*** Battle Royale ***

I watched this film months ago and I think it's not for heart diseased people since it's full of violence and gory scenes =[ I was so surprised when finding that almost people in the class haven't seen this film yet... and of course it's worth watching so I wrote down what I am thinking and feeling about this film... it took me at least 5 hours to complete, but I think this film deserves that :)

Battle Royale (2000)- Japan

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

114 min (118 in the uncut European version), Japanese with English subtitles.

Actually the introduction of the film is not so clear, so I just know sometime in the near future, there is something wrong with Japan. Students do not respect their schools and teachers anymore. In that chaotic and hard situation, government decides to operate the Battle Royale act. That is an annual competition to find the strongest (and also the most wicked) person among many ninth grade students. And surprisingly, their former teacher (Takeshi Kitano) is the leader of the game. He has a permission to kill anyone who dares to be against his will. And some students are killed even before the start of the game.

The rules of the game are extremely simple:

1. You have three days.
2. You can use any weapons you have to kill others.
3. If there is more than one person surviving at the end of the three days, everybody dies.

Therefore, only one person can be alive after the sick three-day game.

This year, Class B, which is a group of teenagers, is picked to play this game. Among them are Shuya (Fujiwara Tatsuya) and Noriko (Maeda Aki), two of them like each other so much. Among the classmates are two strange older boys, Kawada (Yamamoto Taro) and Kiriyama (Ando Masanobu), who have just come to this school this year.

And so the game begins.

But everything seems not to be easy to resolve. Some try to stop the killing and call everyone for peace. They just want to escape from the stupid crude game, but are killed by their own friends. While others, who have a crush on each other, find it difficult to accept the rules of the game and suicide with the one they love by hanging together or leaping off the cliffs into the sea.

Trust, in this film, is like a luxury thing that people really want to have, but they cannot afford to buy or do not dare to buy. Like a group of girls first trusts each other so well and the only wish they could have at that time is “Being alive with my all beloved friends”. However, after a “not-so-small” misunderstanding, they kill each other savagely. And when the last one dies, she sighs, "Stupid. We could all have survived together." Misunderstanding is poisonous, but not because the boys and girls are evil but because of the harsh rules of games and the fear of killing somebody or being killed.

It is true that violence plays a very important part of this film, but behind every gory and bloody scene is a meaningful message, or even a story. If you have already read the manga “Battle Royale”, you will understand clearly why and how these innocent students can kill others pitilessly. Everyone has his own background; the act of killing does not begin from the starting point of the game, but that of their normal life. Some has very bad experiences about human being so they are used to live by fighting and cheating others. Some also had unhappy memories, but they are trying to live and protect the one they love in the right way. Therefore everyone has a reason to fight and survive. The characters have to face to face with each of their used-to-be friends that they must kill or be killed. Throughout a great number of brutal and horrific scenes of cutting out one’s head or exploding one’s body, Love, Hate, Jealousy, Fear, Deception, Cruelty, Mistrustfulness and Helplessness are reflected profoundly and frightfully.

About the cast, I just can say they are all excellent in their roles. All of their emotions are visible and impressive. Fujiwara Tatsuya acts well in the role of a kind of schoolboy who is usually weak and silent but full of power when protecting his beloved girl, Noriko. He is also the type of guy who always believes in the good nature of people and he can make them trust him also. Maeda Aki is remarkable in her role as a Japanese traditional girl: innocent and gentle. I really like the way she plays the part of Noriko: extremely soft and confused, but try to be strong and brave when needed. Besides the two main characters, Takeshi Kitano is brilliant with his role as the former teacher. He acts as if he was the King, each of his appearance and movement is striking and memorable. Some people think that he is stiff and robot-like but in my opinion, that is the way he catches viewers’ attention and breathing.

In term of music, the film's rhythm is ruthless and the tempo picks up after every kill. I think the music and sound effects are really useful to create the sensation and great compassion in audiences. The sounds of the breathing, the shouting, the shooting and so on are unforgettable and just to be outstanding. When listening to these sounds, we have the feeling that that battle of these innocent guys are happening in front of us and we are part of the game, we have to find a corner to hide or else we will be killed.

In conclusion, I really like the main message of the film "Could you kill your best friend?". If I was picked for any stupid crude group of any ruthless program, what could I do among my friends and best friends? Kill them or be killed by them? Since "You play it, I will kill you. You do not play it, I will kill you either.", is it so hard to be alive after the game without any physical or mental pains? Luckily, I'm under a different situation, so who knows?

~~ reviewed by Huynh Nguyen Phuong Anh (November 2006)