Essay Questions

Why does Kitano want to engineer the game in Noriko's favor?

Kitano has already decided that Noriko is to be the winner of the game and demonstrates this by revealing a painting he has created of the entre class murdered at the feet of Noriko who has killed all of them. He has always thought of Noriko as a daughter; she reminds him of his own daughter, who has all but disowned him for his participation in the organization of the Battle. Although he seems to enjoy antagonizing his students, he admits that he secretly hates the divide between them, and knowing that they hate him is extremely distressing for him. He wants Noriko to win because he cannot bear the thought of losing a second daughter from his life.

Battle Royale was an influential movie and created a trend for young-adult movies for the next decade. What were some of the key features of the film that were influential?

The film shows a totalitarian government of a named country at an un-specified date in the future that delights in setting its youth upon each other in a kind of "survival of the fittest" battle to the death. It is surprisingly co-ed in that both girls and boys are required to play the game and are considered equal to each other; in this case, a female student has actually been pre-selected as the winner. Another key character, the class representative, is also female, and she is able to hide a number of her friends, and administer first aid to injured students, whilst holed up at the island's lighthouse in deliberate contravention of the Battle's rules. This strong female protagonist was the blueprint for other feisty young women who were both leaders and victors in films such as The Hunger Games, in which Katniss Everdeen emerges victorious despite the fact that the majority of her opponents are boys.

Another element of the film that was groundbreaking was the plot line which launched many others that came after it. The premise of the film is that the government understands it does not have the loyalty of its youth. In order to make sure that they are able to exert full control over their young people, they create a battle that makes each participant cares only about himself or herself. They divide loyalties and they demonstrate their complete and absolute power by shooting those who refuse to participate and give the game their all.This is also something that is seen in subsequent films, such as The Maze Runner and The Race, in which a similar divide and conquer policy is used by the government to make sure they have complete control over their young citizens.