Battle Royale

I am sure the vast majority of my readers has heard of or have seen this movie. I saw back in 05 or 06 and wasn't as impressed. I must say though that the hype had reached unbelievable excess among some of the circles I traveled in and all over the internet. And when I finally saw it, well I didnt expect it to be so... Japanese.

I relate the experiance to my original viewing of Akira. It also being a Japanese movie and dealing with some rather inherent Japanese themes that unless they were pointed out to you, would really come across as idiosyncratic and confusing.

The translation is fishy, the action is quick, and there is very little explanation of what is going on. Its sink or swim.

It wasnt until last week when I saw a copy of it at MCC did I think to watch it again. Well initially it was for the movie party that I attended, but we for some reason decided to watch the Omen remake and I fell asleep on Bonnie's leg.

When I woke up the next day I was sitting in my living room and I decided it was as good time as any to give the movie a whirl.

And man was I sucked in. This time I kinda had the jist of what was going on, the characters etc... and I could watch the acting and interactions between the characters instead of waiting for more fucked bloodshed or a rational explanation of what is going on. You thats what screwed up my first viewing. It was going in thinking that these characters and their motives would be spoon fed to me. And I also didnt pick up on what was really being said.

Plot: In the future the japanese government passed a law that a random high school class would be selected to be placed on a deserted island and kill each other until there is only one left.

This is the most simplistic explanation of this movie, anymore would give the intricacies and fun of the movie.

Sure its bloody and fucked up, but its also smart and satirical about it. The pressures to annihilate each other mirror the pressures that modern society puts on its youth to succeed. At least this my read.

The action is quick and ruthless. There are some great moments, especially the ones with Mitsuko (Kou Shibasaki) a character who is both beautiful and bloodthirsty. Shibasaki plays her as driven and unhinged, taking the initiative to kill every single one of her class and win without a second thought. Her thread is not only compelling, but downright freaky.

After 5 viewings in 3 days, I can officially give my stamp of approval.

Battle Royale is
while idiosyncratic
its fun to watch