Dante’s Weekend Double – “July’s Youth In Revolt” Is Quelled With A Bit Of The Ol’ Ultra Violence From ‘Battle Royale’ And ‘A Clockwork Orange’
Hi, hi, hi, there! Welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, well…it appears that we have reached the end of our glimpse into the world of unformed rage, and ephebic foul play, oh my brothers and sisters. It was a month of tolchocking, murdering, and even a bit of the ol’ “in-out,” real horror show. Unfortunately, time cannot be stopped by anyone.
That is why the children must now put away childish things, and then go out into the world to get a job like the rest of us. But before they race the streetlamps back home, our youth in revolt take one last stand with two masterworks, one from Japan and one from England, by two late directing legends.
Battle Royale (Battle Royale Production Committee)
The final completed film by the great Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honor and Humanity, Shogun’s Samurai, and Fall Guy) is this amazing dystopian action epic from 2000 based on the novel of the same name by Koushun Takami.
Life really sucks for junior high schooler Shuya Nanahara (Tatsuya Fujiwara). First, his mom dies when he is younger. Then later his father self-terminates, leaving Shuya to find his strewn-up remains. Proof that everything bad comes in 3s, he and his peers are abducted by their totalitarian government and brought to an island. To curb a terrible recession, and to put bootheel down on juvenile delinquency, this regime randomly selects a group of junior high students, and brings them to a remote location where they must fight to the death in a game called “Battle Royale.”
The unlucky youngsters are given a backpack full of supplies, a single weapon (if they’re lucky), and a fancy new collar (that will blow out their throats if they start misbehaving in the wrong way) before they’re shooed off into the great wide open to fend for themselves until all but one are dead. Joined by classmate Noriko Nakagawa (Aki Maeda), and his literal pain-in-the-ass friend Yoshitoki Kuninobu (Yukihiro Kotani) they fight to stay alive while finding a way to escape.
This movie rules. It’s one of the rarities that captures the spirit of manga through live-action without going too over-the-top. The kill scenes are either awesome, hilarious, or both. On top of being banned in several countries, the movie wasn’t available in the US for several years after its release. But it could be found by some lucky people who happened to live in large cities during a time when they were full of independent video stores specializing in bootlegs and hard-to-find cult classics (humble brag).
Nevertheless, the movie has been praised for the nearly quarter century since its release. It inspired its own genre that would explode in the 2010s and create a formula that would be replicated throughout many mediums.
The most obvious being The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. Seeing as how the first book was published in 2008, it’s hard not to point the accusing finger of plagiarism in her direction. In a New York Times article, she claims to have never heard of Battle Royale until she submitted her manuscript.
If anyone wants to believe anything a writer ever says is their choice, and it’s nobody else’s business, but it’s also irrelevant. Because it’s obvious which story is better. Find out for yourself on TUBI.
A Clockwork Orange (Warner Bros./Columbia-Warner Distributors)
From one controversy to the next, from one dystopian society to the next, and from one amazing movie to the next. One of filmmaking’s greatest, Stanley Kubrick (Dr. Strangelove, Spartacus, Barry Lyndon, The Shining), follows up his science fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey with a 1972 adaptation of the Anthony Burgess novel of the same name.
There was him, that is Alex (an iconic performance by Malcolm McDowell), and his three droogs…that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim. When they were not at the Korova Milkbar (which served milk-plus) trying to make up their “rassoodocks” what to do with the evening, they were out in the night stirring up a bit of the ol’ “ultra-violence” which includes beating up drunken derelicts, brawling with other street thugs, reckless road hogging, home invasions, sexual assault, and the fatal bludgeoning of old cat ladies with very sus-looking sculptures.
Things were going fine until Alex is betrayed by his droogs, and sent to prison. Seeing a chance for early release, this young malchik (our humble narrator) volunteers for an experimental treatment funded by the government that uses aversion therapy (plus mystery drugs) to eliminate all urges to commit “evil deeds” and mold criminals into proper members of society. That’s when it becomes a question of moral/social engineering over free will and mental autonomy.
This cinematic landmark was banned in many countries, but still received Oscar nominations (including Best Picture), and has gone on to become a celebrated classic. It’s one of those films that older generations would find while surfing the cable channels at 1 am – and keep the volume down so their parents wouldn’t wake up and catch them watching it.
A Clockwork Orange is available to rent on Prime, droogie! Viddy well…
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