"BATTLE ROYALE" (2000)

Let the games begin!

What would you do if you if you all of a sudden found yourself pitted against your closest friends in a battle to the death? Director Kinju Fukasaku’s adaption of Koushun Takami’s novel” Batoru Rowaiaru” is a raw, dramatic, deeply moving and utterly well executed and story.

In a dystopic future Japan is on the verge of collapsing. Unemployment and youth criminality plagues the nation on a massive scale - which forced the government to introduce a new reform act – Battle Royale. Every year a middle school class is selected through a meticulous lottery, they are then kidnapped and brought to an isolated island where they are forced to fight each for three days other until only one person is left alive.

It is with brutal and merciless violence that Kinju Fukusaku (1930- 2003) depicts the central plot of “Battle Royale”. We get to accompany class 9B, a group of young middle school pupils who have almost become like a family to each other, and who suddenly have to face off against one another in a struggle between life and death.

As a viewer you instantly connect to many of the characters to the point where you almost feel like you are among them. The moment where the game on the remote island starts and where every pupil is provided with a random weapon to go out and slay each other, was to me one of the strongest and most heartbreaking moment of the movie. Some instantly gives in to panic and do everything they can to survive while others stick together trying to protect each other.

The story focuses on four main characters - the middle school pupils Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara) a young man with a troubled past and Noriko Nagakawa (Aki Maeda) – his classmate who has been in love with him for a long time and who closely sticks by Shuya’s side during their time on the island. They are soon accompanied by Shôgo Kawada (Tarô Yamamoto) who a former Battle Royale participant. Kawada has been put on the island together with another former participant to make the game more interesting so to speak.

Kawada is portrayed as a quite unpredictable character with initially very unclear motives and it's hard to know whose side he is actually on. This adds to a very exciting tension within the trio who end up sticking together during the duration of the brutal game.

The fourth main character is our antagonist - Kitano - the former teacher of class 9B who is masterfully portrayed by the legendary Takeshi “Beat” Kitano (“Sonatine” & “Outrage”). What’s interesting about his character is how his personality seems to change depending on the situation he finds himself in.

During his time as the teacher for class 9B he is portrayed as a very inferior and fearful person who has completely given up hope on the world around him. Through him we get a frightening image of how badly the whole situation in the country has affected the older generation and how the young people have taken the law into their own hands. Later on, when Kitano leads the brutal game on the island all the traces of the fearful and inferior teacher are gone and replaced with a totally emotionless, sadistic and vengeful man.

However, during course of the movie we get to know more about Kitano’s personal background. Beneath the characters frightening shell there are glimpses of the good person he once was and we get to see what made him become the person he is. This makes you really develop a strong sympathy while constantly feeling unsure of what kind of person Kitano really is.

As” Battle Royale” is as exciting as its dramatic and frightening with several moral undertones. Fukasaku really managed to portray the story in Koshun Takami’s novel in a both realistic and terrifying way. The direction of the characters, the great acting, powerful score and masterful storytelling makes "Battle Royale" an extraordinary film experience that you just can’t miss out on!

Ladies and gentlemen this is the real "Hunger Games"!