Battle Royale

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Alex

Well what can one say about this, except it's an all time genre classic. A class of high school kids forced to fight to the death. Genius.

It's also a very Japanese film. Sometimes you don't know if it's supposed to be comedic or melodramatic or both. I think that's just how Japanese films are though. I enjoy it too.

I haven't read the manga but I understand that it delves much more into the backstory of all the characters. We watched the Directors Cut on an imported Bluray that includes a bit more of these moments (as well as some extra gore), some of which are haphazardly piled up at the end of the film. But the ones within the film are nice touches.

With so many characters though the film ends up being a series of vignettes, there's not much time to get characters and relationships established for everyone, but it's surprisingly comprehensible and filled with some delightful deaths. I especially like the 5 girls cooking breakfast that just turn on each other. They only have one scene but it's a good one!

And of course the legendary Takeshi Kitano as the teacher, he's very funny.

I actually think this film is a brilliant satire. It seems to be undermined by more serious dramatic tendencies that come off as overly melodramatic but there's actually a lot to think about with this one.

Great to have another look with the director's additions in HD. If you've never seen this you should check it out before some bad american version comes out. (I think there's already been several but never a straight remake.)