CT - Recommended: Battle Royale (2000)

Directed by Kinji Fukasaku

Starring: Takeshi Kitano

The story follows a group of high schoolers forced to fight to the death on a remote island by the Japanese government.

This original masterpiece was released in 2000, where the height of this film made us wonder if we would do the same if we were in the same situation as those Japanese high schoolers. A bunch of innocent high schoolers forced to kill one another in order to survive. The movie’s purpose of adding high schoolers was supposed to make us the audience relate more to the characters in the film with the classical architypes, the popular girl, the jock, the nerd, etc.

The film itself is brilliant and delivers. The cast and the characters were well written and relatable with their characteristics and traits. The popular Takeshi Kitano, plays the “controller” of this battle royale, and observes his student’s will to survive. The way Kitano’s character changes from the beginning of the film to the end, is fantastic as he goes from a weak exposable teacher, to a menacing aggressive one. The classical music used was fantastic and fit the movie, symbolizing it with dark comedic tones, such as the piece “Requiem Dies Irae” from Verdi.

Its legacy has continued to influence many sorts of media, such as the Hunger Games films, and popular video games such as Fortnite and PUBG. All in all, this is a film, you must watch, as it is indeed a blockbuster classic and continues to influence till this day.

My rating: 10/10

#CTRecommended #2018