“Life is a game, so fight for survival and find out if you’re worth it.”
These last words are spoken to Shiroiwa High School’s Ninth Grade Class B before they are sent into the horrifying tradition known as Battle Royale, where one ninth-grade class is selected to fight each other to the death, with one student coming out alive. This government-backed tradition is said to remind the younger generation of the sacrifices those before made, but it is more of a sick ritual than anything.
Kinji Fukasaku’s 2000 action film Battle Royale (2000), based on the novel by Koushun Takami, will remind many nowadays of The Hunger Games franchise, but it shares notable differences from the iconic franchise that make it stand out. As Battle Royale turns 25 this year, and it is being shown widely for the first time in American theaters with a new 4K restoration, it reminds audiences of the power of politically-charged dystopian storytelling that takes place in a realistic world rather than more fantastical YA ones.
Battle Royale sets itself apart from other YA action films with the choice of setting itself in Japan, recovering from a recession, rather than a fictional world bearing vague similarities to our own. The book is set in a fictional East Asia in a dystopian future, but the film adaptation makes an effort to place the story in modern times, reflecting cultural insecurities facing Japan in the early 2000s.
Many early 2000s Japanese films, especially horror films, reflect the anxieties facing the Japanese populace at the time. Young people in the late 1990s and early 2000s were feared by adults due to their delinquency and the capability of committing violent crimes, and Fukasaku’s film touches on this very idea. The adults in Battle Royale belittle the teenagers in the selected class for not obeying and not paying attention to the world around them, but it is the older generation that brought them up to act like this and threw them into such a gruesome situation. There is a clear attempt by the adults in Battle Royale to control the younger generation, but they are also held to a standard of being individualistic, cutthroat members of Japanese society.
Another difference between Battle Royale and similar dystopian films is the lack of publicity the event receives. In something like The Hunger Games, the glitz and glamour of the event is a clear allegory for how we are entertained by violence, but Battle Royale does not show this aspect. Considering how young people were ignored by society following The Lost Decade in Japan in the late 1990s, passing a law like this and showing essentially no footage of it to the public outside of the winner is evidence that the younger generation is still being ignored and feared by adults for the power they hold.
Even when the class is taken to a remote island for the event, they are drugged and kidnapped under the guise of a class trip. A country that wanted to make something fun out of such an event would, without a doubt, advertise the event as entertainment, but the opposite happens in Battle Royale.
The film humanizes several of the contestants in order to reject the desensitization of violence that the class is facing. The script effortlessly explores character relationships and is written in a way that feels natural and not exposition-heavy. We learn about characters and their motivations as they are met, allowing us to get to know them before they are potentially brutally murdered. Main characters like Shuya (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and supporting characters like Mitsuko (Kou Shibasaki) are explored through implying what their status was in school and how that translates to a fight-to-the-death scenario.
In other survival media like Yellowjackets (2021-), the characters are naturally fleshed out through their actions rather than exposition from before the survival scenario. Battle Royale’s impressive screenplay is evidence of not only great thematic work, but character work as well.
Battle Royale has, without a doubt, inspired many action filmmakers with its approach to violence, but the most iconic part of the film’s success is its premise and the impact it has on society. We are drawn to violence as entertainment, whether real or fictional. While the film itself shies away from the entertainment aspect, the concept of making an example out of those unable to speak for themselves speaks volumes about the goals of authoritarian regimes.
Especially right now, a film from 25 years ago covering such a topic is more relevant than ever before. There is a significant generational disconnect between Gen Z and older generations, with the latter often saying that Gen Z has it easy. This generational conflict takes center stage in Battle Royale and further mirrors current societal shifts.
Now, 25 years later, Battle Royale is more relevant to modern society than ever before. Younger generations around the world are feeling disconnected and lost from the older ones, and must survive for themselves, much like the characters in this film. Fukasaku’s film combines vibrant political discussion with effective character work to craft an action film that is just as entertaining as it is introspective.
Retrospective Courtesy of Nadia Arain
Feature Image Credit to Lionsgate via The Movie Buff