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Battle Royale
****-
I'm 21 years old. And it has taken me this long in my life to watch Battle Royale. How has this happened? How have I been able to look at myself in the mirror each morning and say, "Hey hotness, you can justify your existence?" So much of my life has been defined by my unabashed interest in all things violent, absurd, and Japanese. Yet, I never realized there was this great hole in my soul, a hole that could only be filled by a class of Japanese children ruthlessly killing each other on a deserted island.
Battle Royal is actually based upon the controversial novel of the same name, originally penned by Koushun Takami and published in Japan in 1999. One year later, Battle Royale hit the screen. Although it may not be well known here in the states, Battle Royale has predictably gained a cult following. It was even followed in 2003 by a lesser known (and widely considered terrible) sequel.
The concept behind it's story is a cross between the short stories "The Most Dangerous Game," by Richard Connell, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, and the novel "Lord of the Flies."
For those who don't know what all these written words mean and just want to see heads explode, Battle Royale is a cross between the show LOST and Kill Bill. Except with kids.
A class of 42 Japanese students are randomly selected, drugged, and taken to a island where they are forced to fight each other to the death. After three days, if there is no single winner, everyone will be executed by means of an exploding choker placed around their throats.
You read that correctly. An exploding necklace. Exploding heads. People's heads explode in this movie. Do you not understand what I'm saying here? Do you not see what I'm getting at?
Battle Royale pretty much has everything you could ever want to see in it.
Knives are thrown at heads, necks are sliced with sickles, arrows pierce hearts, bodies are maimed, burned, tazed, decapitated, and of course, shot at numerous times.
But what could it mean? Is this supposed to be social commentary? Is the litteral cutthroat competition between these students in some way a metaphor for the cutthroat education system we have abused our own children with?
Surprisingly, the first fifteen minutes of this film were by far the most interesting to me. A group of kids, children essentially, find themselves playfully enjoying a bus ride. The next minute one of them wakes up to find their entire bus unconcious. Their stewardess turns to them, wearing a gas mask, and after a swift smack to the head they awake again in another anonymous classroom.
Their "teacher," is by far the most engaging character, as he adresses the class accordingly. He takes their questions in order, enforces silence brutally, and assures them that their parents have been notified of their unexpected field-trip. His quiet assuredness is disarmingly surreal. As he sits on the corner of his desk and presses play on the introductory video-tape, the situation becomes all too familiar. This calming eye in the midst of a hurricane is undeniably fascinating, disturbing, and altogether immensely entertaining to watch.
The film however loses some of it's artistic fervor once it leaves the classroom and enters the jungle. The children each take different approaches to the situation. Some band together to fight the system that placed them in such a predicament. Some attempt to group together to peacefully wait it out. But the system ensures that they all must kill each other, and they do. While that might be entertaining to watch, it isn't nearly as effective as the introduction to this absurd universe. The film works best when it manages to draw parallels between the murderous jungle and the hallways within a highschool, but with the senseless killings it seems to lose some of it's integrity.
The characters, despite having names, for the most part are only identifiable by their number and the order in which they are killed. Besides a handful of characters that are given a degree of interpersonal development, most of them are frankly anonymous. The ones that are developed however, give the film an undeniable sense of sadness.
I'm willing to again mention the film Funny Games, a film which directly adressed the psychological aspects of witnessing grusome acts between fictional characters. That film hid all acts of violence from the viewer, yet kept the tension and the emotional turmoil. Battle Royale is a different kind of movie, one that is based purely upon seeing all acts of violence, yet criticizing it's own value. It's a contradicition on camera, but again, it's fun to watch. That is, as long as you don't question it much afterwards.
There is a chance that Battle Royale might not mean anything at all. Maybe it's just a Kafka-esque world, where characters are thrown into an absurd universe they don't understand and where they just so happen to have to fight to the death. Perhaps these little Asian kids are merely little Gregor Samsa's who transformed into killing machines rather than giant cockroaches.
Or perhaps it's just an excuse to watch the world burn.
Whatever it is, it's entertaining.
