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IMDbPro

Why Don't You Play in Hell?

Original title: Jigoku de naze warui
  • 20132013
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 9m
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
8.2K
YOUR RATING
Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
There's a war going on, but that won't stop an inexperienced film crew from following their dreams of making the ultimate action epic. Ten years ago, yakuza mid-boss Ikegami led an assault against rival don Muto. Now, on the eve of his revenge, all Muto wants to do is complete his masterpiece, a feature film with his daughter in the starring role, before his wife is released from prison. And the crew is standing by with the chance of a lifetime: to film a real, live yakuza battle to the death...on 35mm!
Play trailer1:47
1 Video
17 Photos
  • Action
  • Comedy
A renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud.A renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud.A renegade film crew becomes embroiled with a yakuza clan feud.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
8.2K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Sion Sono
  • Writer
    • Sion Sono(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Jun Kunimura
    • Fumi Nikaidô
    • Shin'ichi Tsutsumi
Top credits
  • Director
    • Sion Sono
  • Writer
    • Sion Sono(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Jun Kunimura
    • Fumi Nikaidô
    • Shin'ichi Tsutsumi
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 29User reviews
    • 105Critic reviews
    • 68Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 8 wins & 11 nominations

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:47
    Official Trailer

    Photos17

    Shin'ichi Tsutsumi in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Nanoka Hara in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Jun Kunimura in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Hiroki Hasegawa in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Shin'ichi Tsutsumi and Tak Sakaguchi in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Fumi Nikaidô in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Shin'ichi Tsutsumi in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Fumi Nikaidô in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Hiroki Hasegawa in Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)
    Why Don't You Play in Hell? (2013)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Jun Kunimura
    Jun Kunimura
    • Mutoas Muto
    Fumi Nikaidô
    Fumi Nikaidô
    • Mitsuko Mutoas Mitsuko Muto
    Shin'ichi Tsutsumi
    Shin'ichi Tsutsumi
    • Ikegamias Ikegami
    Hiroki Hasegawa
    Hiroki Hasegawa
    • Director Hirataas Director Hirata
    Gen Hoshino
    Gen Hoshino
    • Koji Hashimotoas Koji Hashimoto
    Tomochika
    • Shizueas Shizue
    Itsuji Itao
    Itsuji Itao
    • Masudaas Masuda
    Hiroyuki Onoue
    • Detective Tanakaas Detective Tanaka
    Tak Sakaguchi
    Tak Sakaguchi
    • Sasakias Sasaki
    Tetsu Watanabe
    Tetsu Watanabe
    • Detective Kimuraas Detective Kimura
    Tasuku Nagaoka
    Tasuku Nagaoka
    • Mitsuo Yoshimuraas Mitsuo Yoshimura
    Akihiro Kitamura
    Akihiro Kitamura
    • Hitmanas Hitman
    Megumi Kagurazaka
    Megumi Kagurazaka
    • Junkoas Junko
    Motoki Fukami
    • Masteras Master
    Tarô Suwa
    Tarô Suwa
    • Sumitaas Sumita
    Donpei Tsuchihira
    • Kunihiro Yoshidaas Kunihiro Yoshida
    Takamitsu Nonaka
    • Tetsuo Komuroas Tetsuo Komuro
    Hideo Nakaizumi
    • Toshihiro Iizukaas Toshihiro Iizuka
    • Director
      • Sion Sono
    • Writer
      • Sion Sono(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The main characters who are amateur filmmakers watch a trailer they have made for their own film called "The Blood of Wolves", though they haven't actually made the movie itself yet, and never do. That was the working title of a movie later called Kenkichi (2012), that Sion Sono and Tak Sakaguchi were working on around the same time as this film. That film Kenkichi was also never made.
    • Connections
      Features The Room (1992)
    • Soundtracks
      Second movement (Allegretto) of Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Opus 92
      Written by Ludwig van Beethoven

    User reviews29

    Review
    Top review
    9/10
    Thank You, God of Movies
    Beneath all my suffocating inhibitions, my inability to share my true feelings, my fear of doing what it is that I really want to do - there is a character somewhat akin to 'Hirata', in Sion Sono's 'Why Don't You Play in Hell?'. Here is a ridiculous and frankly insane character - a wannabe film director (and leader of the 'F**k Bombers' cinema club) who'll go to literally any length to realize his dreams and is not remotely discouraged by his complete lack of accomplishments over the past ten years. He's nuts, and yet my soul is frankly screaming for me to live my life with the same liberated, unashamed, energetic, joie d'vivre, that Hirata maintains in the face of it all... The spirit of the F**k Bombers!

    Before Sion Sono was a filmmaker, he was part of a poetry collective called 'Tokyo GAGAGA', that took their poetry screaming into the streets. 'GAGAGA', Sono's explained, is the 'sound of the soul'. By that same token, I've often felt that Sion Sono's characters are the soul, personified: their actions are crazy, over-the-top, and usually comically violent - they're not realistic, normal characters - and yet I see my own soul realistically reflected in his characters, more strongly than anyone else's.

    Like Kurosawa's 'Dreams', 'Why Don't You Play in Hell?' is autobiographical in the most uniquely and completely outlandish way. Hirata is Sono, from his early amateur filmmaking days, when he really did go round with his gang, calling themselves the F**k Bombers, playing Bruce Lee in the park, and being called an idiot by young children. That just about everything else in this movie is heavily fictionalized is pretty obvious, but just as Sono's characters don't reflect normal people, but capture their spirits, his story, if you consider it autobiographical, captures the spirit of his experience becoming a professional filmmaker. It's a movie about the spirit of movies, the spirit of filmmaking, and as Sono says, the 'love of 35mm'.

    It's also about a yakuza turf war. And there's some romance as well: a meek boy falls in love with a girl after seeing her shove a piece of broken glass through another guy's cheek with her tongue, and shortly gets over his own shyness. The movie is a crazily-ridiculous breathlessly-paced action-comedy, capturing the same punk rock energy as Sono's Love Exposure, and it's his most polished-looking film yet. It's a lighter affair than most of the movies he made before - the psycho-horrors and the Fukushima-dramas - but it's no less good; it's thoroughly entertaining from start to finish, and especially, everything after the F**k Bombers finally cross paths with the yakuza is pure genius.

    It's a movie that had me laughing, had me tapping my feet to the music (all written and composed by Sono himself), and had me grinning cheek-to-cheek the whole way through. And, like Sono's very best movies (Hazard, Love Exposure), it might have even inspired me, to loosen my inhibitions a little bit.
    helpful•27
    4
    • Grethiwha
    • Feb 14, 2015

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 7, 2014 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Official site
      • Official site (Japan)
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • ¿Por qué no jugamos en el infierno?
    • Production companies
      • King Records
      • KH Capital
      • BizAsset
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $28,534
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $5,060
      • Nov 9, 2014
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,265,872
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 9 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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