Quick, name one Japanese movie....That's not animated in any way, shape or form. And The Last Samurai doesn't count. I bet quite a few of you had to pause and think about that, huh. Japan isn't exactly known for its cinematic prowess. Out of the few films Japan does produce, some may leave you wondering how exactly you got to a climax of a woman crying and masturbating in the rain, while others will simply destroy your faith in everything you ever believed in.
However, I'm sure that quite a few of you thought of Battle Royale as the answer to my opening query. Battle Royale is the charming and heartwarming story of a group of high school kids who are taken to a small island and ordered to kill each other down to the last man. They are equipped with collars around their necks which will explode if they try to disobey, or will be used to kill everyone should a winner not be declared. This movie has somewhat of a large cult following, and will often make "Top 10 Favorite Movie" lists on messageboards across the internet. I actually did not see this movie until after I came to Japan, and after watching it...I honestly just don't understand what the big deal is. A bunch of high school kids killing each other. Whoopee?
Perhaps part of my problem was that I found it a bit unrealistic. Within the film, many students, of course, are apprehensive about the whole battle to the death thing, but quite a few get into it and within hours have become professional serial killers. I mean, I didn't particularly like high school myself, but I can't possibly imagine picking up a gun/sword/mace/Britney Spears CD and happily mowing my classmates down.
Well, I found the film unrealistic until I came to this school, that is.
The ninensei just don't get along. And by "don't get along," I mean that I fear they may break out the weapons and start killing each other, without any pretense of exploding collars or a psychotic Beat Takeshi. It really is that bad. One day, as I was walking through the sannensei hall between classes, the flashing lights of an ambulance could be seen on the school grounds. Before I could even think about why, one sannensei girl said "What, is it the ninensei again?" I asked her what she meant, and she explained, "This happens a lot. Someone gets into a fight, or someone gets attacked, and then the ambulance has to come carry someone to the hospital. Girls and boys! The ninensei are *always* at each other's throats."
As you can imagine, this isn't exactly conducive for English teaching. Games and activities are a big part of English lessons, and these things usually involve dividing the students up into groups to play. Even making a group of four students is a challenge, because in a class, maybe one student will have just one other friend. The other 28 kids are bitter, mortal enemies.
I played a game in a ninensei class with Ms. Forehead 2 once. I asked the students to divide into groups of four, but the best they could do was pairs. Some mercenary kids didn't even have a partner! Seeing that this wasn't going to work, Ms. Forehead 2 took the liberty of combining kids. For the most part, her strategy worked. However, there was one group of four girls who looked like they were going to start beating the ever-loving-shit out of each other any minute now.
...And for those of you about to think, "Oh, Japanese schoolgirl cat fight. Niiiiiiiiice." Let me head that shit off at the pass. First, they're 14 year-old Japanese girls, which means that it would look like two 11 year-old boys slapping and clawing at each other. Second, and I think I've mentioned this before, but there is nothing scarier in this universe that a Japanese girl who has unleashed The Furies. Nothing. If I were a terrorist, and I had to choose from being interrogated by an unsupervised and very pissed off Jack Bauer, or breaking up a Japanese girl cat fight, I'd take my chances with Bauer.
We tried to play the game, but things would grind to a halt when I came to this girl group, and rather than take a stab at the answer, they looked like they wanted to stab each other. After a painful and agonizing delay, one girl would finally spit out an answer, and the other girls looked at her with scorn and contempt, as if she was the lowest human being on Earth. As if she'd broken into their houses, killed the family pets, and stole all their money. As if she'd stolen her boyfriend, fucked him for a week, and then dumped him to start getting paid for sex from the school principal. As if she was the one responsible for green-lighting the Gigli movie. Later, I was talking to Ms. Forehead 2 about that group, and she said, "Yeah...well...those girls really, really dislike each other."
If you knew that in the first place, why the hell did you pair them together!?
It's weird, because from the front of the classroom, all I see are 30 Japanese kids. To me, there's no reason why they can't at the very least work together, and there's certainly no reason for the unbridled blood lust. Of course, it doesn't work that way. It didn't work that way when I was a school kid either. I certainly had my fair share of enemies throughout junior and senior high.
The Ghetto School had its fair share of friction. Things there were divided by the good students, and the bad ones. The bad students generally made school, and subsequently life, not fun for the good students. Aside from an impossible learning environment, the good students were constantly bullied. But this was all one-sided. And the good students seemed to hate the situation more than they hated the kids who made for it. Most of the good kids took on the "just suck it up and ganbare!" attitude that permeates Japanese society.
