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I always knew there was something a bit strange about the humble Japanese Office Lady.
I didn’t realise there was a hidden underground fight club style network where OL’s group up in gangs to take each other on in brutal turf wars.
Hell’s Garden introduced me to something new.
And in a movie akin to the Yakuza game series, this is a very comic style idea brought to life in movie form.
PLOT
Nao is just your average, ordinary, every day Office Lady in a random Japanese corporation surrounded by dozens of other office ladies. Her life is talking about romantic TV shows, watching what she eats while secretly wishing for a boyfriend.
But OL gangs rule her corporation, and they fight each other for the right to be the leader.
One day, Ran, a new OL, starts at Nao’s corporation, and she quickly establishes herself as the number OL. Ran and Nao become the unlikeliest of friends, resulting in Nao being kidnapped by the top OL gang in Japan, where a surprising twist is revealed.
A bit of backstory first, I watched this film directly after I shut off the new Matrix film after its first horrible hour, so I was desperately in the mood for something that could entertain me.
And entertain this did.
Now this is not a classic Japanese movie by any standards. It’s not Yojimbo, or Kwaidan or Bullet Train. It’s no Battle Royale… actually, its kind of like Battle Royale. Kind of, just without death.
What made this film entertaining for me was just the crazy premise of well mannered and meek Japanese OL’s kicking the living Fatal Fury out of each other in mortal combat style Street Fights. In order to be crowned the King of Fighters, they must use their specific Art of Fighting, which may include some Iron Fists.
Phew, that was 6 fighting video games references in one paragraph. Did you get them all?
The action in the movie is quite chaotic, but when you watch it closely you can see not much is actually happening with the periphery characters other than some pushing and shoving. This leaves the focus on the main characters who are battling each other.
I mentioned that it felt a little like the Yakuza games, and what I mean was the way the fights just seem to break out without anyone else really noticing or caring what is going on. The movie has created a world within a world, and it keeps that idea up through the whole film, which is good.
It’s annoying that the film needs to constantly remind us that everything happening is very much like a manga though. We understood that the first time, but I suppose those commentaries are good for people who might not understand the craziness behind the film.
But I suspect those people won’t be watching this film in the first place.
Hell’s Garden features Mei Nagano in the role of Nao. The last film I saw her in was the very average thriller Mask Ward, so I was glad to see her doing a great job in this film. She suits the character quite well and she seems to be having a lot of fun in the action scenes, even if its obvious that some CGI is helping to achieve the outcomes.
Surprisingly though, there isn’t much CGI in this film, unlike that horrible Matrix film. There is a bit of wirework in the action scenes, but they mostly seem rather grounded. These ladies and these fights aren’t supposed to be choreographed shaolin battles, but rather they are brutal street fights where one or two hits is usually enough to KO their opposition.
What are my overall thoughts?
This is the kind of movie a lot of us love about Japan. The fact that a big budget, crazy action comedy like this could get theatrically released featuring a strong female cast of known actresses. Imagine Hollywood doing something like this? Not a chance.
Japan has the ability to have fun with their films, and that’s all this film is. Big dumb fun. There is a time and a place for The Seven Samurai, but when you’re in the mood to wash the foul taste of The Matrix 4 out of your mouth, only something as crazy as Hell’s Garden can do the trick.
And that’s why I recommend you watch this film. For the fun of it.
If you’ve seen this movie, what did you think?
Genre Action Comedy
Director Kazuaki Seki
Starring Mei Nagano, Alice Hirose, Nano
Original Title 地獄の花園
Country of Origin Japan
Release Date 21 May 2021