Why Don’t You Play in Hell? 
Japanese Title: 地獄 で なぜ 悪い Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
Romaji: Jigoku de Naze Warui Why Don’t You Play in Hell?
Release Date: September 28th, 2013 (Japan)
Running Time: N/A
Director: Sion Sono
Writer: Sion Sono (Screenplay),
Starring: Jun Kunimura, Shinichi Tsutsumi, Fumi Nikaido, Tomochika, Hiroki Hasegawa, Kotou Lorena, Gen Hoshino
After watching Himizu and The Land of Hope I was getting worried that Sono was becoming serious. Great films as they are, I’m more of a Suicide Club and Strange Circus chap. You know, original messy projects which we all know him for. Tired Paul to the rescue. He recently sent me this new trailer for Sion Sono’s Why Don’t You Play in Hell? and it looks so f*cking awesome! There’s also a new poster which is also awesome!
Muto (Kunimura) and Ikegami (Tsutsumi) are rival gangsters who despise each other but there’s a catch for Ikegami… he loves Muto’s actress daughter Mitsuko (Nikaido). Part of the reason she’s an actress is because it is the dream of his loyal wife Shizue (Tomochika) who was sent to prison after taking the fall for him.
Muto is out to make that dream happen. Enter Koji (Hoshino), a timid passer-by who is mistaken for being a film director. When dealing with gangsters you don’t mess about so Koji gets a cinephile friend named Hirata (Hasegawa) who casts Mitsuko in a fictional gang war but it soon goes wrong when it turns real.
STARTO!!!!
The opening gunfight, blood-covered women chasing people with knives, a director who is clearly a hyper-cinephile and a bit psychotic, sword fights, people plunging through walls and windows aaaaaannnd a waterslide flowing with blood in a house! I said it with the teaser ad I’ll say it again… OH GOD, A REBELLIOUS CRAZY SONO FILM! LIFE IS WORTH LIVING.
This is actually starting to remind me of Key of Life with its mix of losers in a mistaken identity scenario involving gangsters only there’s fountains of blood everywhere. I really loved Key of Life film with its sharp observational humour and loveable characters and I can tell from the trailer that Hirata is going to be heaps of fun. I mean, Bruce Lee’s Game of Death references and blood-slides? He certainly is imaginative! I am expecting great comedy and lots of bloodshed! The cast contains Jun Kunimura (Vital, Outrage), Shinichi Tsutsumi (One Missed Call), Fumi Nikaido (Himizu), Tomochika (Quirky Guys and Gals) and Gen Hoshino (Blindly in Love) who wrote and performed the song that can be heard around the one minute mark. Ive watched this trailer about a dozen times and now I’m singing along with the actors at the end. I want to see this now!
According to Nippon Cinema, “Why Don’t You Play in Hell?” will get its world premiere at the 70th Venice Film Festival (August 28th-September 7th) and its North American premiere at the 38th Toronto International Film Festival.
The film will get a theatrical release in Japan on September 28th, 2013.
Source: Nippon Cinema via Tired Paul (Thanks Paul!)