This school's situation was different though. More than kids misbehaving because they knew they could, somehow, someway, these kids just flat-out hated each other. And it was nothing like bad student versus good student, it was just student versus student. It was this that gave the whole situation an added sense of alarm. Like, things were going to explode one day. All I could do was to hope I wouldn't be around when it did get out of hand.
Make sure they don't get anything sharp when skit time comes around, I guess. I mean, what else can you do? Play 60's rock?
Ummm...bullshit? Normally I agree with you wholeheartedly on your judgment calls, Az, but come on. Japan's cinema has for decades been considered one of the Top Non-US film industries. And if you're doubting me here, I have one word for you: Kurosawa.
Honestly, anyone who read your question and didn't immediately think "Seven Samurai," "Ran," "Rashomon," "Yojimbo," "Dersu Uzala," or "The Hidden Fortress," makes me oh so very sad.
(Az's Note: Yeah, I know Kurosawa.
...Does the general American populace know Kurosawa? Personally, I doubt it. Besides, those are classics - lately there hasn't been a whole lot of noteworthy stuff. At least not that I've seen.)
weird... wth would cause a bunch of kids to hate like everyone so deeply? I can usually see most of the scenarios you post but man that many kids despising each other is hard to imagine.
What about the thriving Japanese horror film industry? A lot of people have heard of The Ring for example, if only due to the inferior American remake. This is seriously one of the scariest films ever.
Hmm, I've heard of Battle Royale before, but I didn't know that it was about THAT.
And are pissed off Japanese girls similar to pissed off girls from Hong Kong? There are a few of them at my school. They bite, kick and scratch their hearts out.
Sorry for going OT but cinema is a huge passion of mine:
Azrael, like the first poster I automatically thought of Kurosawa when you mentioned Japanese cinema. Those people who say that BR is one of their favorite movies are probably the type to add it in their list thanks to the content and it being supposedly "exotic"; by that I mean a foreign film period. Unfortunately, if I tried to engage said people into a deeper discussion about the people, they cannot. I tell them that this movie is a psychotic blend between "A Clockwork Orange" and "Lord of the Flies" and after that their minds go blank.
The only people who know about Kurosawa in the US are people who follow movies period, whether or not they are intelligent enough to comprehend everything the movie is trying to get across or not.
It is truly pathetic that a man who had a huge effect of Western cinema is widely unrecognized, and yet the people he inspired give him tribute whenever they can.
Directors like Scorsese, Spielberg, Lumet, Lucas, and countless others outside of Western cinema have acknowledged him as a major influence of them. Scorsese and Lucas even gave Kurosawa money so he could make Ran.
Eitherway, I am going to stop before I blow up and make this into a huge brick of text.
P.S.
The only noteworthy Japanese film I have seen since Kurosawa died is The Twilight Samurai. Kurosawa's daughter, Kazuki, worked on the costumes in the movie at that. I highly recommend that you watch it if you want to see a movie that is near Kurosawa quality.
There are also good japanese movies. Like 7 samurai, Ran, The shadow warrior, etc. (Yes, I know they are all from the same director)
Oh sorry, I see now that Colin made the observation in my last post first. My bad
So, is this school now officially christened the "Battle Royale"? Or maybe just "The School of Hate"?
I am cheesey, so I just freakin' LOVED Kikujiro. That's one of my all time favourite movies.
The first movie that got in my mind:
Tanpopo.
Wouldn't it be great if your students would mime that movie? It would be all hard ramen cooking with discussing how to eat it here and an Omurice there.
And Obaa-sans running amok with the food in supermarkets.
As far as good Japanese cinema goes, I agree with Colin, there ARE some good movies.....but although I can appreciate most genres, for ME, if a movie has no violence, no blood/guts/gore, monsters/zombies/ghosts/demons/etc., not animated, or insanely humorous...I USUALLY dont want to see it. NOT discounting that the movie may be incredible, I just dont wanna watch unless I'm in the mood. and NEVER for chick flicks....ewww. I HATE romance movies.....
On the Battle Royal....feel very happy that you went to schools so tame Az. Some of my high schools were worse. When I was in school (in Detroit) one of the popular things was to keep razors either under your tounge, in the roof of your mouth, or in your cheeks, that way you ALWAYS had a weapon to do damage. Some enterprising souls used to SPIT them with damn good accuracy. And dont get me started on guns and knives and everything else. Battle Royal has NOTHING on Detroit Public Schools (now it's not quite as bad, but when I was in school, it was.) Ok, I've typed enough. Thank GOD attending school is long over...
