BAD SLEEP WELL (DVD) (AKIRA KUROSAWA) (JAPANESE W/OPT ENG SUB) DVD

The Bad Sleep Well
In this engaging drama, acclaimed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa deftly splices together the nuances of hypocrisy, old feudal misconceptions lingering in modern corruption, and Shakespeare's Hamlet. The rotten corporate world is taken on by Koichi Nishi (Toshiro Mifune), who is looking for revenge in the death of his father. Koichi is a private secretary to a government official, and in the opening scene, at Koichi's wedding to the official's disabled daughter, a special cake is brought in which jolts those present -- it reminds them of the suicide that paved the way for their current positions of power. Then the police arrive and arrest one of the wedding guests. Unknown to the others, Koichi is the hidden force behind all the strange happenings that begin to sting their consciences and ruin their lives. Ghostly figures and would-be killers in the dark streets contrast with shining corporate offices as the plot maneuvers to its tragic conclusion. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Cast Toshiro Mifune as Koichi Nishi

Crew Yoshiro Muraki - Art Director Akira Kurosawa - Director Akira Kurosawa - Editor Masaru Sato - Composer (Music Score) Shinobu Muraki - Production Designer Yuzuru Aizawa - Cinematographer Tomoyuki Tanaka - Producer Akira Kurosawa - Producer Akira Kurosawa - Screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto - Screenwriter Eijiro Hisaita - Screenwriter Ryuzo Kikushima - Screenwriter Hideo Oguni - Screenwriter

The Bad Sleep Well
Akira Kurosawa takes on corporate corruption in Japan with a nod to Shakespeare's Hamlet. The concept of honor, is often at the center of Kurosawa's work, as well as a sense of outrage on behalf of the exploited. Both figure prominently here as Koichi Nishi (Toshiro Mifune), plans to exact revenge for the death of his father, a corporate executive who was forced to commit suicide by his colleagues. In the famed opening wedding sequence, analogous to Hamlet's play-within-a-play, an enormous wedding cake in the shape of the corporation's office building reveals the manner of the man's suicide, shocking the guests. The Darwinian atmosphere of Japan's feudalistic corporate world is laid open for inspection and condemnation by the director, as Mifune tries to destroy the company from within. Coupled with the later High and Low (1962) it suggests the high cost of idealism in the midst of corruption. It can be difficult to adjust to Mifune in a business suit, and the relative restraint of his swift economical gestures, but he's again magnificent in part utterly unlike the samurai work for which he's known. The film has a stark, contrasty look, which, along with Kurosawa's characteristic geometric cuts, seems to suggest the moral absolutism of his vision. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: Japanese Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: New, restored high-definition digital transfer A 33-minute documentary on the making of The Bad Sleep Well Original theatrical trailer New and improved English subtitle translation New essays by film critic Chuck Stephens and director Michael Almereyda DVD Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1: Cinemascope MPAA Rating: DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 150 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- The Bad Sleep Well 1. Logos / Opening Credits [2:09] 2. The Wedding [5:56] 3. "Best One-Act I've Ever Seen" [12:29] 4. Headlines [1:27] 5. In Custody [6:28] 6. "Through to the Bitter End" [3:26] 7. "Do Suicides Prove Corruption?" [4:43] 8. Wada's Funeral [6:25] 9. Family Matters [2:49] 10. X Marks the Spot [3:33] 11. Missing: Five Million in Cash [5:02] 12. The Ghost of Wada [3:58] 13. Tatsuo's Guilt [5:04] 14. "That's What It Means to be On Top!" [4:01] 15. Iwabuchi Cookout [3:40] 16. Chirai Cracks [3:45] 17. Hired Gun [3:38] 18. Scene of the Crime [9:06] 19. A Mysterious Link [2:18] 20. "It's Not Easy Hating Evil" [4:30] 21. A Child? [3:30] 22. Itakura [4:07] 23. The Room Falls Silent [2:03] 24. Captive [4:25] 25. Memories Among Ruins [3:21] 26. Waiting Out Moriyama [5:10] 27. Reunion [10:33] 28. Father's Betrayal [7:56] 29. Muraki Inn Safe [1:53] 30. "So Simple and Yet So Foul!" [8:33] 31. Sleep Well [4:38] 32. Color Bars 1. Introduction [1:28] 2. "A Touchy Subject" [4:17] 3. Wedding Scene [1:52] 4. The Cast and Kurosawa [11:46] 5. Production Challenges [10:35] 6. The Great Evil [2:32]