Japanese director Akria Kurosawa is one of the most respected filmmakers in the history of the medium, receiving critical acclaim for his work and influencing a generation of now legendary directors such as Steven Speilberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorcese and George Lucas. Though his approach to narrative and story structure has been studied widely, some of Kurosawa's most famous films are actually adaptations of Shakespeare plays: Throne of Blood is based on Macbeth, Ran is based on King Lear and The Bad Sleep Well is based on Hamlet.
Rather than the characters belonging to the Danish royal family, Kurosawa sets his story within a corrupt corporation against the backdrop of a bombed-out, post-war Japan. Played by regular Kurosawa collaborator Toshiro Mifune, Koichi Nishi abandons his prominent position within the company to uncover those who conspired to murder his father and bring them to justice. The success of the modified story is testament to the universality of Shakespeare; while retaining most of the key plot points from Hamlet with few major alterations, Kurosawa uses the the story to craft a damning criticism of corporate corruption.
While the concept is an interesting take on the source material, I found myself unable to engage with the characters of the film; much like the titular bad, I found myself sleeping very well indeed. I think this may well be a fault on my part rather than Kurosawa's; having grown up with kinetic, naturalistic films, Kurosawa's theatrical and deliberately paced style was at odds with my viewing comfort zone. Despite this, I found the imagery of the film to be breathtaking, with much of the action taking place in disused quarries and bomb shelters. The bleak landscapes reflect Nishi's desperate state of mind as he struggles to find his father's killers while trying not to lose himself completely to darkness. As in the original play, The Bad Sleep Well is a detailed and methodical character study and meditation on the nature of revenge.
While the concept is an interesting take on the source material, I found myself unable to engage with the characters of the film; much like the titular bad, I found myself sleeping very well indeed. I think this may well be a fault on my part rather than Kurosawa's; having grown up with kinetic, naturalistic films, Kurosawa's theatrical and deliberately paced style was at odds with my viewing comfort zone. Despite this, I found the imagery of the film to be breathtaking, with much of the action taking place in disused quarries and bomb shelters. The bleak landscapes reflect Nishi's desperate state of mind as he struggles to find his father's killers while trying not to lose himself completely to darkness. As in the original play, The Bad Sleep Well is a detailed and methodical character study and meditation on the nature of revenge.
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