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

This film is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #319.

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Quotes

Tatsuo Iwabuchi: Nishi, I'm counting on you to look after my sister. She's had a tough life. I may be a mess, but I'd do anything to protect her. Listen, Nishi, if you make my sister unhappy, I swear I'll kill you!

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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 Good Dick (2008)

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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

Great watch but a tad too long

I enjoyed Akira Kurosawa's medieval adaptations of Shakespeare (Ran, Throne of Blood), as well as his contemporary thriller, High and Low, but I have to say this contemporary thriller adaptation of Hamlet is the weakest of the bunch.

Not to say it's bad - it was still a great watch, just that it was way too long at 151 minutes. It's pretty amazing how Kurosawa made such a contemporary movie back in 1960 that it still feels fresh today. His direction is mostly tight and suspenseful and the movie is further augmented by an effective score and good acting all around, especially by Kurosawa stalwart, Toshiro Mifune.

But overly long it is, and less interesting scenes had my attention wandering. Maybe I should blame Shakespeare instead. Gawd knows I already find him long-winded and boring.