Man, Visitor Q is Hilarious drunk.
geezus christ you people. the gist of the article was about how screwed up the jap kids can be and all you can do is go into pedantic mode of "omg i am leet movie fan and know bettar"
Hey,
You know, you're kinda right about the BR movie. I watched it and I watched the sequel (which is worse). But before I saw the movies I read the book, which is really good.
In the book the whole thoughts and feelings are better decribed and stuff. It's not just the killing like in the movie.
I would realy recommend the book.
And to your Problem: It's not so easy to get guns in japanese as in the US right?
So just keep your Gaijin Senses sharp, you should be able to evade some katana / knife attacks ;)
Just think of them as more painful kanchos.
Goodl luck man! ^^
I said Godzilla, because a guy in a Godzilla suit stomping on a crappy model of Tokyo doesn't count as animation.
Bullllshit. Even excepting Kurasawa, who was not highly regarded in Japan during his lifetime, Japan has a WIDE variety of cinematic classics. Check out these three directors - Ozu Yasujiro, Mizoguchi Kenji, and Naruse Mikio. Any film buff must see the following movies before they die:
Love is Strength
Repast
Tokyo Monogatari
The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice
Early Spring
Floating Weeds
Ugetsu Monogatari
Kwaidan
Sansho the Bailiff
The Life of Oharu
Sisters of Gion
There are many more. And if those are too artsy fartsy for you, there're a great deal of more "exciting" films out there:
The Zatoichi Series
Modern J-Horror (which get repetitive)
Branded to Kill (Yakuza film)
Onibaba
Vengeance is Mine
or anything by Takeshi Kitano or Takashi Miike (who also did Battle Royale)
How can you disparage the cinema of a country that gave us Sonny Chiba (star of The Street Fighter) who was also given a small role in Kill Bill (Hattori Hanzo).
Oops, I just realized I credited Battle Royale to Takashi Miike (who really directed Audition and others), but it was made by Kinji Fukasaku and starred Takeshi Kitano (or Beat Takeshi, as he goes by when acting).
Draeger, if you liked "twighlight samurai" then you'll probably love "The Hidden Blade" by the same director.
Japanese films are great. And anything with Tadanobu Asano is usually very good.
Dunno, I liked Battle Royale, it was a fun movie and had one of the greatest wtf moments ever when the girl drags her boyfriend off a cliff. Even thinking about that scene makes me laugh, but maybe that's just me.
Otherwise, though, I have to agree. Japanese cinema has never struck me as all that impressive. I'm sorry, but Japanese horror films annoy me, at best. And, though I don't speak Japanese, the "artsy" films are dull and often seem fairly shallow. And a lot of the plots are just straight up ridiculous. I may also simply be biased because a number of my friends are all, "OMFG JAPANESE CINEMA!"
Korean movies, on the other hand...I just love that shit. Even the comedies and happy movies TRY TO MAKE THE AUDIENCE CRY! I've never been to Korea, but it must be the saddest, most depressed bunch of people in the world.
lol, japan..
Az is right- movie nuts? Nobody's heard of that shit.
Odd... the first movie I thought of was "Afterlife", which we watched in Japanese class. The second was "Kikujiro", but I've only seen the ending of that, and while I wanted to get it on DVD, I've never found it.
I happen to like Visitor Q. When I'm stoned as fuck, that is.
I also like weird Japanese horror flicks, like the Ringu trilogy, or Uzumaki.
I agree the movie sucked and what a incredible let down. Now the manga was a completely different animal. Check that out and you will really understand it all.
If you dont know it yet, Battle Royale was based on a novel. As with most movie-to-novel transitions, a lot of the source material got lost along the way. The Battle Royale movie was actually pretty good considering they had to cut off/alter 90% of the flash back scenes in the novel, which is a huge part of the novel itself. This actually had a huge impact on the story since the movie wasnt able to fully show each students motivation for killing or protecting people, most notably Kiriyama (the psycho w/ the uzi), Mitsuko (the slut w/ the sickle), and Shogo (the previous winner).
I suggest you give it another shot. Try to read the novel (its rather short), or read the manga which is a lot more like the novel compared to the movie. Maybe then youll understand why it has such a cult following.
Az is correct. Japanese Indie films are like being stabbed in the eye with a prison shank. I don't care how much of a beat nick you are; sit through three hours of no talking only to see a little girl die and get shoved in a suitcase (Nobody Knows). Your faith in God gets tested.
