The Bad Sleep Well

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The Bad Sleep Well

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2h 24m

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In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi (Toshirô Mifune) climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter (Kyôko Kagawa) of company vice president Iwabuchi (Masayuki Mori). 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.

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Ed Park

Village Voice

Jun 19, 2008

Opening with a bravura wedding sequence and ending with a sycophantic bow to a replaced telephone receiver, the film has its longueurs, but Mifune's buttoned-down avenger is a compelling portrait of righteous obsession foundering on unpredictable reality.

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Tom Milne

Time Out

Jan 26, 2006

Kurosawa rather loaded the film on the side of social significance, while neglecting to capitalise on the noir aspects that underlie it. Even so, his use of the 'scope screen is masterly.

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Nick Schager

Slant Magazine

Jan 9, 2006

3.5/4

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

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

May 15, 2021

7/10

Kurosawa constructs a Shakespearean revenge plot that illustrates, with much pathos, an argument about corporate corruption in postwar Japanese society, with a compelling and restrained performance by Toshiro Mifune. [Full review in Spanish]

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James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Mar 9, 2021

3/4

Kurosawa's mastery of the story is evident.

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Hoshi Soffen

Shin Nichibei/New Japanese American News

Oct 22, 2019

[The Bad Sleep Well] is a daring film revealing the existence of corruption and scandal within any high financing enterprise in any society. The message that haunts us is that everything will be hushed up again by the smooth operating higher-ups.

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Virgo V

@vision Dec 18, 2025

The Bad Sleep Well (Warui Yatsu Hodo Yoku Nemuru; literally The worse they are, the better they sleep) is a 1960 Japanese neo-noir crime mystery film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa. It was also written by Hideo Oguni, Eijiro Hisaita, Ryuzo Kikushima and Shinobu Hashimoto. The film was based on Hamlet by William Shakespeare. It was produced by Kurosawa and Tomoyuki Tanaka. It stars Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Kyoko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi and Takashi Shimura. It was produced by Toho studios and Kurosawa Productions. It was distributed by Toho Company, Limited. Vision wrote: "the film stars Toshiro Mifune as a young man who, during a corrupt postwar Japanese era, tries to take down a company in order to expose the men responsible for his father's death. The film is an aggressive and chilling drama of modern-day Japan. I especially liked the first 30 minutes of the film and the build-up to the end. Four and a half fries! A Julienne; a classic!"

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Dani G

@RT81139271 May 3, 2025

For me it was one of the more ho-hum films of Kurosawa, with some things that just don't click, including acting and music... Plus the script it's not that clever

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Insomniac X

@RT03001349 Mar 3, 2025

Scathing portrait of corporate corruption in postwar Japan featuring a restrained leading performance by Toshiro Mifune. Unfortunately hampered by a convoluted plot, awkward pacing, and anticlimactic finale.

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Alec B

@Alec97 Jan 8, 2024

Come for the reworking of "Hamlet" in 1960s corporate Japan, stay for the tension filled Noir atmosphere.

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dustin d

@RT12543299 May 17, 2022

The Bad Sleep Well is a surprising, real-world revenge movie. It starts out slow and confusing, but is worth the investment of time and attention.

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william d

@acsdoug Sep 14, 2021

The movie starts out with a wonderfully strange wedding reception, then loses steam from there. It's not bad, just not good enough to recommend.

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Akira Kurosawa

Director

Toshiro Mifune

Koichi Nishi

Takeshi Kato

Itakura

Masayuki Mori

Company President Iwabuchi

Kyoko Kagawa

Yoshiko Nishi

Tatsuya Mihashi

Tatsuo Iwabuchi

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Synopsis

In this loose adaptation of "Hamlet," illegitimate son Kôichi Nishi (Toshirô Mifune) climbs to a high position within a Japanese corporation and marries the crippled daughter (Kyôko Kagawa) of company vice president Iwabuchi (Masayuki Mori). 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.

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Producer: Akira Kurosawa, Tomoyuki Tanaka
Screenwriter: Shinobu Hashimoto, Eijirô Hisaita, Ryûzô Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni
Production Co: Kurosawa Production, Toho Company
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 22, 1962, Wide
Release Date (DVD): Jan 10, 2006
Runtime: 2h 24m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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