BBD Comments:
While it may only reinforce the stereotype that the Back Yard is where we go to “watch shit blow up,” I have to say ‘Battle Royale’ was a straight up Slam Dunk.
I’ll admit I was worried, I had thought that Netti had only asked me what the Crew was in the mood for, so when he said he’d canvassed all of us in his preamble it made me pause. Was Netti (fresh from Japan) going to listen to all the voices saying we need something high-octane on the Stucco, or were we about to see ‘Spirited Away’ for the first time. Of course, I need not have worried. Netti’s first two picks were excellent films. ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ tied his hands because he had to go horror, and it’s quality as a pick was mitigated by the bad timing of the film. ‘F for Fake,’ his sophomore pick, I gave a good review to and now own a copy. But it’s quality as a Selection is easily debatable. So as the film began I hoped we were about to see something special – and boy, I was not disappointed.
‘Battle Royale’ is a seditious film. It is equal parts horror, high adventure, teen angst film, social commentary, and deeply black comedy. It waltzes through a variety of tones and themes with such deft footwork that it leaves you breathless. Aside from Gus Van Sant’s ‘Elephant,’ I cannot think of an American film that dares to examine violence in schools head on. Here then is a Japanese film that turns the whole debate upon its head. Why is there violence in schools? Grown Ups. How do these students learn to be so violent? Grown Ups. Fukusaka creates a world where ninth graders shooting each other isn’t horrific, it’s sponsored by the Government, and it allows us to slip past the polarizing debate about children who become “monsters” and on to the meat of these problems. For all of the monstrous behavior exhibited in ‘Battle Royale’ the kids are still kids. Throughout the violence we are reminded of our own high school experience. Unrequited love, fear of being ugly, the arrogance of the popular kids, it’s all there. It is as though the Breakfast Club showed up for detention and were told only one of you can be alive at 5 pm.
Now I will admit this film has some problems. The most glaring of these is that it never explains how the Battle Royale program is supposed to help with the problems plaguing the Japan of this film. Kids run wild in the streets, so every year we kill off one group of ninth graders? It doesn’t make too much sense to me. We also have something of a Deus Ex Machina on our hands as we are never explicitly told how the three survivors got their collars off. In another film, I might say that holes in the plot as big as the ones I’ve mentioned, keep it from being a good film. Not so here.
Despite it’s flaws, ‘Battle Royale’ is populated with magnificent performances and camera work, Takeshi Kitano as the Teacher is simply mesmerizing. His nonchalant rise to answer his phone after being shot fifteen times is a highlight of the film. It is also a fine example of horror, tragedy and comedy working simultaneously in this deft and clever film. The whole enterprise is made all the more remarkable when you discover the film’s director was 71 years old. Grown Ups may be the source of all of youth’s problems, but at least one old man knows how to talk about and to both generations. It is an amazing tale he tells us, and it is still lingering in my head.
Well done, Netti. That was a great pick.
Brandon Comments:
“Those cookies sure were good.”
‘Battle Royale’ has to be one of the best, most action-packed, twisting, turning, taut thrillers I have ever seen. Actually, the term “thriller” barely covers it. It’s one part action/adventure, one part horror, one part drama, and one part sci-fi, and then the rest would be the “thriller” part. I have never been so shocked, so unprepared for a movie like I was for this one.
Based on Netti’s introduction to the film, I was expecting a psychological drama, a satire on the modern Asian school system, and not much more. But no more than 10 or 12 minutes into the film we all realized that this was not the case. What followed from there was ‘Lord of the Flies’ mixed with LSD and a switchblade knife. It was like watching a crazy homeless person in front of 7-11, and as you toss them a cigarette and a few quarters, expecting a grunty, “Thanks, pal,” you instead get the Gettysburg Address recited to you from memory, and then the entire gospel of Judas.
I loved ‘Battle Royale,’ and I am so glad MovieNight has returned to the film genre and left the documentaries and half-documentaries back in 2006. I just still can’t believe a man in his 70s directed this film. Bravo, Netti, bravo!
Nubs Comments:
With ‘Battle Royale,’ Netti showed us a fictional fantastic future and also a more realistic future of where Movienight is heading. Netti taught us all an important lesson as we progress; the movie itself may not be a slam-dunk, but you still can always squeak out a win. Though the idea of ‘Battle Royale’ is fun, the flaws in the movie make it as hard to dunk as me on the court. Yet, with the right team, the right Sake, and a new game plan for wins, the experience can still be a successful franchise.