As for the school situation, I'd just avoid getting in the middle of it and avoid making it worse. I can understand why Ms.Americanized 2 would pair up kids who don't get along though. My teachers would do it to try and get us to "bond". It worked about as well as using a giant wall of sugar to hold back a flood, but her intentions were good.
Well, I said Prince of Space. And Invasion of the Neptune Men, and the various Godzilla and Gamera movies. But this has less to do with Japanese cinema than years of watching Mystery Science Theater 3000. Most of the other non-anime Japanese movies I've seen fall into the category of "Marital Arts B-movie with a title I can't remember."
.... I'm not even gonna try talking about Japanese nonanime movies or their inferior American remakes. It's too depressing.
But Middle school girl catfights? Yeah, the girls in the middle school I work in are a pretty scary mix of pro wrestler and gang bitch. They will either a) come up behind their target and headslam them into the wall/locker/crap-ateria table, b) actually start a fight via the usual high-pitched wail they let loose before the fur (and hair) flies, or c) the much more rare pulling of a weapon.
And of course, the remainder of the faculty can't do more than watch until security can seperate the combatants. I've heard faculty even TAKE BETS too at those times. I'm a custodian in the school distirct, so I've seen alot.
Aren't hormones and teenage angst wonderful? I've got Darkest Peru out in the back to tame, so Peace to you :D .
People get riled over anything T.T Az never said japanese movies sucked or anything like that. He said "Japan isn't exactly known for its cinematic prowess." That's it. And he's right. Most people 'espicially westerners' don't usually but japanese movies at the top of their list, unless they happen to be into movies and/or in japanese culture. He did say they don't have it just that it's not what first comes to mind when most people think about Japan.
Anyway that school sounds like a jungle. Do you think it's that group of students that are like that or it's just soemthing about being a ninensei that just makes them angry? O.O I know most of the fights when I was in high school was usually between the sophmores. They're just an angry, mean bunch.
(Az's Note: Thank you, o voice of reason.)
damn...
my first thought was "in the realm of the senses!"
Yes, Kurosawa is great, and is really only both known *and* loved by film buffs *outside* of Japan. Yes, he has influenced American directors. Kurosawa was himself chiefly influenced by John Ford (American director) and used William Shakespeare and other Western writers as his sources. So it comes full circle, really. Note to movie snobs: do *all* your homework before you embarrass yourselves.
I saw the original "Ringu" with a friend in Japan a couple years before the remake came out. It's not scary, it's a joke. My friend and I laughed and MSTied our way through the whole thing. The two disturbing parts are:
1) Sadako is going to do her father.
2) The doctor starts to go down on Sadako and discovers she's a hermaphrodite.
"Ringu" is not horror, just stupid and wrong.
Az, your school thing is lightweight...I guess you went to uptown schools in Cal.
try...Philly, New York, Detroit...real haters!
First movie that came to mind for me was "Tampopo".
Mmmmmmmmm....ramen........
Hey, wasn't this article about "crazy Japanese bloodlusting teenagers," and not "wank to how much I know about Japanese cinema"?
Just wondering.
Christ, Az. Bring some pepper spray with you to work. If things are that bad, you're gonna need it.
I have to agree with you that there really aren't many great modern day Japanese movies. Akira Kurosawa and Ozu have passed away and are long gone, Takeshi Kitano hasn't put out a good movie in years, and Takashi Miike who gets alot of attention here is basically a b-movie schlockmeister. Japanese Horror flicks, while obviously different from there American horror flicks, have just as many generic conventions as there American counterparts. Thats not to say there aren't quality films coming out, like Bright Future and Nobody Knows, but they seem to be few and far between, at least with getting distribution over here.
I agree with you about Battle Royale, it was way too melodramatic for me with every other character dying in someone's arms with teary eyed declarations of love before their last breath.
There are alot of other good movies coming out of other areas in Asia like Pen-Ek Ratanaruang from Thailand who did Last Life in the Universe, Wong Kar-wai from Hong Kong, and tons of Korean films like Oasis and Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring.
Ah, I just recently read a good portion of the Battle Royale manga....but, not very nice art, so I'm unenthusiastic to continue...interesting plot though ^^'
As an otaku, obviously the first japanese movie that comes to mind for me is the Death Note movie (and it's sequel, I suppose). But even as something based on possibly the second greatest anime on earth, that movie still kinda....sucked. Honestly, it's true, if it isn't animated, then japanese movies/shows just....don't work.
