The “nerve-inducing” moment Takeshi Kitano couldn’t remember his lines in ‘Battle Royale’
Since its release in 2000, Battle Royale – starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarō Yamamoto, and Takeshi Kitano – has played a profound role in influencing the cinematic works that came after it. Most notably, Quentin Tarantino was inspired when he made his Kill Bill two-parter, which drew heavily from the film’s violence, camerawork and editing. Tarantino said of Kenta and Kinji Fukasaku’s work: “If there’s any movie that’s been made since I’ve been making movies that I wish I had made, it’s that one.”
Casting Takeshi Kitano was a stroke of genius as it drew a large audience. Kitano is primarily known for his work as a comedian and a TV host in Japan, although abroad, he is noted for his work as a filmmaker and an actor. He made his directorial debut with 1989’s Violent Cop and drew acclaim for 1993’s Sonatine.
As for Kitano’s influence on the set of Battle Royale, Aki Maeda noted: “I was so nervous. When you turn on the TV – Takeshi is there. He’s that famous. It’s difficult to explain to people in the outside world, but he really was the face of TV around that time. Kids would mimic what he did on his comedy shows, and I remember the motorbike accident he had in 1994 being huge news in Japan.”
Although Kitano’s stature was undeniable, Maeda also claimed that Kitano had difficulty remembering his speaking parts for the film. “Kitano couldn’t remember his lines at all,” she said. “We started writing on this huge paper, and the crew had to hold it behind me for him to read off-camera. It really shocked me! It’s a Kinji Fukasaku movie; everybody remembers their lines, right?”
Kinji Fukasaku directed the film, but it was to be his last as he died whilst filming the sequel in 2003. His son, Kenta, had written the screenplay and remembered working with Kitano was “great fun”, although it wasn’t the first time they had worked together.
He said: “I wanted him to star in a film, but it never happened because our schedules didn’t match. Takeshi was a busy TV personality, and the only schedule he could do was filming with me for a week then going back to TV for a week. I needed eight solid weeks with him.”
In the end, Kenta Fukasaku left the project, and Kitano himself ended up directing it. The film wound up being Kitano’s directorial debut, Violent Cop. Fukasaku then noted that Battle Royale was the first opportunity to work with Kitano since he left the project. He noted that he “probably wouldn’t have made Battle Royale if Takeshi couldn’t have played that role”.
