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Actors: Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Bad Sleep Well |
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The primary, initial plot is one of a man's revenge for his father's killing, but the entire story integrates all involved characters so that the viewer himself feels caught up in the events.
--Podma Pettit, Resident Scholar
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The daughter of the president of a government housing corporation marries her father's secretary, Koichi Nishi (Mifune). During the reception there are several disturbing references to a mysterious death of an executive that occurred five years before and was ruled a suicide. Members of the press hover as current executives are detained by the police for questioning in a possible bribery and kickback scheme involving huge government contracts. Several more executives receive strong hints from the corporation to kill themselves; one succeeds, but the other is saved by Nishi and thereafter used as part of his plan to get revenge on the executives who caused his father's death (it turns out his father was the one who died five years before). Nishi also finds he has fallen in love with the woman he married mainly to get access to his enemies. Can he locate the stolen funds and turn the murderous businessmen in to the authorities before they identify and liquidate him? This cool, depressing Kurosawa film about corruption dates from 1960, and has been likened to "Enron meets Hamlet."
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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Although mainly known in this country for historical subjects like The Seven Samurai or Ran, Akira Kurosawa directed a number of socially critical films about contemporary Japanese life. In the Bad Sleep Well--adapted from a novel by Ed McBain--a young man marries the boss's daughter as part of a scheme for taking revenge on the influential businessmen who forced his father to commit suicide. Leisurely paced, bitterly ironic, the movie employs an almost arid visual style, with hard-edged black and white images of Tokyo that perfectly complement its portrayal of corruption in high places. Although made in 1960, the film anticipates American movies of the 1970s about crime among the rich and powerful--like Chinatown--to an astonishing degree.
--Dave C, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Bad Sleep Well |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 1960's-1970's
Crime & Scandal
Yes
Story of
- Japanese/Asian mob
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- businessman, honest overcoming corrupt
Vigilante/Revenge?
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 20's-30's
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Japanese
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair style
- (man) short/standard straight
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Japanese
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- business executive
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Japanese
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Setting
Asia/Pacific/Middle East
Yes
Asian country:
- Japan
City?
Yes
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel...
- depressed/sad
Check here if B&W
Yes
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- Japanese
Subtitles?
- Yes
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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