Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)

Nutty yakuza comedy from Sion Sono. It's overlong, particularly with an interminable set-up, but once we get to the big action set piece you'll find it well worth the wait. A group of amateur filmmakers calling themselves the F Bombers (led by Hiroki Hasegawa) has spent a decade looking for the opportunity to make a real movie. Fortunately (or unfortunately) for them, a yakuza gang is looking for someone to make a feature starring the boss's daughter (Jun Kunimura is the boss, Fumi Nikaido the daughter). Hasegawa proposes that they film the real-life gang war that is bound to happen with the rival gang (led by Shin'ichi Tsutsumi). Sono really could have shortened the film considerably had he realized the character played by Gen Hoshino, the love interest of Nikaido, was worthless and jettisoned him. Or, more obviously, he should have been combined with Hasegawa's character. As it is, Hoshino plays a shy, ineffectual character and he pretty much gets shoved to the background anytime the more lively Hasegawa is on screen. I can't imagine anyone caring about his burgeoning relationship with the drop-dead gorgeous Nikaido. None of this really matters once we get to the blood-soaked finale, which is about as fun as any movie I've seen in recent memory.

Fmovies: Fate causes the paths of a guerrilla film crew and two feuding Yakuza clans to clash for the second time in ten years in this outlandish comedy from 'Suicide Club' director Sion Sono. The movie initially feels like a twisted version of 'Bowfinger' or 'Cecil B. DeMented' as the young guerrilla filmmakers heartlessly intrude on the Yakuza madness to get money shots. In between the violence, there are also some moments of macabre beauty too, such as a young girl in a white dress sliding through a sea of blood, and things get more complex as the story progresses and jumps to the present. Deliciously weird and wacky as the film is, it takes a long time for the paths of the protagonists to cross once again, and the film feels way too long. It is, however, the midsection that needs trimming (especially a romance) as the carnage-heavy finale is glorious with the guerrillas' insensitivity to all the bloodshed at peak. The unemotional way in which they film all the action is uncanny; one gets a sense that they have completely lost all sense of distinction between reality and movie-making. The film has some solid performances too, particularly from Jun Kunimura as a much-feared Yakuza boss whose daughter used to be in toothpaste commercials, and Shinichi Tsutsumi as the other Yakuza boss who became fixated on Kunimura's little girl at an age that many would consider creepy. Fumi Nikaidou (as the adult daughter) also keeps singing her toothpaste jingle. It is that kind of delirious, unconventional comedy if one is in the mood for something decidedly different.

Shion Sono, one of Japan's contemporary cult directors, makes a follow-up to cinephile hits like Suicide Club, Noriko's Dinner Table, Strange Circus, Hair Extensions, Love Exposure, Coldfish and Himizu. After The Land of Hope, his idiosyncratic sci-fi drama shot around the Fukushima disaster, the transgressive Sono makes another instant cult hit with Why Don't You Play in Hell? This definitely won't appeal to a mainstream audience and to be honest, at first I had quite some difficulties watching it myself. It all seems a bit over the top and because of that it felt amateuristic. On the other hand I suppose this is the authentic style Sono is known for. With some patience I endured the first half an hour. Once I got familiar with its peculiarities, irony, meta-references and subversive character, this film started to grow on me. Especially the part of the young movie team that has been procrastinating their film project for years; while this is more of a sideline to the story, Why Don't You Play in Hell? depends on it for its absurd climax. The only thing I couldn't get into was the over-the-top acting. Cool movie with a high DIY vibe, although not flawless.

Why Don't You Play in Hell? fmovies. This was a movie made with great love for cinema. If you are a true lover of film you'll greatly enjoy this film. The film has many references, parodies and praise for other films you'll recognise which adds to the fun. The music is excellent, a lot of it original, some you'll recognise...

If you liked Kill Bill, your sure to like this, where as Kill Bill was like a love letter to Japanese cinema and culture coming from Tarantino, this is one coming right out of Japan....

The main appeal for this film is that it is lots of fun and you'll get the tone of the film very early on, which is the crazy off the wall humour which Japan specialises in. Its gloriously over the top, gory and funny and I was smiling the whole way through! Check it out!

Why Don't You Play In Hell? is all sorts of great fun. It's essentially a comedy driven Yakuza splatterfest. Sure, the actual splatter is mostly CGI, but the rest of the special effects and hilariously great kills more than compensate for this weakness.

It all begins in the not so distant past, with a group of kids who wander the streets in search of content to capture for a film they dream of making.

These kids call themselves "The F*uck Bombers", and have their HQ in the backroom of their local cinemaplex. They dream of making an epic movie together, but aren't particularly focused on completing the task.

On the flipside, we have Mitsuko- a young actress who has become infamous for singing a catchy tune in a toothpaste commercial. She is the daughter of the leader of the Muto Yakuza clan and his wife.

One day Mitsuko returns home after acting class, to find an absolute bloodbath in her apartment. Turns out, the rival Ikegami clan had tried to raid and assassinate her father. But they happened upon her mother instead...whose capacity for vengeance they had clearly underestimated.

Anyways, the sole survivor of this ordeal was Ikegami himself. And he became obsessed with young Mitsuko- when she happened upon him near death....giving him a new lease on life.

Fast Forward 10 years later....

The F*ck Bombers still haven't completed their film (though the passion is still there). Muto's wife has been imprisoned for the massacre she unleashed on the Ikegami's. Mitsuko has become a rebel youth and disappeared off the grid. While both Muto and Ikegami are attempting to find her.

Eventually, she is captured by the Muto clan- who want her to star in a movie they are planning to produce- in order to appease the desires of Muto's imprisoned wife. But Ikegami thinks he could be a better father to her- and thus, is also searching for her.

Upon her forced return, Mitsuko escapes and runs into a self-deprecating young gentleman named Koji- who used to be totally in love with her as a boy. She asks him to be her "pretend boyfriend" as a means to ruse her captors. Never has he felt so lucky and privileged.

Anyways, Koji is given an ultimatum: direct the film for the Muto clan or die. He agrees, but has no filmmaking skills. So he runs away to find The F*ck Bombers...so that they can finally realize their decade long fantasy...with full funding, an actual crew, and actors!!! The plan is to set up a Muto raid on the Ikegami clan...and film the whole thing in realtime (for maximum realism)- with both parties acting as willing participants.

Cue one of the most hilariously over-the-top bloodbaths ever captured on 35mm celluloid.

This film is absolutely hilarious from start to finish. The characters are great. The special effects are awesome (less the overuse of CGI bloodspatter).There are loads of amazing deaths and kills. And the final scene is so action packed you simply can't look away without missing something.

Like with all films about making a film, it also possesses an incredibly alluring quality of self-reflexivity (meaning that the content of the film acts as a reflection on the making of the film). I haven't seen a film which such a depth of self-reflexivity since the indie masterpiece The Wizard Of Speed In Time. So this film is keeping up with some pretty solid company!!! It's simple really. If you like gore- or films about making films- this will definitely be up your al

Tokyo gore with a hit of influence from Guy Richie.

It was the perfect midnight movie with such an over the top cartoonish violence about an Amateur filmmaker who stumbles upon the opportunity of a life time (or as he sees it, a gift from the film God) when a young man needs his help in making a movie after getting caught up with a Yakuza boss' daughter.

A series of events with a large ensemble cast that wove together perfectly.

This movie was strange but so entertaining I did not stop smiling throughout the whole thing