Year: 2000
Duration: 122'
The near future: Japan's population growth has reached remarkable
heights, as has the unemployment rate. The generational conflict between
young people and the elderly is relentless and delinquency is out of
control. The government tries to remedy with the Battle Royale Act:
every year a class of students is drawn by lots and taken to a deserted
island. The students have to kill each other (until only one remains)
and are forced to wear a special collar which explodes if they break the
rules. The film was contested in Japan when it was released because of
its violence and its ferocious criticism of Japanese society.
"In my film I shown the fact that adults lost confidence in themselves.
They worked very hard in the seventies in order to rebuilt Japan after
the Second World War. Of course, there was a generation gap between
young and adults, even throughout that period, but consistently adults
were in control in terms of political stability and whatever was going
in the nation. However, sice the burst of the bubble economy, these same
adults, many of them salary men and working class people, they were put
in avery difficult position with the recession or economic downturn and
all of a sudden most of them started to loose confidece in themselves.
And the children who have grown up and witnessed what happened to the
adults, their anxiety became heightened. So I put this film in this
context of children versus adults" (Fukasaku Kinji).
Biography
film director
Kinji Fukasaku
Fukasaku Kinji was born in Mito (Japan) in 1930 and graduated from the Film Department of Nippon University. He debuted in cinema in 1961 with Hakuchu no Buraikan (High Noon for Gangster) and made a name for himself as an exponent of yakuza-eiga films, which were produced by the Toei production company. He soon began criticizing contemporary society, revealing its hypocrisy and power scheming, and distanced himself from it as he openly manifested his frustration. His films from the 1960's and '70s, with their dark and murky atmosphere, are in opposition to the positive message of growth and change broadcast by the government. Continuously blurring the line that separates good and evil in his 'Battle Series' ' which began in 1973 with Jinji Naki Tatakai (Battles Without Honor and Humanity) ' the director explored every aspect of crime: films like Kenkei Tai Soshiki (Cops vs. Thugs, 1975), Yakuza No Hakaba (Yakuza Graveyard, 1976) and Jinji No Hakaba (Graveyard of Honor, 1976) show brutality, drugs, murder and corruption. Following the gradual collapse of the Japanese Studio System, Fukasaku dedicated himself to other types of films, like stories of samurai, science fiction, horror movies and musicals, only to return to the themes of his earliest works with Fukkatsu No Hi (Virus, 1980). His film Kamata Koshin-kyoku (The Fall Guy, 1982) won numerous prizes. He continued to work throughout the 1990's and in 2000 made the most controversial film of his career, Batoru Rowaiaru (Battle Royale), which set off a storm of polemics both in Japan and abroad. Despite the uproar, the film was a great success and the director began planning its sequel, Battle Royale II. But he announced he had cancer during the filming. He died in January 2003 and his son Kenta who already wrote the screenplay for the first Battle Royale, completes the production. The film, which was released in Japan this past summer, was a great commercial success.
FILMOGRAFIA
Fūraibō tantei: Akai tani no sangeki (The Drifting Detective, 1961), Odoshi (1966), Kurotokage (Black Lizard, 1968), Tora! Tora! Tora! (id., 1970), Bakuto gaijin butai (Gambler in Okinawa, 1971), Jingi naki tatakai (Battles Without Honor and Humanity, 1973), Jingi no hakaba (Graveyard of Honor, 1975), Doberuman deka (Detective Doberman, 1977), Yagyū ichizoku no inbō (Shogun Samurai, 1978), Fukkatsu no hi (Ultimo rifugio: Antartide, 1980), Shanhai bansukingu (Shangai Rapsody, 1984), Kataku no hito (House on Fire, 1986), Hana no ran (A Caos of Flower, 1988), Itsuka giragirasuruhi (Tokyo Gang, 1992), Battle Royale II (2003).
Cast
& Credits
Regia/Director: Fukasaku Kinji
Soggetto, sceneggiatura/Story, screenplay: Fukasaku Kenta, Takami Koshun
Fotografia/Director of photography: Yanagishima Katsumi
Scenografia/Set designer: Heya Kyôko
Montaggio/Film Editor: Abe Hirohide
Suono/Sound: Ando Kunio
Interpreti e personaggi/Cast and characters: Fujiwara Tatsuya (Nanahara Shuya), Maeda Aki (Nakagawa Noriko), Yamamoto Taro (Kawada Shougo), Ando Masanobu (Kiriyama Kazou), Kitano Takeshi (Kitano Takeshi), Kanasawa Tukari (Kitano Yukiko)
Produttore/Producer: Kamatami Akio, Kayama Tetsuo, Okada Masumi, Sato Masao
Produzione, distribuzione/Production, distribution: Battle Royale Production Comittee
Soggetto, sceneggiatura/Story, screenplay: Fukasaku Kenta, Takami Koshun
Fotografia/Director of photography: Yanagishima Katsumi
Scenografia/Set designer: Heya Kyôko
Montaggio/Film Editor: Abe Hirohide
Suono/Sound: Ando Kunio
Interpreti e personaggi/Cast and characters: Fujiwara Tatsuya (Nanahara Shuya), Maeda Aki (Nakagawa Noriko), Yamamoto Taro (Kawada Shougo), Ando Masanobu (Kiriyama Kazou), Kitano Takeshi (Kitano Takeshi), Kanasawa Tukari (Kitano Yukiko)
Produttore/Producer: Kamatami Akio, Kayama Tetsuo, Okada Masumi, Sato Masao
Produzione, distribuzione/Production, distribution: Battle Royale Production Comittee