The Bad Sleep Well (1960)

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

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Hideo Oguni, Eijirô Hisaita

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kyôko Kagawa

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

It is a high-profile wedding: the daughter of Mr Iwabuchi, a wealthy businessman, is marrying Mr Nishi, a car salesman. However, Mr Iwabuchi and other senior members of his company are suspected of corporate malfeasance and the wedding becomes a bit of a farce, with the press swarming all over it. To add to the discord, the company officials are rather publicly reminded of an ignominious event which occurred a few years ago - a senior employee committed suicide by jumping from the 7th floor of their offices. Now other senior officials are committing suicide and it looks like it is related to that death of a few years ago.

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Plot Keywords:

suicide | scandal | guilt | husband wife relationship | neo noir | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

22 January 1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Bad Sleep Well

Filming Locations:

Aso Kuju National Park, Kyushu, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company,Kurosawa Production Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

151 min

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

'Kyoko Kagawa' wore both uneven shoes and a knee brace to help make her character's limp more believable and real.

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Quotes

[Nishi drives Wada to the funeral service- his own. Nishi wipes the rain from the windscreen so Wada can look. Wada peers over the dashboard. It is really a magnificent funeral, with wreaths, candles, a picture of him mounted on the top of a wonderful display, and co-workers bowing solemnly. Wada is aghast to find his wife and daughter at the funeral]
Assistant-to-the-Chief Wada: Why... why are you doing this to me? This is sheer torment! I'd rather be dead!
[He begins to sob]
Assistant-to-the-Chief Wada: Please, let me die. I have to die! Wasting this ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in Good Dick (2008)

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Soundtracks

Bridal Chorus
(uncredited)
from "Lohengrin"
Music by Richard Wagner
Played at the end of the wedding ceremony

User Reviews

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.