(2000)
directed by Kinji Fukasaku
reviewed by Jonathan Rocks
10.25.2007
At the dawn of the
millennium, the nation collapsed. At fifteen percent unemployment, ten million
were out of work. 800,000 students boycotted school. The adults lost confidence,
and fearing the youth, eventually passed the Millennium Educational Reform Act
- AKA: The
That is the introduction to Kinji
Fukasaku's 2000 film "Battle Royale."
Based upon the 1999 novel by the same name, the story takes place sometime in
the near future, when almost all Japanese teens have abandoned school. They've
lost all respect for elders and essentially do as they please. The government
creates an initiative to randomly choose one high school class per year to be kidnapped
and taken to a deserted island. Once there they are fitted with electronic
tracking collars, given survival packs and told that they have three days to
battle each other to the death. If at the end of three days no winner is
declared, they all die. The film leaves something to be desired in terms of
exposition and a thorough explanation of the so-called "BR Act"--
namely, what are they hoping to accomplish with the BR Act? However, the
concept and delivery of the film's action make up for most of its rough spots.
Fukasaku's film seemed to have a strong
socio-political message, however it was hard to
decipher exactly what he was trying to say. The fact that there isn't an
official U.S. DVD release didn't help, as I do believe the subtitles on my disc
were sometimes incorrect. The music cues in the film were also a little
strange. Some of the most dramatic scenes were made incredibly melodramatic by
the overly emotional score. The strong point of the film was the "Lord of
the Flies" inspired elements-- forcing friends to kill one another for
survival is just a really hard idea to handle.
"
Score: 3 out of 5
Buy this DVD at
Amazon.com: Battle
Royale