“Could you kill your best friend?” This is the question the awesome ‘Battle Royale’ asks all of its 42 contenders as the term “survival of the fittest” takes a whole new meaning. A class of high school students in Japan are chosen for the government’s new Battle Royale scheme, a bloodthirsty method of keeping unruly and disrespectful kids in check. The class are taken to a deserted island, given a backpack full of goodies each with a different weapon and told to wipe each other out; last man or woman standing gets to go home. As if things weren’t already bad enough for the poor little tykes, they also have to wear irremovable collars that will explode if they don’t behave or enter a danger zone on the island. To make things even worse, everyone’s collar detonates if the game lasts longer than 3 days. I thought a good spanking would have sufficed, I suppose kids will never learn.

I’ll make no qualms about it; this film is brutal and it takes no prisoners, but the style of the film caters to its extravagant and silly plot outline by using a lot of comedy elements. This film had me laughing throughout in a similar fashion to the film ‘Running man’ where gory deaths and cheesy lines really make you smile. At one point in the film a child has an axe lodged in his head, the boy who just stuck it there asks if he is ok to which he replies “I’m fine, I’m fine” and promptly collapses on the ground. A girl also gets a knife embedded in her skull for whispering during a video. The video in question is the film shown to the children at the start which tells them how to fight in Battle Royale with “gusto” and it is hilarious. This instructional tape makes light of the entire situation, a happy go lucky female explains with the enthusiasm of a blue peter presenter how they are basically all going to die on this island; it’s a master stroke. This use of comedy throughout the film makes all the killing and blood shed much easier to bear for the viewer, who wouldn’t laugh when one of the students finds out his weapon is a pan lid. This film had the potential to be quite a scary and horrific piece and while this isn’t a movie for children, the violence depicted is in more of a cartoonish Manga style then say the realistic approach adopted to a film like Reservoir Dogs. That’s not to say the film doesn’t have some pretty shocking deaths, it’s just that the film is more of a black comedy.

‘Battle Royale’ is not all smiles, while it makes light of the way the children are killed, the situation these students are put into is portrayed with a chilling realism. After all they are innocent school children, they have identities and you can’t help but feel for them. How different characters cope with their predicament is a very dark and almost disturbing character study. We see children committing suicide together, killing the ones they love and desperately trying to escape. Some of the children really do fight for survival and kill their comrades, but are they really villains? What choice do they have, they are just trying to survive and break from the fate that has been handed to them. One girl in particular kills off a large number of the contenders but she says she didn’t want to lose anymore. It provokes a reaction in the audience, a feeling that they don’t want these characters to die; they are just doing what they can to stay alive. In most films like this there is the bad guy and the good guy but this simply isn’t the case here. This movie contains some really heart breaking moments. A prime example of this is when we see a schoolgirl die in the arms of the boy she loves most in the world. The film addresses the problems teenagers have such as love, lust and hate for their peers but turns these themes on their head as it is shown in such a strange circumstance.

The film is a social commentary on what it is to be human. This is shown through the children forming bonds with each other and breaking them when it serves their purpose and killing when they have to. We can see this everyday, when we are backed into a corner we will do anything to get out. The world is a kill or be killed place and when any creature has to it will try and fight to survive. We will betray, deceive and harm each other if provoked far enough and ‘Battle Royale’ shows this throughout. It also raises issues on the value of life, and how easily it can be taken away. On the other side of the coin it does also convey how comradeship can win out in the end so it’s not all doom and gloom.

The direction by Kinji Fukasaku is perfect for the film. He never leaves you with one character for too long and he jumps about from death to death with barely any time to take a breath. When a conversation does take place the film does a great job of never making you feel safe, you’re constantly thinking that there’s an impending crossbow bolt or rusty hatchet just around the corner. It is directed with high drama in mind to suit the extravagance of the piece, such as when a dark figure rises up across a bank with giant flames lapping over the building behind him. I would say this is definitely the right approach as this film is anything but subtle. Black screens with white Japanese characters often appear stating some profound set of last words or harrowing message and the film also uses text to state which children have been killed after the appropriate scene and it gives a countdown of how many children remain alive, it’s a very morbid and cold method of keeping the viewer informed. This mercenary approach outlines the lack of compassion the enforcers on the island have. The director updates you constantly as to what the time and day is in the bottom of the screen giving us a sense of urgency. The film is also subtitled choosing not to resort to dubbing.

The score is as over the top and dramatic as the rest of the movie. When music is used it is booming, surging classical music. The film opens with text explaining the situation of Japan with a red background heightened by a theatrical piece in the vein of Tchaikovsky. Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata is also used to great affect in an emotional death sequence. The music serves to intensify a point and is used quite sparingly.

The acting here is top notch, especially when considering the number of child actors used. Tatsuya Fujiwara’s performance as the tragic hero of the piece is most convincing, a character torn apart by constant moral decisions and his father’s suicide. The leads love interest played by Aki Maeda is not a conventional one. She is seen more as someone to protect rather than love, she was always a victim and was bullied by her peers at school and her lack of self confidence can occasionally be annoying. Nevertheless the bond the leads form works well and can be quite touching. However Chiaki Kuriyama undoubtedly steals the show as Takako Chigusa, a ruthless killer who will do anything to win. She pulls off some of the creepiest smiles I have ever seen; it was like watching Jack Nicholson in ‘The Shining’. In fact her performance was so good Quentin Tarantino wrote a part for her as the ball and chain wielding maniac Go Go Yubari in his latest film ‘Kill Bill’.

The script is an adaptation of a Koshun Takami novel, it was written by Kenta Fukasaku who is also the son of the director. It does a great job of recognising the silliness and the seriousness of the circumstances the children are in. It has great pieces of Black comedy in it but doesn’t ignore the fact that there is a lot of murder and fear in the film.

So all I can say is “WOW” what a film. It’s vicious, shocking and hilarious and has many themes hidden underneath its harsh exterior. I urge you to see this film if you have the chance and while I can recognise it may not be everyone’s cup of tea I think you should at least try it.