This is one of the most controversial Japanese films of recent years, inspiring an outcry of protest for its depiction of children killing children. Its graphic violence has been praised as unflinching social commentary and condemned as pornographic. Set in the near future, the movie presents a world in which the social breakdown of the younger generation has reached epidemic proportions. The government responds with Battle Royale, a process that eliminates some of the most dangerous youths while it feeds into the brutal state of things. Battle Royale maroons a group of young troublemakers on an island where they fight to the death, with only one survivor allowed. The cast includes Takeshi Kitano as the teacher who throws his pupils into this chaos. In Japanese with optional English subtitles.

Kinji Fukasaku---Japan---2000---114 mins.

• Universal International
• Release Date: 11/27/2001
• Letterboxed