Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
(2013)
Movie review!
I discovered master filmmaker Sion Sono with “Why Don’t You Play in Hell?”, and it quickly proved to be, in my mind, an instant classic; a love letter to movies and to passion (passion being the key word) — every single frame holding what I can only describe as a lust for movies.
Broken up into three interlocking stories, the plot follows two feuding Yakuza families, a yet to be successful group of filmmakers, and the love story of a Yakuza boss’ daughter. One family is run by the well-respected and feared Boss Muto (Jun Kunimara), who has a renegade femme fatale daughter Mitsuko Muto (Fumi Nikaido). Ten years prior to the main events, Mitsuko became a child TV sensation by appearing in a toothpaste commercial with a catchy jingle. Shortly after, the rival Yakuza clan — run by Ikegami (Shin’ichi Tsutsumi) — raided Boss Muto’s house to assassinate him, finding there nothing but his wife, Shizue, who kills them. When tried in court, Shizue is found guilty of murder for excessive self-defense and is subsequently sent to prison. In the present, Mitsuko, now a very attractive woman, gets fired from a new film production by constantly missing her shoots. She goes on the run and uses a skinny spineless man, Koji (Gen Hoshino), as fake boyfriend while avoiding her father, who sees her starring in a film as the perfect gift to his wife (her mother) for her upcoming release.
Simultaneously, we follow the story of Hirata (Hiroki Hasegewa) and his film troupe “The Fuck Bombers.” Made up of his childhood friends, they aim to be the greatest Japanese filmmakers of all time, hoping to make a samurai/action film that will be remembered forever. Hirata and his friends have yet to make their masterpiece, until a stroke of luck puts them in the hands of the Yakuza.
Boss Muto has found his daughter with Koji, who has to pretend he is a filmmaker working with Mitsuko in order not to get killed. Boss Muto then comes up with the idea that he will make the picture himself, ensuring that there is a movie waiting for his wife. Fate brings The Fuck Bombers, Koji, Mitsuko, and the Yakuza together to film a real raid between rival clans. Ikegami agrees to the terms (i.e. fighting and being filmed), as he has been madly in love with Mitsuko since she was a child and will do anything to help further her career — unbeknownst to Boss Muto and Mitsuko. The film ends with one of the bloodiest and funniest action scenes of all time, showing blood and comedy as if the two were never meant to be separate.
The film’s real genius comes from the many layers that surround its plot, in particular its meta-reflections on film making. Showing admiration for classic 35mm film stock, the Fuck Bombers marvel when they finally get to shoot with it, never once mentioning digital filmmaking. This all leads to the much anticipated final action scene, where Ikegami’s men all wear kimonos against the western dressed Muto clan — and katana swords and revolvers are used as paint brushes — instrumental in some of the most beautiful and funny carnage I have ever seen.
Throughout the movie, Sono also pays tribute to Bruce Lee and classic Japanese Samurai movies, basically creating the movie that he wanted to make as a young filmmaker. It isn’t just a gangster movie, however. Mitsuko’s character, although not a classic femme fatale, is definitely some warped version of one. She doesn’t just express the usual dark/beautiful characteristics; she also does serious damage with a katana and racks up a body count I could not keep up with. A scene in which she fills her ex-boyfriend’s mouth with glass and kisses him till he bleeds sticks out specifically for me, perfectly blending sexiness with gruesomeness.
Critics may consider the movie to be infected with a heavy Tarantino influence, but I assure you this movie is strictly Sono. Similarities between the directors exist only because these are aspects shared by all master filmmakers. Keeping the movie light while intermixing strained relationships, desperation, art, and love is no easy feat and no other director could have accomplished it, given this particular story. As a result the movie is part of no definite genre (not that it ever tries to be), flowing from character to character with such ease that it is always comprehensible. While it might leave you covering your mouth and pointing at the screen, you’ll never do so while scratching your head.
“Movie God, if I can make a hell of a movie, I don’t mind dying.” So says Hirata in the film’s beginning, summing up the whole work perfectly. Making such a unique movie does not happen without it being personal, and every frame becomes so as the characters’ passions emulate the director’s. One of my favorite scenes is the fight between Hirata and Sasaki (Tak Saguchi), the Fuck Bombers’ action star. Fed up with waiting for a breakout opportunity, Sasaki leaves the film troupe. Hirata yells at him with a smile, convinced this opportunity will come — someone will call and tell him they are making a film. This vulnerability, this fear that their dreams will never come true, brings depth to the characters. Finally, Hirata yells that nothing, not waiting for a lifetime or even death, will discourage him from making his movie, as if he spoke directly for Sion Sono. After all, for him there is nothing more important and nothing else worth living for.
— Ilya Kundin
