The Bad Sleep Well (1960) Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru (original title)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Hideo Oguni (written by) &
Eijirô Hisaita (written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

22 January 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

A vengeful young man marries the daughter of a corrupt industrialist in order to seek justice for his father's suicide.

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Scandal | Father Son Relationship | Corporate Greed | Death Of Protagonist

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Kôichi Nishi
Masayuki Mori	...	Public Corporation Vice President Iwabuchi
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Yoshiko Nishi
Tatsuya Mihashi	...	Tatsuo Iwabuchi
Takashi Shimura	...	Administrative Officer Moriyama
Kô Nishimura	...	Contract Officer Shirai
Takeshi Katô	...	Itakura
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Assistant-to-the-Chief Wada
Chishû Ryû	...	Public Prosecutor Nonaka
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Prosecutor Okakura
Kôji Mitsui	...	Reporter A
Ken Mitsuda	...	Public Corporation President Arimura
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Legal Adviser
Susumu Fujita	...	Detective
Kôji Nanbara	...	Prosecutor Horiuchi
Gen Shimizu	...	Managing Director Miura
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Reporter B
Senshô Matsumoto	...	Construction Company President Hatano
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	ADA secertary
Kyû Sazanka	...	Construction Company Executive Director Kaneko
Kin Sugai	...	Tomoko Wada
Natsuko Kahara	...	Mrs. Furuya
Nobuko Tashiro	...	Mrs. Moriyama
Atsuko Ichinomiya	...	Mrs. Ariyama
Toshiko Higuchi	...	Wada's daughter
Jun Kondô	...	Reporter D
Yutaka Sada	...	Wedding receptionist
Ikio Sawamura	...	Taxi Driver
Hisashi Yokomori	...	Reporter C
Kunie Tanaka	...	Hitman
Kyorô Sakurai	...	Prosecutor
Ryôji Shimizu	...	Management Section Worker
Soji Ubukata	...	Construction Company Employee
Shirô Tsuchiya	...	Construction Company Employee
Kyôko Ozawa	...	Iwabuchi Maid
Akemi Ueno	...	Safety Deposit Box Rental Receptionist
Hiromi Mineoka	...	Iwabuchi Maid #2

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits
Hideo Oguni		(written by) &
Eijirô Hisaita		(written by) &
Akira Kurosawa		(written by) &
Ryûzô Kikushima		(written by) &
Shinobu Hashimoto		(written by)

Produced by
Akira Kurosawa	....	producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	producer

Original Music by
Masaru Satô

Cinematography by
Yuzuru Aizawa

Film Editing by
Akira Kurosawa

Production Design by
Yoshirô Muraki

Costume Design by
Shoji Kurihara

Makeup Department
Tomoko Asami	....	hair stylist
Junjirô Yamada	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Hiroshi Nezu	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yoshimitsu Banno	....	assistant director (as Yoshimitsu Sakano)
Kazuko Kawakita	....	assistant director
Yôichi Matsue	....	assistant director
Shirô Moritani	....	chief assistant director
Kiyoshi Nishimura	....	assistant director

Art Department
Kôichi Hamamura	....	property master
Jun Sakuma	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Ichirô Minawa	....	sound effects editor
Hisashi Shimonaga	....	sound mixer
Masanao Uehara	....	sound assistant
Fumio Yanoguchi	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Sei Arai	....	assistant lighting technician
Masao Fukuda	....	still photographer
Ichirô Inohara	....	lighting technician
Takao Saitô	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Reiko Kaneko	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Ginzo Osumi	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Hidehiko Eguchi	....	production assistant
Teruyo Nogami	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Toho Company
• Kurosawa Production Co.

Distributors

• Cowboy Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2007) (Brazil) (DVD) (Portuguese, English and Spanish subtitles)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (USA) (laserdisc)
• Home Vision Cinema (USA) (VHS)
• Janus Films (USA) (re-release)
• Madman Entertainment (2007) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2007) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Sandrews (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Sony Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Toho Company (1962) (USA) (subtitled)
• Toho Company (Japan)
• WoWow (2012) (Japan) (TV)

Other Companies

• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

"Warui yatsu hodo yoku nemuru" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

151 min | USA:135 min | UK:132 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:PG (video rating) (1992) | UK:A (original rating) | Finland:K-7 (2005) | Netherlands:6 | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

This was the first co-production between Kurosawa's newly-formed company and Toho.

Quotes:

Contract Officer Shirai:I met the young lady twice while plannung the wedding. She's a genuinely sweet person. When I think of her agony, I wish a peaceful resolution were possible.
Itakura:Unfortunately there just isn't any way. That man's evil! If we hesitate, we're finished.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kurosawa: The Last Emperor (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Roses from the South (Rosen aus dem Süden, Op. 388)

Kurosawa in top form

The Bad Sleep Well is one of the best revenge movies of all time. It stars the great Toshiro Mifune as a man seeking revenge against the people who forced his father into committing suicide. Unlike many revenge movies, The Bad Sleep Well doesn't glamorize its subject. Instead it shows how in trying to get retribution for a man who is now dead, Mifune ends up injuring himself and other people he loves who are still alive. There are a lot of beautiful and haunting images, like when we see a desperate man struggling to climb a volcano so he can throw himself in, or a number of scenes that are shot at the bombed out wreckage of an old WWII munitions plant. The bleak landscape mirrors the damaged lives of the movie's characters. Powerful and haunting, this is a movie that will follow you for days.