Thriller Research // Battle Royale (2000)

"Forty-two students, three days, one deserted Island: welcome to Battle Royale. A group of ninth-grade students from a Japanese high school have been forced by legislation to compete in a Battle Royale. The students are each given a bag with a randomly selected weapon and a few rations of food and water and sent off to kill each other in a no-holds-barred (with a few minor rules) game to the death, which means that the students have three days to kill each other until one survives--or they all die" -from IMDB

Battle Royale (2000)

Dir: Kinji Fukasaku

Screenplay: Kenta Fukasaku

Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda

Awards: 

Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2013	Nominated	Saturn Award	Best DVD/Blu-Ray Collection Battle Royale: The Complete
2001	Won	Award of the Japanese Academy	Best Editing Hirohide Abe
		Newcomer of the Year	Tatsuya Fujiwara
			Aki Maeda
		Popularity Award	Most Popular Film
	Nominated	Award of the Japanese Academy	Best Actor Tatsuya Fujiwara
			Best Director Kinji Fukasaku
			Best Film
			Best Music Score Masamichi Amano
			Best Screenplay Kenta Fukasaku
			Best Sound Kunio Ando
2001	Won	Blue Ribbon Award	Best Film Kinji Fukasaku
			Best New Actor Tatsuya Fujiwara
2001	Nominated	Best Film	Kinji Fukasaku
2002	Won	Festival Prize	Best Supporting Actress Kô Shibasaki Also for Go (2001).

 Battle Royale (2000) the last film directed by Kinji Fukasaku is a Japanese thriller action film based on the 1998 novel of the same name. It concerns an alternative-present japan where each year a class is chosen at random to travel to an abandoned island where they are given random weapons and given 3 days to fight to the death until only one remains, or they all die.

"Found Yoshimi and Kuramoto dead next door - strung up all cozy together. Not my scene! I'll never die like THAT!"

This film is simply one of my favourites, not just as a thriller but also as scathing satire and portrayal of a desperate society on the edge of ruin. The films unique combination of pulp action and adolescent melodrama, faithful to the original book, lead to an entertaining balance between somewhat cheesy teenage angst and brutal unforgiving action and violence, following on a great tradition of youthful sensationalism from texts such as "lord of The Flies" or "Village of The Damned" that use children or teenagers for shock value. No detail is spared in showing the awful and sometimes funny deaths the unfortunate students go through, from the blood spurting to their final, feeble breaths, the audience sees all.

The Film is a typical thriller in many ways, it uses decaying and dark locales, morally dubious characters with dark pasts and shocking, confrontational violence. Many classic thriller conventions are used within Battle Royale, particularly conventions of the Sci-Fi Thriller sub-genre. A variety of typical character types are shown within the class subjected to the punishment, from the down on his luck loser, related to the socially awkward nerd, high school archetype, innocents with no part in their fate, psychopaths and seductive deviant femme fatales, linking to the queen bee archetype. The narrative is typical of the thriller genre, placing the character's in a seemingly impossible, menacing predicament where there is constant danger and death, with an element of mystery to the reasoning behind the act. The what-if nature of the plot links the film to the sci-fi sub-genre of thrillers, as the film explores a society that is quickly descending into anarchy, and the increasingly draconian measures taken by the government struggling to retain its grip.


Just one example of masterful film-making is in the choice of white shirts. This choice helps to drive home the role of death in the film, the contrast between minimal but eye catching white and the aggressive, angry red of the blood help to draw attention to the clearly brutal nature of this films themes and parallels with the innocence of childhood and the violence of the act. In addition the story which remains faithful to the book and uses the potential romance of main characters Noriko and Shuya to draw the audience into the plight and the tension of the students, drives the film along at a blistering pace, with little or no time not spent on death or drama (as all films should do)

The deserted island location of the Film is an additionally genius filmmaking decision, creating tension and further narrative intrigue. The island on which the students must fight has been forcefully cleared by the government for the purpose of holding the games, leading to an assortment of familiar decaying locales, both urban and rural. This makes the film feel closer to home as many types recognisable buildings can be seen throughout the film, ranging from the schoolhouse to the lighthouse reinforcing the realistic setting. In addition to this, the decay and desolation connote the moral corruption of the society the film echoes and the warning of the film. This oppressive mise-en-scene is further enforced by a selection of dark, depressing lighting choices. The weather only ever ranges from bleak, rainy overcast skys to dark dusky vistas, reflecting the grimness of the situation and the lighting either ranges from dim ambient lighting to garish, bright non ambient lght. this is used to great effect later on in the film when a fire burns as a backdrop for the death of one of the films villains "Kiryama". This aggressive and destructive source of lighting mirrors the violent nature of the character as well as the narrative, in addition to adding aesthetic interest (it looks seriously cool).

Opinions on this film can differ greatly with reviews ranging from pointless gore fest to genius social satirebut one thing is sure, this film is bloody, very. Though it became widely controversial and therefore famous in its native Asia for its portrayal of violence and gore, it was denied release in much of the western world, particularly America, which was still reeling from the columbine attack the previous year. it was only when the film version of the massively popular tween book series The Hunger Games, which used an incredibly similar premise, was compared to the film, that it was finally given a full release in the states. Even before then, the film developed an incredibly huge cult following with references and cameos appearing in films such as "Juno" and "Shaun of The Dead".

Battle Royale is a unique beast indeed, one that if you can stomach the violence and appreciate the subtleties (or ignore them completely) then you will find a highly rewarding and fun parable of a society in moral ruins.