The Bad Sleep Well

Challenging to get into. The plot isn't that complicated, really, it's just that there's so many names and relations to keep track of. The ending was surprisingly dark for the times, and - while it doesn't even come near Kurusawa's edge-of-your-seat procedural 'High and Low' - this is ambitious storytelling blessed with a least a handful of interesting shots and some generally nice cinematography. Subtracting from the experience: an annoying musical motif and some less than stellar acting.

I've come to appreciate this as one of Kurosawa's most unique achievements. It is unusually pessimistic and cynical, questioning the worth of individual righteousness pitted against institutional corruption. A tragedy of Shakespearean qualities set in a modern world of noir fatalism. There are several great set pieces: a tainted wedding, a nightmarish suburban street, an atrophied bunker. Mifune's stiff presence is at first discouraging, but it fits his stoic, conflicted character well.

I couldn't wrap my head around the title until an hour after the film ended. I felt like an idiot. I was reading it like The Bad-Sleep Well, like a wishing well that somehow caused poor slumber

If you couldn't tell from the title, this movie is awesome.

Kurosawa's most pessimistic film with an ending that must have been fairly unnerving for that period since it dealt with corporate and social problems in post-war Japan. There are some wonderfully jarring moments in this and unfortunately it's partially held back by some weak acting at certain points. It's always mentioned but the wedding intro is a classic in cinema.

Kurosawa sees much sadness in the modern world, and this film might be his bleakest statement. His mastery of the camera so evident in his last films of the 60s can be seen here as he frames the action in both tight close-ups that highlight differences between characters and shots with characters dwarfed by the surroundings. The opening scene at the wedding is rightly lauded, but I like most the look and feel of the bombed out bunker. What an appropriate place to end a film like this.

the best adjective for this movie is streaky, it's got a couple AMAZING streaks of superior story telling amid an overwhelming amount of average or simply sub-par parts. i'd like to love this movie, but it just simply didnt have the stuff of greatness that i know kurosawa can do.

The plot is ingenious, and the characters are well-defined and distinctive. The acting is good, at least for the most part (the guys playing Shirai and Wada are both prone to overacting, and Mifune is a bit too restrained and nondescript). The cinematography is as engrossing as that of any other Kurosawa film. I particularly liked some of the use of light, like in that scene where Shirai is walking home, and the road ahead of him is lit up by a car behind him, revealing Wada in the darkness.

Aside from its manifest cinematic virtues, what seems to receive less attention is the complexity of the protagonist's motivation. On the down side, there are some needlessly hysterical scenes and a conclusion that veers a little too much towards melodrama. Mostly, the narrative is strong and the movie well-executed, yet it's hard not to feel this exploration of the ill deeds committed to achieve power, to hold onto it, or that it generates via resentment, is something of a wasted opportunity.

Dreary, badly-paced, over-long soap opera, with a simplistic heroes-and-villains morality and an ending so depressing I'm surprised it didn't cause theatre audiences to commit suicide en masse.

The Bad Sleep Well is such a well paced film. The camerawork is absolutely stellar thanks to cinematographer Yuzuru Aizawa. The lighting continuously keeps you on your toes constantly changing from light to dark to fit the scene. The entire cast is great and the film as a whole is a great and unnerving look at corporate greed and vengeance in a vision not so typical for the period. The ending is a huge eye opener, and really shook me to the core. Corruption always wins.

Doesn't rank with Kurosawa's best but still a fine film that's very bleak and brutal anyway you look at it. Has some distracting overacting, most notably from Wada and Yoshiki. Mifune is solid as usual. A genius story idea, it's a shame that it drags at times to the point of annoyance. Props for the ballsy ending

Using elements of the Hamlet story, Kurosawa constructs a tragedy amidst the corruption of the Japanese corporate world. This world, however, is darker than Hamlet's Denmark, for here--unlike in Shakespeare--evil goes unpurged and corruption continues unabated. Mifune gives a restrained performance that may seem bland at first, but which grows in power and dignity. The composition and lighting is masterful, demonstrating that Kurosawa has learned as much from noir as from the Western.

This is one of Kurosawa's best works. Its a gripping, dark story of one man's struggle to fight corruption. Everything is near perfect, the performances, the noirish cinematography, the twisting plot, the dark cynical tone all leading to a brilliant ending. It's a film that, like Ikiru, manages to balance both social and personal commentary, though it does so in a very different and much darker way.

Good film.

This movie looks, sounds, and feels almost exactly like an American noir, and a damn good one at that. This is deeply cynical stuff. I also have to add that this movie is shot like a motherfucker, the framing is absolutely impeccable. It is mightly long, but it's so compelling throughout. I can only think of one section that could use some serious editing, and that's the intro. Keep the bit with the cake, but probably at least 10 minutes could be lost without hurting anything.

One of my all time favorites of Kurosawa. Beautiful cinematography, as always, and Mifune is always a treat to watch act. Compelling story (who doesn't love Hamlet?). Wonderful, wonderful filmmaking.

