Panic High School is a 1978 Japanese youth suspense action film directed by Gakuryu Ishii and Yukihiro Sawada. The film is a remake of a film of the same name released a year before and directed by Ishii. The plot of the film centres around a student that goes on a shooting rampage and takes hostages in his own school. Panic High School is a criticism of the Japanese education system and the institutions that drive someone to commit such heinous acts.
The film starts with a high school student Tanaka counting in English as he jumps of a building killing himself. This scene encapsulates the message of the film in that the growing academic pressure made Tanaka commit suicide. The film has a hard-hitting emotional weight to it in that is highlights Japanese societies problem to address the issue of their strict education system and that it was truly the pressure of his teacher that drove him to this. From this the next shot shown is his university mock entrance exam results showcasing how the education system can lead people to commit such acts. From this situation both the headmaster and teacher offer a half-hearted apology to the events that occurred. They are worried about the school’s reputation and saving face and push the blame onto the university saying you shouldn’t blame the school. The teacher ultimately wants to move on but one of the students Jono wants to talk about it. The other students however wish to move on as the education system has conditioned them to be emotionless. Jono confronts his teacher saying that he killed Tanaka. This acts as a criticism of the Japanese education system in how the strict system pushes its students. This also highlights the friction between student and teacher in that they need the next generation to succeed in modern capitalist japan. From the institutions creating this event this generation feels helpless and rebels against the classic structure of society. Generational divide is a theme in the film as you youth have more pressure to succeed resulting in anger and anxiety. This naturally shows the friction between generations with the teacher as the authority Figure being challenged by the student the new free generation unchained from the system.
The teacher then moves on with the exam questions not even caring about the issue at hand. When Jono lashes out due to this his teacher believes it’s because he isn’t good at maths. Panic High School is a criticism of the Japanese education system highlighting the disconnect with teacher and student that they don’t understand he problem. The try to create a generation of perfect people to succeed in this brave new world but instead breed anger and anxiety as this war between student and teacher is a war between freedom and authority. In this situation even the other students don’t understand his motives as they have been so indoctrinated by the system that they don’t question it. He discusses wanting his teacher dead as a way of rebelling against the Japanese education system by killing him they will be symbolically destroying the system. He then goes to a gun store and steals a rife and a box of ammo, the film plays with the idea of japan becoming a modern country also means that it is becoming more violent, and gun obsessed with a modern American influence. Scenes of the teacher criticising the students and Jono loading his gun are spliced together showcasing how these two events are interconnected.
The students on employment causing are not allowed to study as the system only wants the best and bright people to be funnelled through the tube whilst anyone Not as gifted is left to the wayside. This friction between student and teacher is further highlighted as one of the students calls the teacher a monster, whilst another one runs around reciting maths showcasing the toll the strict Japanese education system has on students. Jono then shoots his teacher dead and accidently shoots a girl in the shoulder whilst saying “what’s wrong at being bad at maths”. This is a blatant criticism of the Japanese education system in that the brutal nature of the system is what led him to these acts. This demonstrates the pressure of the new generation to succeed in modern japan and due to these institutions feels helpless. This is ultimately a criticism of capitalism in how this society breeds anger leading to a clash of generations. As Jono runs through the school the police and teachers converge around him. As this is happening the students are excited about the teachers leaving again acting as a criticism of the Japanese education system, which is further shown as a student runs around calling himself trash.
As this happens two police officers about Jono with the younger on saying he should be found and the older one saying he should kill him showcasing the dichotomy between the younger and older generations. This criticism of the Japanese education system is shown when the teachers talk about the evacuation but don’t do anything as the countries so caught up in red tape it can’t do anything. The inefficiency of the Japanese education system is shown as they go through the draw of the student and talk about possible drug usage, they do not understand what has happened. He then gets into a gun fight with the police and runs away taking a girl hostage in the bathroom. This again showcases a criticism of the Japanese education system in that he is going angst the system. This again highlighting the helpless generation in that he is against the system. Through the capitalist society this generation is doomed highlighting the anger, anxiety, and friction of Japanese society. Jono shoots a police officer and runs away. This again is both a criticism and deconstruction of the Japanese education system. This highlights the helpless generation of japan as due to capitalism anger and anxiety has built up in society causing friction between generations and between teachers and students.
Jono being lost in a mob of students as he forces his way up the stairs as the teachers and police follows him demonstrates the idea that they are all just faces in a crowd. He is never presented as a saviour in this film as he injures student in his rampage not making him innocent. The headmaster is worried that the police shot Jono but because he might be dead but because it would ruin the school’s reputation it is in this moment that the detective criticises him and his priorities in the name of keeping up good appearances. The detective tells the police to shoot him to save the students. The detective is not presented as evil but just a person in a hard situation as he calls in the armed police unit to stop him, as he barricades himself in one of the classrooms.
