The Bad Sleep Well

Three years after Throne of Blood, Kurosawa returns to Shakespeare, but this time not with a straight adaptation of one of his works, but by working his classic themes into a tragedy set in the world of corrupt Japanese syndicates. However cheap it may sound, it works perfectly. The screenplay is great and in best Shakespeare style. Add to that marvelous actors, led by the always excellent Toshiro Mifune in the role of a seemingly timid little mouse shuffling about in the background. And since this is a classic Kurosawa with all the usual trimmings, the downside is, as usual, that it is excessively slow and dragged out at some points and this results in the movie being needlessly long. (10.02.2007)

After watching certain films, a pleasant feeling of pride spreads throughout my body over how decadent many countries appear to be, about which the world public thinks they represent the navel of the world. Akira Kurosawa directed a film about corruption at the highest levels of two significant companies connected to the state apparatus. Because of an insignificant three billion, people repeatedly jump out of windows, ruthless murders are committed, and nonsensically intense emotions arise. Surprisingly, the Chief Prosecutor does not intervene to properly reprimand the querulous prosecutor. The dean of a university does not write an appraisal stating that it is merely a slightly non-standard deal that does not deviate from common business practices in any way, and the Minister of Interior does not allow the defendant to leave the country quickly. Such money can be effectively distributed among the needy. The film suffers from several minor logical inconsistencies but is decently acted and speaks volumes about Japanese culture and politics. Overall impression: 80%. (25.10.2009)