All screenplays on the simplyscripts.com and simplyscripts.net domain are copyrighted to their respective authors. All rights reserved. This screenplaymay not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.
Battle Royale Directed by Kinji Fukasaku 2001, Japan
Battle Royale is a grim science fiction story about the segregation of teenage youth from society -- or, if you like, about a bunch of Japanese kids killing each other on an island. At first, the latter seems more true. The story begins as a Grade 9 class embarks on a field trip, only to be gassed and taken to a deserted island, where they are given supplies and weapons and pitted against each other. If there is more than one student left alive after three days, all of the students will die when metal necklace device explode.
The students are joined by two "exchange students", Kiriyama (one of the coolest bad guys ever) and some other dude whose name escapes me at the moment (I haven't watched the movie for months).
Sound like a bad B movie? Nah. First off is the brilliant cinematography. Great shots combine with an excellent soundtrack (especially the opening number Requiem by Guiseppe Verdi) to give the film an overall feel of quality. Some shots in small montages are truly brilliant, and the action is well shot also.
The acting is competent, and, in the case of the wonderful "Beat" Takeshi Kitano (Brother, Fireworks), frankly brilliant. Especially watch for our favorite Chiaki Kuriyama, better known as Go-Go Yubari, the deadly schoolgirl of Kill Bill. Many other "students" turn in fine performances before they are shot, stabbed, beheaded, exploded, and so on and so forth. The violence is moderately extreme.
Film buffs can watch for references to Tarantino films, and a scene which a certain new American film pays homage to (I'll give you a hint..the American film is made by someone very close to Tarantino). They can also look for several other homages to such films as the Baby Cart series.
The DVD, which I had difficulty finding Region One because it has not been released in North America (oh yeah..it hasn't been released in..well, you know), contains some Biographies and some trailers.
I finally got a copy of this movie, and it was truly amazing. It knocked Reservoir Dogs out of the top spot of my list. The acting, the direction, everything is amazing. And I loved the sick sense of humor (I loved the scene with the axe, 'This one's super lucky!').
And Kiriyama is without question one of the coolest villains ever, probably the first in my books. I mean, a psychotic maniac who's extremely good at killing? And he signs up for fun?
I was bored so I thought I'd write up a full review.
Title: Batoru rowaiaru (Battle Royale) Year: 2001 Wri. Fukasaku Kenta Dir. Fukasaku Kinji Starring: Fujiwara Tatsuya, Maeda Aki, Beat Takeshi Run time: 109 mins Language: Japanese/English subtitles
It is the dawn of the new millennium, and Japan’s society is crumbling. Unemployment and violence runs rampant among the youth of the nation. Students cut classes at their own will, going so far as to physically assault teachers and authority figures. In response to the growing threat of social collapse the Japanese government introduces what it believes will be a solution: the Battle Royale Act.
Battle Royale was written by Fukasaku Kenta, son of director Fukasaku Kinji (Kenta whom would later go on to take over filming of Battle Royale 2 after the death of his father part way through). It begins simple enough, explaining the basic premise of the situation. Japan is falling apart, and in response the government introduces the Battle Royale Act. The Act calls for a single class of students to be chosen by random lottery, at which point they are taken to a deserted island and forced to fight to the death. Only the last student remaining alive is permitted to leave, an example to all others of the dedication required to truly succeed. Because, well, life is a battle after all. You have to fight for success.
We enter the movie immediately after the last Battle has ended as the sole survivor, a young girl, is transported from the place of the battle. The battle is a big thing, with the same effect on the public as Micky and Malorie in Natural Born Killers. It is something of a pop culture image, so much so that the guide to fighting a Battle Royale looks like the live version of something out of an anime. During that opening you only see the winner for about five seconds, intercut with camera flashes and the mass of reporters outside trying to get a better look. Though short, those five seconds are intense, and are perhaps some of the best in the entire movie. Literally soaked in blood from head to toe, clutching her likewise blood coated doll, she cracks a sinister smile and looks directly at the camera.
With the end of one Battle a new one begins. After we witness an attack on a teacher (Kitano, played by Beat Tikeshi) the movie shifts gears. The students are loaded into a bus and take deep into the heart of a military controlled area (remember that the next time you go on a field trip). None of the students notice, of course. They’re too busy talking and moving around the bus, interacting with one another completely oblivious to what is about to happen.
The movie follows the various students from the class. As they are driven to the staging ground we get a look at the relationships within the class, the ones that are and the ones that some wish there were. We see who the outsiders are, see who the main characters are. We get a feel for the characters before they are dropped into the life or death situation, so we feel even more for them as they are forced to slaughter their friends and classmates.
When they finally arrive we are treated to a video tutorial on how to fight a Battle Royale. The students watch, Kitano interacts with the video in an over-the-top manner, all under the watchful eyes of countless armed soldiers in the background. The scene is a powerful one, and completely flips the balance of power. Kitano, nearly brought down by a knife attack in the school, kills a student by hitting her in the forehead with a knife simply for talking in the back of the room.
When they are finally let loose on the island they split up into several key groups. There’s the loners, like Kawada, who just want to survive and don’t care about anyone else. There’s those who choose to band together, despite the fact that they will eventually be forced to kill one another. It’s an interesting element of the movie. Do they not care that they will die one way or another? Or do they realize and choose to ignore it? Or perhaps they don’t realize that this is serious, thinking that everything will indeed work out in the end. Then there are those who choose to kill themselves rather than fight, ending their own lives in place of taking the lives of their former friends. It’s all presented surprisingly well, considering that unlike most North American movies where teens are played by actors in their twenties, these characters are played by actors the same age.
And of course, what review of Battle Royale would be complete without mentioning Kiriyama? The fire red haired psychopath who joined up just for the fun of brutally killing off a class of grade nine students. He doesn’t have a single spoken word in the entire movie, but his character is by far the best simply because of his silence. He doesn’t need words for us to understand what’s going on in his mind. To give you an idea, at one point he guns down two girls trying to organize a cease-fire over a megaphone. He picks up the microphone, kicks one of them in the bullet-riddled chest, and holds the megaphone down to broadcast her wimpers and dying moans to anyone within earshot. He truly is a twisted bugger. There is one word that describes the final fight between him and shotgun-toting Kawada: beautiful.
The director's Cut/Special Edition of this is a bit of a mixed bag... It adds some nice character development scenes, some lousily implemented CGI blood and some bits at the end that just drag the movie on past it's natural length...
I prefer the Theatrical Cut myself... But a scene with Mitsuko's backstory and a subsequent reference in an additional basketball scene are a bit of a loss.
I loved this film. The action was great and the acting really brought a realistic feel to a completely unrealistic plot. I loved nearly every minute of it but the ending kind of pissed me off.
SPOILERS... I was really hoping that the two main characters had actually been killed and that the winner was going to be killed for cheating. The whole film was pretty dark and it seemed appropriate that it should end on a dark note. I really thought they were going to go with it but when the two characters showed up after the game was over, I was pretty disappointed and the ending turned out being pretty sappy.
This movie is freaking awesome. Just finished it and god, can't wait to watch it again. Such an amazing concept. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it. You won't regret watching this masterpiece.
Pages: 1
Author
Battle Royale
Logged
Locked Board