Controversies
Fukasaku originally opposed the R15+ rating given by the Eiga Rinri Kanri Iinkai (Eirin) because of Fukasaku's experiences as a teenager, the novel's use of 15-year-olds, and the fact that many of the actors were around fifteen years of age. After he submitted an appeal and before Eiga Rinri Kanri Iinkai could rule on the appeal, members of the National Diet said that the film harmed teenagers; the Diet members also criticised the film industry ratings, which were a part of self-regulation by the Japanese film industry. Fukasaku dropped the appeal to appease the Japanese Diet in hopes they would not pursue increasing film regulation further.[17][19] Fukasaku criticized the ruling since the film was already blocked from people under 16 years of age.[21]
The film was labeled "crude and tasteless" by members of National Diet and other government officials after the film was screened for them before its general release.[22] Fukasaku stated that the Diet members had preconceived biases, making them unable to understand the points of the film.[21] The film created a debate over government action on media violence. At one point, director Kinji Fukasaku gave a press statement directed at the age group of the film's characters, saying "you can sneak in, and I encourage you to do so."[23] Many conservative politicians used the film to blame popular culture for a youth crime wave. Ilya Garger of Time magazine said that Battle Royale received "free publicity" and received "box-office success usually reserved for cartoons and TV-drama spin-offs."[8] The Japanese reaction to the film in the early 2000s has been compared to the British outrage over A Clockwork Orange in the early 1970s.[2] Fukasaku stated that he felt discomfort with it even though publicity increased due to the controversy.[21]
Critics note the relation of Battle Royale to the increasingly extreme trend in Asian cinema and its similarity to reality television.[24]
For eleven years, the film was never officially released in the United States or Canada, except for screenings at various film festivals. The film was screened to a test audience in the U.S. during the early 2000s, not long after the Columbine High School massacre, resulting in a negative reaction to the film's content.[25] According to the book Japanese Horror Cinema, "Conscious of the Columbine syndrome, which also influenced the reception of The Matrix (1999), much of the test audience for Battle Royale condemned the film for its 'mindless' and gratuitous violence in terms very reminiscent of the British attitude towards Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs (1971) on its initial release."[26]
No North American distribution agreement for the film had ever been reached due to myriad corporate and legal concerns on the parts of both the Japanese Toei Company, Ltd. and prospective North American studios, despite mutual interest.[27] It was said in 2005 by a representative of a prospective U.S. distributor that Japanese executives from the Toei Company were advised by American lawyers who attended test screenings in the early 2000s that "they'd go to jail" had the film been mass-released in the United States at the time.[25][28] In the company's best interests, Toei attached prohibitive rules, costs, and legal criteria to any possible North American distribution deal. Toei representative Hideyuki Baba stated that the reason for "withholding distribution" in North America was "due to the picture's contents and theme." A representative for a prospective US distributor criticised Toei for expecting a wide release rather than a limited art house run, noting that "in the US it will never get past the MPAA ratings board, and the major theater chains will never play it un-rated. If you cut it enough to get an R rating there'd be nothing left."[29]
In April 2013, the film was banned in Germany,[30] but subsequently the ban was lifted following an objection by the German distributor Capelight Pictures.[31]
Releases
Battle Royale was released on December 16, 2000, in Japan.[6][7] Over the next two years, Battle Royale was distributed to cinemas in 22 countries,[8] across Asia, Australia, Europe, and South America (in addition to Mexico), gaining early cult film followings in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, and the Philippines. The first showing in the US was at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California, in 2002.[32]
The original 113-minute version of the film began its first North American theatrical run at the Cinefamily Theater in Los Angeles on December 24, 2011 – 11 years after its original Japanese release.[33] The planned 9-day run was extended another 6 days due to popular demand.[34] Beginning in early 2012, the film has been publicly exhibited at screenings in many American universities, including those in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Texas and Massachusetts, with a New York City run at the IFC Center that began on May 25, 2012. As of June 2012, it has been regularly showing at the Projection Booth Theatre, site of the former Gerrard Cinema in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[35][36][37] The Cleveland Cinematheque also held a screening of the film on April 3, 2012.[38]
Special edition
A special edition of the film was released after the original which has eight extra minutes of running time. Unusually, the extra material includes scenes newly filmed after the release of the original. Inserted scenes include (but are not limited to):
- Flashbacks to a basketball game which is used as a framework for the entire story.
- A flashback that expands on a likely contributor to Mitsuko Souma's mental illness or sociopathy. She comes home from school to find her mother drunk with a strange man, who tries to molest her. She then pushes him down the staircase to his death.
- Three epilogues (referred to as "requiems"). The first is an extension of the basketball scene, showing the students of Class 3-B winning their game. It also spotlights Mitsuko's apparent social anxiety and alienation from the classmates in 3-B. The second is a vision of Nobu telling Shuya to take care of Noriko (a replay of a hallucination seen earlier in the special version of the film). The third is a scene between Kitano and Noriko, who talk casually by a riverbank; parts of this scene (a dream sequence) also appear in the original version of the film, but with the dialogue muted whereas in the requiem it is audible and reveals a friendship or other relationship that may or may not have existed between Noriko and Kitano.
- Added shots of the lighthouse after the shoot-out.
- Added reaction shots in the classroom, and extensions to existing shots.
- Extra CGI throughout the film.
3D theatrical re-release
The film was released to theaters in 3D in Japan on November 20, 2010. Fukasaku's son and the film's screenwriter, Kenta Fukasaku, oversaw the conversion.[39] The 3D version was also screened at the Glasgow Film Festival on 24 February 2011.[40] Anchor Bay Entertainment planned to release the 3D version in the United States sometime in 2011,[41] but the release was cancelled.[33]
