I guess it's really late to celebrate Halloween with this post, but I really wanted to write about one out now. After seeing the movie, am convinced we're not too far off from this terrible future anytime soon. A kind of film this intense, it has left me total goosebumps.
Before Battle Royale video games were a thing, there was this movie, Battle Royale directed by Kinji Fukasaku, based on a popular-selling book of the same name, represents a grim reality where children are forced to combat against each other for survival. A poignant allegory for how capitalism works, that even your friends can't trust you, no matter what.
There's never a greater masterpiece like this that exists elsewhere, that has pretty much defined a genre and became a zeitgeist pick for many filmgoers. A special kino cinema that creates such a rippling influence upon the 21st century.
A somewhat direct adaptation of Koushun Takami's book of the same name, which was released in 1999, Battle Royale takes place in a fictional dystopian world of Japan. Where juvenile delinquency is on the rise and unemployment is at a record high. Since the government didn't like how preteens were behaving, they've created the 'BR Act', a program where students are forced to enlist in order to fight for survival until the last man remains.
The book was written during the height of Japan's economy right after the bubble in the 80s, which also illustrates the lack of discipline most of the youth had while their parents were busy with jobs and making money. A lot of media work came out, showcasing the distraught and disconnection they've experience during the Japan's hugely economic growth. Most of the film's characters are delinquents who've among them also committed heinous crimes.
Source material takes place around an alternative world of Japan where the republic won during WWII and that Japan eventually became a fascist dictatorship. You know, like the other Asian country we love to poke fun at for this. In the film, well it's just Japan now has a crappy economy and because of the high unemployment and rise in juvenile delinquency, the government has enacted the harsh program. There's nothing much grounded about the film's premise and mostly serves as fixture for the plot.
The story is set in some distant dystopian future, where a bunch of high school students were sleep gassed and taken to a remote island where they meet their ex-teacher, who instructs them about how the game works and that they have to duke it out against one another, till the last man is standing.
The book garnered a lot of controversies, enough so that people called for a ban, that didn't stop it from becoming a best-seller, before being adapted for the screen. The same people also tried to stop the film from being adapted, you can guess what happened afterwards from there. This also happened to be director Fukasaku's last film, before he succumbed to prostate cancer in 2002.
This movie is a non-stop adrenaline-pumping ride, with high stakes involved and lot of emotional baggage to carry with. Most of the school kids are thrown into a situation they have no absolute control over and are forced to turn against one another. The film doesn't dwell on the monologue for too long, you'll barely find any scenes that takes more time to flesh things, instead, it is fast-tracked, but with ample enough information for you to understand what's really going on.
You do get emotionally invested into these characters as each of them has backstories you can sympathize with, even some of the characters that are of antagonistic nature. It's simply a movie that has drama, action, hyper-violence, tension, suspense, and some good old neo-liberal nihilism in it.
Each character has something that gets you invested, which also adds more to the story and premise. Why they are trying to survive, sometimes accepting death as an option if it means as an escape from this nightmare. Most of the school kids aren't even mature enough to understand how humans think in modern society, so their naivete gets the best of them in the worst way possible. Their deaths are often shown in the most gruesome manner possible.
While there isn't much social commentary to peel out from the action, it settles more into a dense atmosphere of oppression, seeping through the macrocosm of both the society and education system of these child characters.
It's a simple film, yet packed with high-octane action and riveting drama. The latter doesn't linger too long, allowing the madness of the film to take full precedence.
If you haven't watched this movie, go check it out. Just be sure that you can stomach the blood, gore and gun violence. Also, I know Halloween is mostly over, but I guess everybody has the time to do everything these days.
I guess there never will be a movie like this, not with the pacing, intensity, and gripping story that sucks you in. Might as well experience what is truly a treasure in the kinoverse of movies.