Battle Royale
****-
I'm 21 years old. And it has taken me this long in my life to watch Battle Royale. How has this happened? How have I been able to look at myself in the mirror each morning and say, "Hey hotness, you can justify your existence?" So much of my life has been defined by my unabashed interest in all things violent, absurd, and Japanese. Yet, I never realized there was this great hole in my soul, a hole that could only be filled by a class of Japanese children ruthlessly killing each other on a deserted island.
Battle Royal is actually based upon the controversial novel of the same name, originally penned by Koushun Takami and published in Japan in 1999. One year later, Battle Royale hit the screen. Although it may not be well known here in the states, Battle Royale has predictably gained a cult following. It was even followed in 2003 by a lesser known (and widely considered terrible) sequel.
The concept behind it's story is a cross between the short stories "The Most Dangerous Game," by Richard Connell, "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson, and the novel "Lord of the Flies."
For those who don't know what all these written words mean and just want to see heads explode, Battle Royale is a cross between the show LOST and Kill Bill. Except with kids.
A class of 42 Japanese students are randomly selected, drugged, and taken to a island where they are forced to fight each other to the death. After three days, if there is no single winner, everyone will be executed by means of an exploding choker placed around their throats.
You read that correctly. An exploding necklace. Exploding heads. People's heads explode in this movie. Do you not understand what I'm saying here? Do you not see what I'm getting at?
Battle Royale pretty much has everything you could ever want to see in it.
Knives are thrown at heads, necks are sliced with sickles, arrows pierce hearts, bodies are maimed, burned, tazed, decapitated, and of course, shot at numerous times.
But what could it mean? Is this supposed to be social commentary? Is the litteral cutthroat competition between these students in some way a metaphor for the cutthroat education system we have abused our own children with?
Surprisingly, the first fifteen minutes of this film were by far the most interesting to me. A group of kids, children essentially, find themselves playfully enjoying a bus ride. The next minute one of them wakes up to find their entire bus unconcious. Their stewardess turns to them, wearing a gas mask, and after a swift smack to the head they awake again in another anonymous classroom.
Their "teacher," is by far the most engaging character, as he adresses the class accordingly. He takes their questions in order, enforces silence brutally, and assures them that their parents have been notified of their unexpected field-trip. His quiet assuredness is disarmingly surreal. As he sits on the corner of his desk and presses play on the introductory video-tape, the situation becomes all too familiar. This calming eye in the midst of a hurricane is undeniably fascinating, disturbing, and altogether immensely entertaining to watch.
The film however loses some of it's artistic fervor once it leaves the classroom and enters the jungle. The children each take different approaches to the situation. Some band together to fight the system that placed them in such a predicament. Some attempt to group together to peacefully wait it out. But the system ensures that they all must kill each other, and they do. While that might be entertaining to watch, it isn't nearly as effective as the introduction to this absurd universe. The film works best when it manages to draw parallels between the murderous jungle and the hallways within a highschool, but with the senseless killings it seems to lose some of it's integrity.
The characters, despite having names, for the most part are only identifiable by their number and the order in which they are killed. Besides a handful of characters that are given a degree of interpersonal development, most of them are frankly anonymous. The ones that are developed however, give the film an undeniable sense of sadness.
I'm willing to again mention the film Funny Games, a film which directly adressed the psychological aspects of witnessing grusome acts between fictional characters. That film hid all acts of violence from the viewer, yet kept the tension and the emotional turmoil. Battle Royale is a different kind of movie, one that is based purely upon seeing all acts of violence, yet criticizing it's own value. It's a contradicition on camera, but again, it's fun to watch. That is, as long as you don't question it much afterwards.
There is a chance that Battle Royale might not mean anything at all. Maybe it's just a Kafka-esque world, where characters are thrown into an absurd universe they don't understand and where they just so happen to have to fight to the death. Perhaps these little Asian kids are merely little Gregor Samsa's who transformed into killing machines rather than giant cockroaches.
Or perhaps it's just an excuse to watch the world burn.
Whatever it is, it's entertaining.
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