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The Bad Sleep Well
悪い奴ほどよく眠る
1960 150 min Japan 16+
★8.0
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Trailers
Description
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.
US Gross:
$46,808
Starring
Toshirô Mifune
Actor
Masayuki Mori
Actor
Kyôko Kagawa
Actor
Awards
Berlin International Film Festival 1961
— Golden Bear
Key opinion
Akira Kurosawa's modern retelling of Hamlet serves as a bleak, socially conscious critique of postwar Japanese corporate corruption. While some viewers admire the film's thematic gravity and ambitious structure, others find the pacing sluggish and the narrative execution overly didactic.
| Adaptation | The film functions as a compelling and cynical adaptation of Hamlet that effectively maps Shakespearean tragedy onto postwar corporate corruption. | |
| Direction | Kurosawa’s direction creates a cold, fatalistic atmosphere where characters are portrayed as living phantoms trapped in a perpetual cycle of moral decay. | |
| Acting | Masayuki Mori's performance as Moriai provides a haunting, essential anchor for the film's exploration of death and identity. | |
| Culture | The film's exploration of corporate greed remains strikingly relevant and retains its power to provoke contemporary audiences. | |
| Screenplay | The narrative's tone is criticized by some as being overly blunt, forced, and propagandistic in its delivery of social commentary. | |
| Pacing | The deliberate, heavy, and dialogue-driven pacing is viewed by some as contemplative and deep, while others perceive it as tedious and exhausting. | |
| Ending | Opinions on the film's conclusion differ, with some finding it a fitting, bleak end to the tragedy and others labeling it underwhelming or naive. |