Why Don't You Play In Hell?

Why Don't You Play in Hell? (Jigoku De Naze Warui) (2013)

Runtime: 130 minutes

Directed by: Sion Sono

Starring: Jun Kunimura, Fumi Nikaido, Shin'ichi Tsutsumi, Hiroki Hasegawa, Gen Hoshino

From: Several Japanese companies

Or: Why don't I understand the Sion Sono love?

This is my first Sion Sono; I've heard various things about this iconoclastic Japanese director, so it was time for me to check out something from him before possibly experience his English language debut starring Nic Cage (Prisoners of the Ghostland) presumably later in the year. The reason why I have not even given him a shot until now: it was a distinct possibility that his work would be too weird and off-putting for my tastes. After all, I know one person who is a huge fan of Asian cinema and they have never jived with any of his pictures.

Regrettably, I have to agree with that person I know. Of course, it's just one movie and this isn't the most highly regarded motion picture he's directed-although “a 4 hour movie about an upskirt photographer” IS the one which is the most highly regarded motion picture-but this and Prisoners of the Ghostland may be the only ones I ever check out. From the average rating attached, that proves it's not a movie I hated... I am not over the moon like most are.

Early on I knew there would be trouble for me; amateur filmmakers stumble upon a fight between random youths... which looks incredibly phony and out of nowhere they become buddies after throwing eggs at a delivery truck after the youths were A-holes and wouldn't let them pass? Follow that up with a scene involving a little girl & a lot of blood... which again looked phony and preposterous? Honestly, a phony artifice permeated this film and that was just not for me. Sure, there were enjoyable elements (some incredibly violent moments, a few laughs, someone wearing a glistening snakeskin suit w/ a shirt containing various hues of red)-overall, though, I shrug my shoulders. All the “try WAY too hard” moments did not help either.

There are other directors I don't jibe with (I am looking at you, Christopher Nolan; that's not as controversial an opinion due to more than a few having a Tenet backlash. At least here, Sono did not make the dialogue hard to hear on purpose...), which is no sweat off of my back. The way I look at it, there's more time to check out works that I suspect will be rewarding for me.