The teacher is angry at a student for not knowing how many students there are in the classroom again criticising the Japanese education system and the teachers that use the students. This creates a media frenzy witch the students are excited about as one of them faints. As the students are being interviewed, they say that Jono was quite a normal student although he didn’t go on the school trip and got told off by the teacher painting a picture of a diluent from a poor family. They say that he wasn’t close to the dead student meaning this is an attack on the institution. The heat and the entrance exam looms over every student as a formidable pressure that has been built up. With the interviews with the students, they say that the lesion was ultimately more important than the student’s death, summarising the teacher was ultimately unlucky and that Jono is to blame. They complain that their grades will drop, and they won’t go to uni. This acts as a criticism of the education system. They fail to understand that it was the system that caused this and have no sympathy for anybody involved their main concern is university showcasing that in this culture the system controls all. We are shown in his home he comes from a poor family that lives in a small house showing his situation. When the detective explains what happened to their son, they ask what happened to the teacher as they ant to save face.
The teacher and police try and get a student to help them, but he hasn’t talked to him since third grade. As the teachers see the students as pawns the student understands why he did this. The teachers will not understand that their system is wrong a as they say that he didn’t like the teacher, they say he must take his punishment like a man again highlighting that them or the system can never be at fault. The film goes out of its way to show that Jono is not innocent, as he takes everyone hostage one of the girls opens the window and screams at a helicopter to save them before being pulled inside. The guidance councillor again says that he must atone for this and can’t understand that the system could be at fault. His mum talks to him and somewhat understands his perspective as their family are poor as his room is barley non-existent and he can only have rice for lunch but does not understand that it is the system itself that has led him to this this, whilst his dad is just a ball of rage. The film then shows flashbacks to him struggling at maths, as the teachers fight amongst themselves regarding the education policy highlighting the problems with the system.
The students don’t understand why he did it thinking it was thinking it was because he was bad at maths and says his teacher was good and that this will make the not go to uni. The system has conditioned them to not undemand that the system has problems. The theme of the film is spelled out very clearly on one scene were a news reports this as one of the finest schools in japan witch questions the education system. Right wing extremists then show up. They say this is down to the post-war education system and that this will spread communism. This old-fashioned thinking is clearly criticized as a man tells them to be quite because a relative is sick in his house. As this story makes the news, the teacher and a runner get it noa fight over if education is the answer showcasing the education system is ridicules. The detectives say that there is no drug use or demands that could be a motive in a press junket as the bring up a similar event that happened stating that the people in charge not understanding what the ultimate problem is. The girl Jono takes hostage washes herself in the sink and shows an amount of cleavage making him look away causing the teenage element of the film. Throughout the film a plane constantly flies overhead symbolising escape.
The councillor tries to appeal to him to switch hostages as they had a friendly relationship trying to appeal to his humanity, in retaliation he shoots at the councillor as he completely shifts his mood and tries to kill him in return. The teachers state that he has come to this school to study and that he is abandoning the most important this education. This is very much a criticism of the Japanese education system, as they view success as the goal so they can succeed in the modern world. It is ultimately the institutions that have led him to this point as Panic High School is a cry for help by a generation that feels helpless. The film goes against classicalism. The film ultimately showcases the youth being divided due to capitalism. Panic High School is the result of the anger and anxiety students felt at the time. Within the film the setting of the classroom is symbolic of the friction between generations and students and teachers. The teacher is symbolic as the authority figure and the students are symbolic of freedom as they don’t have an attachment to the Japanese system. This results in the film Panic High School an emotionally hard deconstruction of the Japanese education system.
As the events of the film go on the whole thing becomes a media frenzy. Throughout the film Jono and the girl, he has hostage have an interesting relationship. In this segment he is embarrassed by her urinating showing that despite all of this they are still teenagers. He believed that they were sort of kindred spirits as she also believes the world is broken but it turns out there not and he was just projecting. As they share a cigarette, she says he ran a lot on his own, showing hat this is just the story of a sad lonely boy. He states that he will kill himself, but she sees right through him, she knows his lying and that he will be at the festive further highlighting his true nature. At the climax of the film, they barricade the windows witch inadvertently stats a fire. The police accidently shoot the girl killing her as he becomes angry, sad, and disturbed, he is then shot and wounded as the police storm the place and take him. He screams about going to university next year as the education system has created a delirious mental sate for him were that’s all he cares about. The film ends with no one learning anything. The police have no emotion to the events that happened, the girl mother simply morns her daughter and the school is set to continue tomorrow with classes. Even his parents show no understanding as they lament over the fact that everything, they have worked for is destroyed and that they wonder if their son will ever get a job. The film end with him screaming about his entrance exams as the system ultimately won.
Panic High School is a criticism of the Japanese education system. It demonstrates that it is these institutions that drive people to commit these acts. The film demonstrates that there is no way to change these flawed systems and that anyone that goes against it will be ruined.