I hold a very particular set of beliefs about the way that the world functions and governs the ways in which people act with one another. These mostly coincide with Thomas Hobbes' views on the state of nature--an imaginary existence without any culture in which people live short and brutish lives fighting for survival. His beliefs and mine are based on the idea that people are inherently selfish in nature and that all of their actions and interactions can be broken down and dissected on the basis that they are trying to survive. It isn't rocket science and in a superficial way I think will be generally agreed upon.
Koushun Takami wrote a novel tackling these ideas which centers in on a distopian, futuristic Japan in which the government institutes the "Battle Royale," a game show where one class of middle-schoolers each year fight to the death with no prize other than their life. Following the book came a manga series and finally the glorious film adaptation, directed by Kinji Fukasaku.
Science fiction, in my opinion, is done well when our world is tweaked ever so slightly and then all of the ramifications of that change are analyzed. My issue with this film can then be presented right away then: a government cannot simply say we are killing off these kids (or rather letting themselves kill each other off) without good reason. It was justified by grown-ups, as they are always referred to, as retribution for the fact that young people are becoming disrespectful and aggressive. 800,000 students are reported to have abandoned their compulsory schooling. Perhaps that seems criminal in Japanese eyes, but for me that is a bit extreme. And if it is only one class of 42, chosen by lottery, is it simply a deterrent for wrongdoers? That still seems unlikely specifically because they are chosen by lottery. Perhaps I am just expected to suspend my knowledge of our present world and simply accept their scenario as fact. After all, the point of the film is the lengths at which people will go to survive.
Some certainly do try. Nanahara and Noriko are our hero and heroine, later joined by the dangerous and mysteriously gifted Kawada. Given three days on a deserted island 42 must come down to 1, otherwise the collars around each of their neck will detonate. In each of the packs that the student receives they find the necessities for survival including a weapon. Some are more fortunate than others. One kid gets hand grenades, another gets an Uzi. Our friends receive a pair of binoculars and a pan lid. Just as important as staying alive is the ability to get your hands on a suitable weapon.
What I liked very much about the film, besides its sleek production, awesome gore, and fully committed performances by all of the young actors, was the material which looked at all of the different ways that very young kids might handle such a situation. There are those that automatically band together in small gangs, whilst others go off rogue. Some kill wildly out of fear, others find pleasure in it, and still there are those who simply see it as a game of odds that requires a cool head to win. Then there is the other group of people who decide that in order to survive they must sue for peace. Perhaps even try to crack the system? In any event, helping others to help themselves, or simply cutting your best friend's throat still comes back to basic, selfish instincts that humans share with all other beasts.
As important as the fight for survival is the desire for sex. A theme to this film that was very clear was that so much of the action revolved around a boy-girl setting. People killed and died for those they "loved," and friendships turned to betrayal given the same circumstances. True bonds are hard to find, it argues, but given the right setting--and the right amount of crossbows and sickles--one can find where true loyalties lie.
This is a really entertaining, exciting, bloody action-thriller. Fukasaku did some really beautiful work creating a horrifying scenario with great action sequences, the right amount of humor, and did an excellent job of bringing very strong performances out of his actors who were dealing with material which should have proved to be far beyond their capabilities. It's definitely worth a look as long as you can get yourself into the right frame of mind.
3/4
No comments:
Post a Comment