THE DAILY DOSE

“If you hate someone, you take the consequences.” It’s a line taken from the film. [Un]Fortunately, I love the film and for that I “suffer” the consequence of indulging in it further and trying to figure out the ending. Fortunately, this Battle Royale fansite offers a helpful analysis. Still, after reading it, I still go nuts about how baffling it is. Which makes it excellent and typical of Japanese movies - sparse, simplistic and Zen-like yet complex. Takeshi Kitano typifies this in the way he acts. 

No wonder it was reportedly banned in the US (although it was argued that the producers of Battle Royale charged a high distribution fee). New Line Cinema reportedly bought the rights to create a US remake, which elicited more than a fair share of howls from fans. Hollywood has got be suffering really low in originality these days.

Even with the film’s violent nature, it’s never difficult to look through it and perceive some amount of Japanese cute-ness in it. Quentin Tarantino did so, and so he got one actor in Battle Royale to play GoGo in Kill Bill.   

I’m guessing it’s hard to get a copy of the film. But if you’re lucky enough to get hold of one, pleased reserve the anti-violence tone at the end of the movie. See through it – including the Japanese cuteness – and try to absorb what message the movie is trying to get across.

Battle Royale trailer