The Bad Sleep Well

The Bad Sleep Well (1960)

悪い奴ほどよく眠る

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.

Date of release
1960-09-19
TMDB
7.7 / 10 (304)
Runtime
2h 30m
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director
Akira Kurosawa

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Budget: ¥82.5M
  • Filmed in: Japan

The Bad Sleep Well is a 1960 Japanese neo-noir crime mystery film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was the first film to be produced under Kurosawa's own independent production company. It was entered into the 11th Berlin International Film Festival.

Production

After Toho Studios had grown frustrated with Kurosawa going overbudget during filming of The Hidden Fortress, in 1959 the director formed his own film company, Kurosawa Productions. Believing that making his first independent film merely for commercial success would be insulting to the audience, Kurosawa elected to tackle a subject of social significance.

The idea for The Bad Sleep Well came from Kurosawa's nephew Yoshio Inoue, whose story called "Bad Men's Prosperity" founded Kurosawa's draft. Kurosawa began writing the script with Eijirō Hisaita, whom he had collaborated with on No Regrets for Our Youth and The Idiot, both starring Setsuko Hara.

Filming began on March 22, 1960, with the Navy Yard of Toyohashi, Mount Aso, Marunouchi Building and the Yokohama Prison serving as main locations. To convincingly play the part of a disabled wife, Kyōko Kagawa used uneven shoes and a knee brace. During filming of a car scene, Kagawa suffered facial injuries and considered quitting her acting career.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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