Kinji Fukasaku:

Battle Royale

Tatsuya Fujiwara .... Shuya Nanahara
Aki Maeda .... Noriko Nakagawa
Taro Yamamoto .... Shougo Kawada
Takeshi Kitano .... Teacher Kitano

Japan 2000

Battle Royale Tagline: Due youngsters boycotting school, Japanese goverment passes "BR ACT" which is a death game where 42 students are forced to kill each other in unhabited island.

The movie is foremost disturbing in it's unusual set - a schooltrip that changes into a bloodbath. Personally I couldn't enjoy this movie due to it's too dark topic, though I must say as movie hobbyist that it's skillfully directed and carefully thought through. The way how it doesn't allow you to hide behind your defenses, how it really gets into your mind, is somewhat surprising. You can't really pass this film without a notice, and in that sense, it's rather unique scifi/action film. The way how movie shows bodycount after each cut, rhythms the movie well.

It was discussed in parliament, newspapers and all around the public in Japan. Interesting there is that the movie's first show was primarily intended for people over 40. Quite surprising, eh? Which is more interesting is that the movie got nothing but loud applause.

Fukasaku's hypotesis seemed right, the young people's culture and behaviour in Japan shocks the adult so much that there might become even violent thoughts towards the young. Seeing this in Japanese trains sometimes when youngsters are causing disturbance, somehow I can understand that. However, in daily life, these thoughts of adults, how they hate the way how youngsters behave, very rarely leads to any action. Drastic, it may seem, but the movie allowed those thoughts come out strongly.

The actual violence in the movie wasn't the only reason what made the authorities in Japan concerned, but also the Kinji Fukasaku's way to encourage underaged teenagers to sneak into a movietheater. "Go for it, do whatever it takes to get in!" Fukasaku said. Youngsters however, didn't seem to like the movie so much.

What I can promise to you is that whether you like this movie or not, you will feel shocked by it, at least somehow.