Journey into the classic and unknown:'Battle Royale'
James Tschirhart
Issue date: 11/10/05 Section: Entertainment
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The TARTAN
***1/2 out of *****
Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku
Written by: Kenta Fukasaku based off the novel by Koushun Takami
Starring: Takeshi Kitano, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Taro Yamamoto, Masanobu Ando, Kou Shibasaki, and Chiaki Kuriyama
Running Time: 122 minutes
Released In: 2000
What if you had to kill your best friend? What if everyone who you've known, trusted, and loved turned against you for their survival? This controversial art house flick all the way from Japan has been making waves on the other side of the Pacific ever since its release 5 years ago. It is the movie that won't be licensed in the U.S. and the Japanese government feared.
In the near future of Japan, the country is facing economic collapse, unemployment is at an all-time high, and children everywhere are boycotting school and committing more violence. As a solution to the juvenile problem, the government creates the B.R. Act, an act that chooses a class of students by a lottery and pits them against each other in a secluded area until the last one standing. The last one remaining returns to society not as a victor, but as an example to the younger generation to curve juvenile disobedience.
The movie follows one freshman class of 42 students as they are taken away by the military during their class trip to an abandoned island where they wake up to find restrictive collars around their necks and their former teacher (Takeshi "Beat" Kitano) welcoming them to Battle Royale.
The students grow hysterical and find that they have no choice but to play the game. Otherwise after 3 days, time's up and the collars around their necks explode. After each are issued food, water, a map, and a random weapon, they set out to play the game. But could they really kill their fellow classmates whom they've grown close to one another? Or will they band together to try and resist? Stakes are high and time is short. It's kill or die.