The Bad Sleep Well is very good. I don't think the last hour lives up to the first hour and a half though; there's a spot of forced exposition and a certain plot point feels a bit out of the blue. But I'd be hard-pressed to deny that it's anything less than excellent for the most part. I'm not overly familiar with Shakespeare (as I probably should be), but you can totally see the connection. It very much feels like an old tragedy that's been repackaged for a modern setting.

There's something deeper underneath Kurosawa that his samurai-era movies end on satisfying conclusions while his modern-day movies sputter out anticlimactically. Great movie to follow for the first acts.

One of the most cold blooded endings I've ever seen.

90.50

Escorpião

The opening is marvellous, but after a certain point the plot contrivances start to become annoying. During the final act, there were a few scenes that made me wonder whether the script had been changed last minute. Well, at least the camera work is great.

Thrilling from start to finish. It's incredibly engaging, and my pulse was racing throughout the film. It's incredibly dark at times, even cynical. Fantastic stuff.

Akira Kurosawa makes a much better Samurai than a Secretary. This crime drama had a few interesting elements but for me it was mostly a slog waiting for some action that never materializes.

Echoes of the cut-throat world of the samurai set in the equally cut-throat world of a post-war corporate bureaucracy. One of the satisfactions of this film is to see so many familiar faces (drawn from Kurosawa's recurring stable of actors) maneuver through a modern world we recognize -- with its stuffy board rooms, whiskey flasks, and American cars -- so thoroughly infused, like feudal Japan, with the evils of corruption and vengeance. Naturally, innocents are often the ones caught in the web.

A fair generalization of Kurosawa movies is that his greatest works have wonderful characterizations while his lesser works are so because they lack this. The Bad Sleep Well is no different. Performances are strong (a fine example of Mifune's incredible range in particular), the Hamlet-inspired story is conceptually good, but characters are underdeveloped and the plot lacks something to draw third-party interest. By the time things start cooking naturally, most important developments are past.

Boring, for some reason I didn't like it. I don't know why, crime films are not my thing I guess.

Extraordinarily bleak revenge tale that takes turns that, while logical, are unexpected. Mifune is near perfect, and so is the rest of the cast. It is incredibly well photographed. While the story itself isn't terribly complex, the range of human emotion and analysis of the extent greed can stretch as well as critiquing the bureaucratic way of life is really deftly handled. Near top-tier Kurosawa.

An entertaining and stylish crime epic. Not as neatly paced as High & Low, but its look at corruption in post-WW2 Japan is none-the-less gripping. Mifune is great in a surprisingly restrained performance.

One of the highest peaks of cinema history!

tedious melodrama punctuated with poor direction and even worse acting

Solid noir about corporate corruption from Kurosawa. Very dark and tense atmosphere, and beautiful black-and-white photography. This is not one of Kurosawa's very best, but it definitely deserves to be seen.

91.625

The Bad Sleep Well's ground-breaking concept shows Kurosawa's uncompromised ambition.

"A freestyle homage to Hamlet that does away with the costumed faithfulness of Kurosawa's other Shakespeare adaptations." - Nick Schager

Japanese variation of the 1940 Warner Bros. crime dramas.

Kurosawa addresses government corruption, but the film felt flat to me for some reason.

Frequently compared to Hamlet, this seems more to me like a Romeo and Juliet of proletariat vs. bourgeoisie. The cinematography is unusually good, even for a Kurosawa film, and his usual ensemble is as enjoyable as ever to watch. I felt annoyed by the naive meddling and emotional neediness of Yoshiko, though, since she's the only woman in this film.

uncle WET PILLOW SURGERY instead

Gutsy ending Mr Kurosawa

Solid 2nd tier Kurosawa. The story and its construction are near flawless, naturally, but it only kept me fairly interested and not completely engrossed.

Boring.

It loses some of its momentum during the second half but it's still pretty amazing. Surprisingly dark. Really.

Yawn.

I just love how this opens - the entire wedding reception is one of my favorite introductions to a movie. A particularly difficult film to rate tho due to an unconvincing reveal for the Mifune character & a regrettable last hour, especially the finish. As with most anything Kurosawa, especially his late studio work (which I would call this the beginning of), it is magnificently filmed in all aspects.

A good story that unfortunately drags at times the way it was directed. Perhaps the issues were so taboo in Japan at the time there was a need to allow audiences to digest the plot points, but much of this is old-hat to modern viewers. So do see this if you like police dramas, but be patient with it as it takes two hours to do what today would be done in one.

All Kurosawa movies reside in the same matrix, whether they take place in Tokugawa era or modern times. Maybe basic human reality doesn't change much, at least in Kurosawa's perception. I don't like "in the search for truth" and investigation movies much (best being J.F.K.), but I have to admit this is a solid movie as nothing less is expected. It would have been better it was more character oriented and doesn't initially take the "wrongness" for granted.

The first half is absolutely brilliant, the second half not quite as much. Still, a great film. The cinematography is especially good, probably among Kurosawa's best.