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

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$15,942, 28 July 2002

Gross USA:

$46,808

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$46,808

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

This film has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Quotes

Mrs. Furuya: I never dreamed that time would change my feelings.

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Alternate Versions

Originally released at 151 in Japan; USA version removes 16 minutes of footage.

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Connections

Referenced in Kurosawa: The Last Emperor (1999)

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Soundtracks

Wedding March
(uncredited)
from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Played at the presentation of the wedding cake

User Reviews

Kurosawa does Nippon Noir with style

The Bad Sleep Well is a great film, with excellent acting from all the actors, especially my favorite Japanese actor, Takashi Shimura as Moriyama. Kurosawa shows in this film that no one can or will ever top his skill at doing tableau shots. The wedding scene in the beginning of the film, where the reporters are standing just outside the doors of the reception hall, commenting on the goings on within, is fantastic. The ending seems very abrupt, almost as if they ran out of time while making the film, keeping this one out of the same league as other Kurosawa classics (7 Samurai, Stray Dog, Yojinbo).