The Bad Sleep Well main backdrop
The Bad Sleep Well main poster

The Bad Sleep Well

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7.7/10 • 259

1960-09-192h 30m

CrimeDramaThriller

In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter of company vice president Iwabuchi. At the reception, the wedding cake is a replica of their corporate headquarters, but an aspect of the design reminds the party of the hushed-up death of Nishi's father. It is then that Nishi unleashes his plan to avenge his father's death.

Directors
Akira Kurosawa
Writters
Hideo Oguni, Eijirō Hisaita, Akira Kurosawa, Ryūzō Kikushima, Shinobu Hashimoto
Editors
Hideo Oguni, Eijirō Hisaita, Akira Kurosawa, Ryūzō Kikushima, Shinobu Hashimoto, Akira Kurosawa

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Toshirō Mifune

    Toshirō Mifune

    Kôichi Nishi

  2. Masayuki Mori

    Masayuki Mori

    Public Corporation Vice President Iwabuchi

  3. Kamatari Fujiwara

    Kamatari Fujiwara

    Assistant-to-the-Chief Wada

  4. Takeshi Katō

    Takeshi Katō

    Itakura

  5. Kyōko Kagawa

    Kyōko Kagawa

    Yoshiko Nishi

  6. Tatsuya Mihashi

    Tatsuya Mihashi

    Tatsuo Iwabuchi

  7. Takashi Shimura

    Takashi Shimura

    Administrative Officer Moriyama

  8. Kō Nishimura

    Kō Nishimura

    Contract Officer Shirai

  9. Kyū Sazanka

    Kyū Sazanka

    Construction Company Executive Director Kaneko

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Nov 17, 2022

7/10

We start with the sight of a group of journalists at a wedding. The daughter of an industrialist is marrying the son of another. Nothing new here until, that is, an extra wedding cake is wheeled into the reception shaped just like an office block. Sticking out of a seventh floor window is a rose. We are quickly told that symbolises the window from which the groom's father committed suicide. Shortly afterwards, two senior executives are arrested after a ¥12 billion deal is suspected of being a bit fishy. Neither executive will talk to the prosecutors so one is released and the other released and re-arrested. The latter man takes the hint and falls foul of a passing lorry! Could the events of years ago be coming back to haunt those responsible? It certainly has shades of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" to it, but this isn't one of my favourite Kurosawa films. Despite being almost 2¼ hours long I felt the characterisations rather under-developed. The always reliable Toshirô Mifune is the groom ("Nishi") and for a while there is a strong dynamic between him and the star of the film, for me anyway, Kô Nishimura ("Shirai). This latter man is complicit in the double dealings and is quite literally scared into helping "Nishi" expose the culprits and activities that caused his misery. The rest of the acting here is not up to the usual standard, though. There is a great deal of dialogue and in this case that slows the pace down and creates a sense of almost the ennui around the middle third of the film - just as the plot ought to be thickening. The denouement is also rather underwhelming - though, I suppose entirely plausible and totally consistent with the ethos of the title (and the source play), but I still left this screening just a bit disappointed.

Media

  • The Bad Sleep Well poster
  • The Bad Sleep Well poster
  • The Bad Sleep Well poster
  • The Bad Sleep Well poster
  • The Bad Sleep Well poster
  • The Bad Sleep Well poster
  • The Bad Sleep Well poster
  • The Bad Sleep Well poster
  • The Bad Sleep Well poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
Japanese
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
parent child relationshipfilm noirbitingcorporate greedshakespeare in modern dressjapanese noircomplexdramaticsuspensefulaudacioustragic