But, they're usually amazing when they are animated, so Japan still gets some credit, ne? XDD
Kohaku, you're from Detroit? Wow. I'm from Davison (Flint area) myself.
Az, I'm not surprised. It seems that things are getting worse all over. Although here in the US, they're swinging too far to the proactive. My niece had a couple of friends dragged to the principle's office for doing a science project on the M-16. And there's the kid who got expelled for wearing his work shirt (Which he had a box cutter) to school because he was late. Sounds like Japan is going the opposite way.
I though Ichi the Killer, but then again after seeing it I decided to stay away from Japanese movies. Seriously, that movie is so fucked up I wonder if I'm supposed to be high to get it.
I remembered that one movie called "To Live" (title in Japanese) about a guy with lung cancer that was pretty good.
.....I have no idea what Kurasawa is. +(
Poor Az, getting Japanese movies rammed down his throat(that hes already seen)....but he IS right. The average westerner (NOT international movie buff, otaku, japanophile, or psychotic person who comes of their own free will) does NOT know anything about Japanese cinema. Not unless its animated or because of an american remake.
Just stay out of the way of the kids. Junior high/Middle school is the craziest/hormone driven/scariest time of your school days, I advise u to pray.
yes Patrick, I am. lol....Flint and Detroit are now both in the Top 5 most dangerous cities in the US. I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed....
Hey Az,
Just wanted to say that Battle Royale scared me at first because I could see it happening in Japan. Perhaps my vision is skewed because I'm a Chinese American who grew up with Pokemon and anime. So not too much surprises me about Japanese culture. But it does kinda scare me.
Check out "The Returner". A great sci-fi movie with some pretty good acting (which is amazing since Japanese people are usually pretty bad at showing any emotions except for crying). Kaneshiro Takeshi is hot in this movie too!
hello, i'm a long time reader, first time.... commenter? great stuff you have. wish you would post more often than two times a week but again, i think how hard it is to put what you see in words.
moving along. lol, you got it pretty tough, huh? Do you think they purposely put you into these schools because of your stereotypes? Like they were looking over your profile and was like, "Next we have Az... OMG! he's big AND black. give him the sh*test school we have. No, no, don't worry about him, he's black so he must of lived in the ghetto, he can handle it. Might even give the students a bit of a scare." Az, you're taking one for the team but oh yeah, you're not really on the team.
lol, good luck and God speed.
I second "Tampopo", "The Funeral". "A Taxing Woman", "A Taxing Woman's Return"--not as funny, but still worthy. "Rajio no jikan' ("Welcome Back Mr. McDonald")--easily the funnest foreign film I've seen in forever, and the scenes in the recording studio are totally accurate. "Akai hashi no shita no nurui mizu". Any Kaiju movie. THEN "Battle Royale"
I'm a big Tokusatsu fan so I started off thinking of the Godzilla series and old school Toho films but the first actual title that popped into my mind was VERSUS. wtf?
I read the Battle Royale book first, so the movie's only a bit of an afterthought to me. Book made more sense, movie certainly wasn't the first to come to mind.
That said, I can see what you mean, since so many people cite it as THE hyper-violent Japanese film (Ha!) and freak out over it for various reasons.
I always wondered how a Japanese classroom's attitude would change if I charged into the classroom and wrote, "B. R. Act" on the chalk board.
I once saw this one 90's Japanese horror movie with a pretty awesome softcore lesbian scene called "Eko Eko Azarak". Okay, I just skipped through the first parts of the movie and thankfully that scene was near the beginning. 90's Japanese hairstyles... hilarious.
Oh, I mentioned Battle Royale and a friend of mine said, "I saw that lesbian porn once, it was weird." Wait, what, porn? Gah, my sick curiosity is getting the better of me...
EVERYBODY that has posted so far is wrong ;p All through the world the only country that can be relied on to continualy produce movies that most everyone can see and enjoy is...the USA. Doesn't matter what country you are in, movies from America are popular and everyone knows them.
I'll admit that I love Latin America flicks and especially Japan's but the USA is the No.1 world provider.
Az- I will pray that you develope a Katana Kanco Gaijin Sense. This school seems nuts.
I thought about it for a short while and all I could come up with off the top of my head turned out to be a HK film..yeah, I lose.
I'm personally one of the BR novel followers. It rocks. I never have seen the movie, didn't know it existed until about 6 months after reading the book. Does the movie not explain what the state of the new "old" government does to its citizens? That should bea clue to their behavior. Without all of the written content though I'm not really sure why anyone would want to partake in the story.
As far as the kids go..I dunno. All I can say is good luck ^^;