I was just complaining to Tooda the other day about the decreasing number of slam-dunks available out there. In the past a slam-dunk would usually be either, a classic timeless piece that has been well-recognized in cinema and most likely seen by everyone except Coolbaugh, or it would be a hidden “gem”. For us Movienight veterans who have put together more than 50 picks, we have shown most of our best stuff. As it is only natural to run out of “gems”, the alternative becomes that we just run through the AFI list. As that list is as rich and long as my cock, there are worse ways to spend a Wednesday night than watching classic movies projected with good friends. However, the way I see it, there is another hope. I believe there are three kind of successful picks now. There are the aforementioned classic and gem, and now a third that falls short of being a perfect film but is unique enough, or rare enough, inspiring enough, provocative, or just fun enough to be enjoyed. It’s a hard concept to define. ‘F for Fake’ wasn’t it, and no, the difference is not Sake…though it helps.
Let us examine ‘Battle Royale’ to try and define it. As a movie ‘Battle Royale’ is a lot of fun, but falls short of immortality. Like a lot of Sci-fi, futuristic, action movies, the idea and themes are great but there is an extra half hour of gratuitous violence and lack of storytelling. Where ‘Battle Royale’ uniquely fails is its 50 central characters. Tooda remarked in his post discussion that the movie tricks you into caring about a character then kills them off pulling the rug out from under you over and over again. I would argue that after a while one stops to care completely. As much as I hate to use my stepbrother Andy Kottler’s usual meaningless critique, “I just didn’t care about any of the characters”, Fukasaku doesn’t make it easy for the viewer. And, yes, I did consider if they were 50 white actors all dressed the same with 50 different sub-plots and names I knew, I would still be confused. I thought I could watch teenagers run around an island killing each other off in stylishly grotesque ways till the cows come home, but at some point the shock wore off, and there had been schemes and characters developed different from the other 47 I was supposed to pay attention to, and the sake…zzz. That is not to mention all the obvious questions; who was the girl in the beginning? Who knows about the game? Why is their ex-teacher the leader of the whole thing? And many more but none as important as; why does the teacher opt not to let his guards check the bodies of the last contestants, and instead send them away so he could do exercises in the open hoping that someone will come kill him but at least look at his ridiculous painting.
Right. Usually, that’s too many fouls to be a slam-dunk, and, yet I think we’re all glad Netti brought it. As Movienight should be, it was an escape. He brought so many riches from the Far East that it was a great little two-hour excursion. At least it should have been a two-hour excursion if Netti didn’t have the worst start to date after showing up late for his own pick again. Coming from me, Mr. Late, it’s a useless complaint, but, please Netti, while fumbling with the projector don’t console us by stating it’s a short run time when it really clocks in five minutes short of two hours. Other than that, thanks to Netti for showing us the future, and the sake, and sorry I broke your cup.
SELECTOR Comments:
Japan in the last few years or so has been noticeably hearing the nationalist voices rise in volume in public discourse. There have been new textbooks that whitewash its history during WWII. There is a strict demand upon students and teachers to sing the national anthem as it was during the fascist years. There has been posturing by the former and current prime minister; both of them have visited the Yasukuni war shrine (where fascist war criminals are honored), inciting anger and distrust amongst Korea and China. There have been hearings held determining whether or not the pacifist constitution (demanded by the US after WWII) should be revised allowing for the development of a military and worse, nuclear weapons. I won't pretend to be a sociologist, nor an informed commentator on Japanese culture; I have merely visited Japan on numerous occasions and spent a good deal of time there. Given the current geo-political environment, it is finally becoming convenient for the Empire of the United States of America for Japan to look without for an enemy: namely, North Korea and more importantly China. I imagine the cementing of the position of Japan as the US's largest aircraft carrier in the Pacific will help to quiet the self-eating tendencies in Japanese culture with a healthy bit of " Look out! They're out there."
‘Battle Royale,’ happens to illustrate that previous tendency, looking and finding an enemy among its own: the youth. What better way to teach them the value of teamwork, awareness, and respect for the elders than to conscript them into an every-man-for-himself war game, where the winner is the last one standing. Are there problems with the believability of this film? Absolutely. Do I care? Absolutely not. That is a testament to the masterful film maker at the helm. A seventy-one year old! It is as contradictory as Japanese culture. It is shot, directed, and acted as classical 50's melodrama yet it has violent and ruthless sequences that just fall short of the recent spate of torture-porn (‘Hostel,’ ‘Saw’). In fact, I think the very thing that makes this film work is the old experienced hand behind the camera that knows exactly what it is doing. I was with it until the end.
My regret as the SELECTOR is that I was not able to procure a copy of the original. The copy viewed was a "special edition director's cut" but that is clearly not the case. In fact the special edition from what I have now read is not a director cut at all. It is rather a version after considerations were made to the censors on violence and added scenes that were shot after the film was released. Incidentally here is a picture of the mascot for the Tokyo police department which reminds me of the instruction video telling the kids the ground rules for their last three days alive. Imagine fascism with a cute little character:
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