The Bad Sleep Well is said to be Akira Kurosawa’s Hamlet with some of Kurosawa's story elements paralleling Shakespeare’s famous tragedy, but I think the movie might have more in common with the cult film Reefer Madness.

Toshiro Mifune's character, Koichi Nishi, is bent on revenge in this story of corporate corruption. Nishi believes his father's death to be the responsibility of officials in the corporation his father worked for. Nishi invests years of his life to position himself for a chance at revenge.

The exposition during the opening wedding scene is highly regarded by some who have reviewed The Bad Sleep Well, but it should be noted that this critical launch scene is heavy-handed and very manufactured in feeling. It may be perceived as too artificial for many modern moviegoers' tastes.

Even with the heavy-handed setup, the viewer is left with a lot of uncertainly about what is going on for a good portion of the film. This is a long movie that feels even longer. The story gains momentum very slowly. Interestingly, I watched the shorter 2 hour and 15 minute version.

I do not own The Bad Sleep Well. I rented it from Netflix and viewed it before realizing there was a longer cut available. Blockbuster purportedly has the longer 2.5 hour version in their library. Regrettably, my enthusiasm for this film is not high enough for me to eagerly seek out the longer cut for immediate comparison. If you are planning to ad this Kurosawa film to your own library, I have provided an Amazon link to the Criterion Collection longer version on the left side of this page.

One factor working against the movie for me was the television soap opera plot points that appear occasionally during the story. I practically abhor soap operas, so a significantly positive review is highly unlikely for a film when I notice weak and trashy storytelling elements popping up in the script.

I don't know all of the Japanese cultural issues that were in play during the time of this film’s production, but one must presume there was a significant concern in Japanese society about corporate malfeasance and corruption.

The Bad Sleeps Well seems to be a film that was produced for a specific audience in a specific time, and though its universal warning about the power and villainy of institutionalized corruption is a worthwhile message, I don't believe this film holds up well as a vehicle for carrying that message forward half a century.

The story has a consistently preachy undercurrent that at times reminds me of clips I have seen from the1936 Reefer Madness movie.

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If you are not familiar with Reefer Madness, it was a film originally released under the title Tell Your Children. Though there are references online to that film's original production being funded by a religious group, there are also references on some websites suggesting that even the original release was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, and that it was made as a means of circumventing censorship laws of the time. By presenting an exploitation movie under the guise of an anti-drug film, the producers may have been hoping to offer something illicitly enticing to a broad audience and get away with including content that would not have been allowed in a traditional entertainment production.

Whatever the truth is, Tell Your Children was released several times and under different titles. Reefer Madness is the title the film is best known by now.

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I have not actually seen the full-length Reefer Madness movie, but The Bad Sleep Well sometimes has an artificiality about it that reminds me of the few minutes of Reefer Madness that I have seen. The Bad Sleep Well swaps corporate corruption for the subject of inhaling burning plant fumes, though it certainly is not as silly a film as Reefer Madness.

Despite some well shot scenes and the magnetic presence of Toshiro Mifune, I don't think this Kurosawa film is one that many casual Japanese movie enthusiasts will thoroughly enjoy.

I recommend this film only for the serious Kurosawa student and/or diehard Toshiro Mifune fan.

Savage Japan Misc. Tidbits
Don't miss Kurosawa's obvious Reefer Madness inspired scene where the father's deep involvement with the evil weed (corporation) influences him to attempt the poisoning of his own daughter.

Okay, maybe Kurosawa was never directly influenced by Reefer Madness. I think it's highly unlikely that he even saw it, but it's fun to consider the two films' minor similarities.

For Japanese Language Students
The Bad Sleep Well is not a bad film for Japanese language listening comprehension practice, but entertainment value has to be factored in when rating a film for potential language practice.

When following that dual narrative in your head, the audio that you are studying and the often very different dialogue that the subtitles reveal, one needs to be engaged and entertained enough to maintain motivation for a two hour study exercise.

Due to the ferocity and speed of some conversations, along with my very limited Japanese language skills, I did find it a little tough to pull dialogue from several scenes in The Bad Sleep Well.

Combining that speed of delivery issue with a slow story that seems less relevant for Westerners and modern moviegoers in general, all make for a movie that I would call only fairly good for Japanese language listening comprehension practice.