There are some movies that are such a mishmash of awesomeness, it is hard to believe they exist as a movie. By this, I mean - there are so many genres that co-exist in one movie, it is hard to believe they exist period. Most movies choose to exist in one genre with maybe a subgenre; anything beyond that and we get into the realm of comedy and ridiculousness. Enter "Why Don't You Play in Hell" which is just that. The movie co-exists between documentary, college friends going out on a (local) adventure, Samurai showdown, Yakuza, a discrepancy of nearly ten years that separates two halves of the movie (past and future), as well as the artistic style that is Japanese blood and limb dismemberment. Did I mention that this film is not American, but is actually of Japanese origin? And with a title like "Why Don't You Play in Hell", I can see why. This is just the tip of the iceberg though.The film starts out with what appears to be a packin commercial for "Gagaga" toothpaste; it stars a young girl in a white outfit. This commercial actually plays a larger part in the movie and is referenced numerous times. Fast forward to a group of amateur movie making enthusiasts that are in the midst of making their own movie; they crash into a gang that is mid-scuffle and they start to record and direct. Fast forward again to two different Yakuza groups that have their own skirmishes. Fast forward again and we see the little girl from the commercial walking into a home full of blood. Turns out her mother did some handiwork with some Yakuza that tried to take her (mother) down; the girl turns out to be the daughter of a Yakuza lord. The film jumps back and forth between these groups frequently and it leads to a very confusing, but interesting mish- mash. It isn't evident how they will all play together, but it does happen in the latter part of the film - I won't spoil it.The film has a lot of blatant humor - it has a homage to Bruce Lee in the form of an actor in a film directly copying and mimicking his known style. The opening commercial, while confusing as to why it is there, is funny in its own right and then gets many references to it as a running gag in the rest of the film. The movie's claim to fame would have to be the amateur film makers that call themselves the "Fuck Bombers". The artistic feel of Japanese blood spraying from dismembered limbs is used throughout the film; it has a few moments where it is both ridiculous and fake. The pool of blood that awaits a young girl in her kitchen is nearly a foot deep - impossible with the amount of people involved. The entire movie almost feels like it is a parody of many genres at once; it also feels like a Quentin Tarantino movie, specifically "Kill Bill", but it could be that Kill Bill uses a similar premise - not to mention it also has "The Bride" in a yellow Bruce Lee jumpsuit.The film is far from being a train wreck, and due to the mashup of things, it must close all of them or it wouldn't be a very good movie. It does just that in the last half of the movie. More importantly, we get to see why all of the characters interact and are involved the way they are. Just about every character gets some kind of closure, although at least once gets an inappropriate death. The film only has one bad side - and that is when all of the action built up to a certain point is suddenly dropped due to an outside force; but I will not spoil that either.If you like B-grade movies of a foreign affair, this will most certainly be a pleasant viewing.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/? p=11073).

Viewed on DVD. Cult Director Shion Sono delivers a film that has to be seen to be believed (or not believed)! The plot involves a "gorilla film" group of dedicated losers (who has spent the past 10 years aggressively going nowhere) unexpectedly given the chance to film a battle-to-the-death between two mob gangs (and the unexpected bloody wipe out of the victors--as well as surviving members of the film crew except for the gorilla film director--by a police SWAT group). Or maybe all this never really happened except in the imagination of the gorilla film director. (Obvious clues are there to ponder.) Starting with an overly embellished English translation of its title, the movie is way, way over the top in all contemporary cinematic categories (and then some): creativity; humor; Japanese cuteness; melodrama; violence; acting (there are well over 30 speaking parts plus one reluctant cat); CGI gore; music; mobile (hand-held) cinematography; editing; break-away sets; etc. (The film's complexity is such that the viewer can not help but wonder how Sono was able to pull together and transform the massive amount of raw material he must have started with into this polished product.) Although the movie is fairly derivative, Sono seems to be trying to one-up himself (not others) in scene after scene. And he is mostly successful. Actors appear to have been frequently unleashed by the Director so as to improvise their parts and seriously caricature their roles. This tactic usually has a galvanizing impact on the viewer (especially in the final third of the film). The movie, though, is too long with many repetitive scenes in the mob battle. Surround sound is hit/miss erratic. Subtitles are close enough, but fail to translate the names of the film's principals during the opening (or closing) credits! An obvious candidate for eternal cult-crowd homage. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

Sono seems to be the only film maker left who I feel I can always depend on to make a great movie. I was a little worried in the beginning that he was just trying to make a stupid Hollywood-type comedy, but it turned out there was a good reason for this. In the extra features on the DVD, he gives a press conference with a friend of his, the editor of a Japanese film magazine that specializes in films like Sono makes. It turned out that there actually was a Film Club called "The F-ck Bombs", and it was started by Sono and his friend. Many of the scenes in the beginning when they were chased by kids in the park and called idiots, actually happened to Sono when he was first starting to make films, only Sono was thirty years old when that happened to him, and the experience was extremely traumatic for him. Sono started out as a poet, and only started making films when he was much older. This movie is about him reliving that time in his life, and also a homage to Bruce Lee films. It has nothing to do with inferior film makers like Tarantino. The only other director who constantly turns out good films like Sono is Todd Solondz, IMHO.

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.