In a very near future, Japan's economy is in ruin. Unemployment is at 15%, youth violence and social unrest are out of control and  in the face of growing pressure, the government passes a radical act: Battle Royale. To make an example, each year a high school class is chosen and taken to a remote island where the children  must kill each other until only one remains, the survivor is then allowed back into society.  The students are each given a weapon, ranging from machine guns to pot lids. They're each fitted with a neck collar containing an explosive charge that will denonate if more than one child is left after the 72 hours allowed to wipe each other out. Faced with this horror, the 15 year olds react in different ways, some can't face it and commit suicide, others become ruthless killers to ensure their own survival, whilst some form alliances.

Battle Royale is powerful film, taking television's voyeuristic obsession with reality shows to it's  ultimate conclusion. Although very violent, the disturbing factor is that it's essentially children that are forced into a situation where they must destroy one another, paradoxically to appease a society that wants to control its violent young. The main characters, Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara) and Noriko (Aki Maeda), are followed around the island, while all around them their classmates are dying brutal deaths. They are monitored constantly by their teacher, Kitano (the excellent Takeshi Kitano), whose partial facial paralysis adds a strange quality to his character. Amongst all the violence are some quite touching scenes, as well some laughs for those of us with a twisted sense of humour.  An iconic film that definitely didn’t need a sequel. S.J.T.

Battle Royale. 2000

Directed by Kinji Fukasaku

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