Battle Royale has been confiscated, banned and has had difficulty finding distribution rights, yet has still left an indelible impact on the annals of film history. Influencing Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill, as well as the much more watered down Hunger Games (as well as many other films), visually astute viewers (and keen listeners) will see or hear references made in Shaun of the Dead, Juno, Lost and so many other things. So, ship out to find a copy of this controversial Japanese feature, it is a sort of macabre escapism that, despite all odds, will have you smiling as it teaches you about true friendship.