{"id":11834,"date":"2013-10-28T18:47:04","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T08:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=11834"},"modified":"2014-05-23T14:57:03","modified_gmt":"2014-05-23T04:57:03","slug":"battle-royale-2000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=11834","title":{"rendered":"Battle Royale [2000]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=11799\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11799\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11799\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tfwhorror.jpg\" alt=\"tfwhorror\" width=\"598\" height=\"74\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tfwhorror.jpg 598w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tfwhorror-300x37.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 598px) 100vw, 598px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N0p1t-dC7Ko\" width=\"629\" height=\"354\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Director:\u00a0 <\/strong><em>Kinji<\/em> Fukusaku<br \/>\n<strong>Writer:\u00a0 <\/strong><em>Kinji<\/em> Fukusaku<br \/>\n<strong>Cast:\u00a0 <\/strong><em>Beat Takeshi<\/em><\/p>\n<span class=\"dropcap\">R<\/span>eality tv meets gladitorial combat is a popular concept for horror films and its one that transcends cultures.\u00a0 In the West, we have <em>The Running Man, Series 7, Ender&#8217;s Game<\/em> and <em>The Hunger Games<\/em>.\u00a0 In the East, one of the most popular film adaptations of this concept is Kinji Fukasaku&#8217;s violent and melodramatic <em>Battle Royale<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Based on a manga of the same name, <em>Battle Royale<\/em> portrays a near-future Japan that has devolved into anarchy with children refusing to obey their parents and running amuck in the streets.\u00a0 In an attempt to impose their will, the adults of Japan devise an annual lottery in which one classroom is randomly selected to participate in The Hunger Games&#8230;er, Battle Royale.\u00a0 The students are shipped to an island and are fitted with explosive neck braces.\u00a0 They have three days to compete in a gladiatorial fight to the death with the winner being granted their freedom.\u00a0 Each child is given a random weapon (ranging from crossbows and guns to pots and pans), a map and a hasty induction via a hilariously enthusiastic induction video.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=11835\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11835\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11835\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/battleroyale.jpg\" alt=\"battleroyale\" width=\"630\" height=\"945\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/battleroyale.jpg 630w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/battleroyale-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Once the induction video is complete, the Battle Royale begins and for the rest of the film, we more or less get to see 30 students compete in a fight to the finish.\u00a0 It&#8217;s a lot simpler and streamlined than something like <em>The Hunger Games<\/em> which contextualizes its violence a lot more with additional lore about the society that created this construct.<\/p>\n<p>What I like about <em>Battle Royale<\/em> is that it begins with an outrageous concept but it plays it straight and explores a plethora of highschool dynamics and how they would react to this situation.\u00a0 Bullies and jocks quickly assert themselves, killing the weaker children and taking their weapons.\u00a0 Cliques of friends band together to maximize their chance of survival.\u00a0 Some students take the opportunity to confess their crushes and profess their undying love for one another.\u00a0 It sounds like an impossible feat but Battle Royale crams thirty students into its 2 hour running time and finds a way to give almost all of them an identifiable characteristic and a mini story arc.\u00a0 In the same way that <em>Love, Actually<\/em> tells the story of about 10 different relationships in a single film, <em>Battle Royale<\/em> is equally economical and efficient in its story telling.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=11836\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11836\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11836\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/battleroyale2.jpg\" alt=\"battleroyale2\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/battleroyale2.jpg 630w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/battleroyale2-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>All of this of course would still make <em>Battle Royale<\/em> a shapeless mess if there wasn&#8217;t a clear protagonist and antagonist.\u00a0 <em>Battle Royale<\/em> delivers on both fronts.\u00a0 The lead role falls to Shuya, an everyman student who relies on his diplomacy and quick thinking to survive on the island.\u00a0 He is logical, methodical and seems a good chance to make it to the end.\u00a0 His only liability is that he has pledged his life on ensuring the survival of his platonic friend Noriko.\u00a0 The film&#8217;s villain is the teacher Kawada, played by Beat Takeshi.\u00a0 Kawada is a weird one.\u00a0 He is ruthless and unfeeling in his running of the Battle Royale but as the number of students remaining begin to dwindle, we begin to learn that he has a vested interest in the success of a particular student and this could compromise his ability to see the competition through to completion.\u00a0 Takeshi is a legend of Japanese cinema and he is fantastic in bringing the character of Kawada to life.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s clear from its 18-rating and banning in several countries that <em>Battle Royale<\/em> is an order of magnitude bloodier and darker than its contemporary counterpart <em>The Hunger Games<\/em>.\u00a0 This is not necessarily a recipe for a better movie in of itself.\u00a0 The film&#8217;s storyline is definitely a product of its country, with its fixation on respect and the cultural differences between the country&#8217;s youth and their elderly.\u00a0 Happily, I feel as though a lot of the film&#8217;s more uniquely Japanese characteristics are a positive attribute.\u00a0 This is not a film whose appeal should be limited to Japanophiles and manga fans.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=11837\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11837\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11837\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/battleroyale3.jpg\" alt=\"battleroyale3\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/battleroyale3.jpg 630w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/battleroyale3-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, its sequel, directed by Fukusaku&#8217;s son after he passed away, is a classic example of a terrible Japanese film which is needlessly weird, stupid and obtuse.\u00a0\u00a0<em>Battle Royale 2<\/em> ends with the protagonists advocating Taliban-style terrorism to get their way.\u00a0 This extraordinary message from a film made in 2003!<\/p>\n<p>But I digress.\u00a0 The original <em>Battle Royale<\/em> is a cult horror classic that is imaginative and daring.\u00a0 It is bloody, full of entertaining antagonists and will keep audiences guessing until the end.\u00a0 Can Shuya live to the end?\u00a0 If it comes down to him and Noriko, what will he do?\u00a0 You&#8217;ll have to watch the film to find out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japanese Hunger Games<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1698,1697],"class_list":["post-11834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-films","tag-battle-royale","tag-beat-takeshi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11834"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15194,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11834\/revisions\/15194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}