Kylebrown's half assed movie reviews: Battle Royale
Ended up watching a Japanese film Battle Royale last night. This is a film based on a weird futuristic world in which the school aged children revolt en masse and boycott school. As a counter measure the adults/government regularly (annually?) dupes a class of middle school children to go on a "school trip", and then forces them to partake in a game in which they fight to the death across a 3 day period on a remote island. If you can wrap your head around the premise and grant it, it is actually a really good film.
After you can grant the premise, it becomes quite an interesting exploration as to how a group of children who have grown up together would approach the situation that has been thrust upon them. The 40 participants run the gamut of uncontrolled aggression, suicide, calm murderers, team work, manipulation, boycotts, and revolt.
All in all, I give this movie a postive review, but the premise was still painfully difficult to overcome and very quickly brushed over making it that much more difficult to understand.
8 comments:
This movie was something people mentioned in undergrad but we never actually watched. Now I am compelled to see it again.
It sounds like The Lord of the Flies made intentional tradition by the government.
Kind of. Except, Lord of the flies is simple anarchy, where as this movie is essentially gladiatorial combat. Kill or be killed (by your classmates or the government)
Lord of the Flies would have been better with gladitorial combat.
Shut up, Piggy.
I second the "see it again" motion. All I remember concretely are the girl who explains the rules of the event (and that she is just adorable), and that Beat Takeshi is the fucking man.
But that's just true in general.
Also, was the Battle Royale not designed as a population control device?
From what I watched (given i was watching poorly translated subtitles), it was more of a punishment for the kids who were boycotting society.
and yes the girl explaining the rules was beyond adorable. I especially loved when she explained the exploding collars.
pretty sure that the 'punishment' / inabilty to control youth leads into an alluded Pop. Control argument.
Though its all really a bit of Japanese cultural fear of youth, innit?
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