Occasionally, there are virtually plot-less films that just let loose a bunch of odd-ball characters and see them fly. It doesn’t always work with some movies collapsing under the weight of their own self-indulgences.
Why Don’t You Play in Hell? almost tips over this edge as it increases its series of bizarre incidents. That it manages to stay firm until its hyperactive conclusion is a credit to its performers and Shion Sono’s energetic direction.
Its slither of a story goes like this: an eager young film crew become embroiled in a deadly feud between rival gangs.
To know any more would spoil its surprises. It’s the characters which make this film, not the story. From the daughter of one of the gang bosses to the keen entrepreneurial skills of a young film director, it becomes a crowd you’d be pleased to spend time with. The way they all become fascinated with filming their bloody conflict and their eagerness to become stars highlights the script’s tongue in cheek nature.
Why Don’t You Play in Hell? has a knowingness about it without being too clever. In some ways it has an auto-biographical feel as Shion Sono’s film-making beginnings is similar to the film’s director character. Displaying his passion for a true cinematic experience, Sono offers a commentary on how it’s slowly becoming eroded. With digital technology stripping away the art of creating movies, Sono’s film is at once an ode and lament to the silver screen’s glory days.
That this movie plays a lot like a Quentin Tarantino production is hardly coincidental. Memories of Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill spring to mind whilst watching it. There’s a feeling Sono and Tarantino are cut from the same cloth with their eye for visceral action and humour perfectly in tune. There’s plenty of both with Why Don’t You Play in Hell? revelling in its violent excess. It does meander at times and becomes a little confusing but Sono’s sheer joy in making an engaging romp is hard to dismiss.
Although having several flaws Why Don’t You Play in Hell? is diverting fun. Blending Japanese and Western culture in a beguiling mix, movie admirers should find much to relate in its highly-charged story.
Reviewed by Patrick Moore
Twitter: @PatrickMoore14
Rating out of 10: 7
OzAsia on Screen – Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
When: 6 & 20 September 2014 at 8.30pm
Where: Mercury Cinema, Lion Arts Centre, 13 Morphett Street, Adelaide
Tickets: $13 – $17
Bookings: Book online through the OzAsia Festival website or phone BASS on 131 246
OzAsia on Screen runs exclusively at the Mercury Cinema from 3-20 September 2014 as part of the broader OzAsia Festival.
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