Battle Royale - Questions (1 Viewer)

[Grant B]

Just watched this movie last night and the ending has me totally baffled.
Anyone see this and understand the end of it which does not seem to go along the ending they showed as the 1st part of the movie?
Thanks
Grant

 

[Chris Roberts]

I'll try.

The little girl "winner" they show at the beginning is from a previous Battle Royale (just like the boy who helps them was a previous "winner"). If that's what you're referring to as not matching up with the first part of the movie.

In the movie ending...
The boy cheats and they all leave the island (after killing Takeshi), but now they are known to have cheated so they'll be outlaws when they get back to the mainland. Which I believe leads into the second movie that I've never watched.

 

[Neil Joseph]

Moved to Movies

 

[Donnie Eldridge]

I personally didn't care for the sequel. It's strictly a rental in my book.

 

[Matt Czyz]

Chris has it right. The "ending" at the beginning of the movie is simply the end of the previous battle royale. She (the little girl with the doll) shows up again in BRII.

 

[Don Solosan]

And that beginning causes a small problem with the story. If the announcement of the winner is such a huge media event, how can the boys and girls of the chosen class not know about the BR Act?

Of course, if the act is to punish kids who have rejected school and threaten their parents' world, why pick a class of nice, conforming kids to subject to the BR? Seems to me you'd round up a bunch of street punks and send them off. But I guess that would throw off the metaphor for the Japanese 9th grade (I think) exams, which are supposed to be brutal.

Avoid the sequel, in my opinion. It throws away the meanings of the first film to have a big action movie. Despite the over-the-top violence, etc., I find the first movie to be quite touching in how it depicts the different kids and their relationships.

 

[Matt Czyz]

Two theories:

1) When Kitano is drilling them about the BR Act, would you raise your hand and single yourself out in that environment? I'd keep perfectly quiet, even if I knew all about it. Based on some key glances, it looks like a few of the students seem to know about it but are keeping quiet, and hell, Kiriyama volunteered for the damn thing; he must have known.

2) A point is made about how the kids are simply out of control. How many of them do you think watch the mainstream news? One has the feeling that the news channels are pretty government-sponsored, making them even less appealing to the younger groups.

Personally, I think it's mostly (1) and parts (2).

See here for more information: http://battleroyalefilm.net/movie/spoilerquestions.html

And FWIW, I like most of BRII, and am looking forward to checking out the 'Revenge' re-edit soon. Kitano's daughter is a great character, and having more of her story make up the tale can only improve it.

 

[Adam_S]

Also the class had planned and carried out a temporary strike against school. That's why the main boy comes into the empty classroom with his sad teacher looking at the blackboard (I think the writing says something about a strike, depends on which translation you get) in an early flashback. So they were a part of the civil unrest in Japan.

and try to get ninth graders to answer any questions in any class, it's like pulling teeth, terrify them and they'll clam up even more. Plus the audience needs to be told what the hell is going on.

 

[Don Solosan]

Matt,
I don't recall any "key glances" that suggest that the students know what's going on, and I watched this again only two weeks ago. Actually, one boy starts laughing in disbelief. I'll have to pop it in and take another look.

Adam,
My translation says that they "decided to take a day off because they felt like it." Now that I think about it, it could have been a deciding factor in their class being chosen. They're not diligent enough about their education!
And it's not so much about getting them to answer questions. Kitano starts talking about the BR Act, and they look completely clueless. I'd at least expect some looks of dawning horror.

I think the exposition/setup is just handled badly.

 

[Adam_S]

yeah I think the BR act is badly handled considering the media storm at the start, that's always bugged me. I never saw any comprehension in the students about what had happened to them

 

[Grant B]

The little girl "winner" they show at the beginning is from a previous Battle Royale
Thanks! That never occured to me.
I must admit I had a hard time since many of the kids looked very similiar and had the same clothing. Only the 2 transfer students stood out but they seemed way too old
Also it seemed at 1st this was going to be a 'gameshow' viewed throughout the country but then no it wasn't part of it
Thanks everyone!

 

[Don Solosan]

In the link that Matt provided, I read that there's another cut of the film that includes more reaction shots of the kids when the BR Act is being explained. So part of how you respond to the film may be based on which version you're seeing.