Kurosawa's great cinematic tragedy
The Bad Sleeps Well is one of the less talked about films from the legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. Despite it's relative obscurity amongst his other peak period films, The Bad Sleeps Well is a highly important film within Kurosawa's filmography. It showed a return to the thriller and noir genres after eleven years of absence (the last film he did in this style was Stray Dog in 1949) and is one of the most narratively complex films Kurosawa ever made. It is also one of the small handful of Shakespeare adaptations Kurosawa made throughout his career, this being an adaptation of Hamlet, and is the film which takes the most liberties with it's source material. So with all that context out of the way, here is my analysis on one of my favourite of all of Kurosawa's films. (Spoilers from this point onward)
The Bad Sleeps Well features all the typical Kurosawa regulars. Takeshi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune are obviously here, as this film was at the peak of the trios legendary collaborative period. However The Bad Sleeps Well is also a meeting point for several actors who previously collaborated with Kurosawa, including Masayuki Mori (Rashomon), Ko Nishimura (who would later appear in Yojimbo), Kamatari Fujiwara (Seven Samurai) and Takeshi Kato, who was actually a surprisingly frequent collaborator as I discovered. This cast results in a film which has a very comfortable feel, filled with actors who Kurosawa had either already worked with or would later go on to work with again. It is clear that Kurosawa wanted his adaptation of one of the most well known tragedies of all time, and his genre return to be handled by only those he trusted the most.
In terms of the actual quality of those performances, and the characters associated with them, they are all truly mesmerising. Toshiro Mifune is one of the all time great actors, and here he gives perhaps the most complex performance of his career. The character of Nishi (our resident Hamlet equivalent) goes through many changes throughout the film. He starts off unassumingly distant and formal, growing more malicious and icy as his plan takes shape. After his cover is blown and the situation changes dramatically Mifune is able to show the oppressed happiness and regrets of the character. This effectively reverse engineers the character, showing us the calculated and harsh retributionist and then giving a glimpse at the regrets and pains that gave birth to this coldness. The character's tragic end at the hands of the powers he was attempting to destroy is a sad idea to contemplate, yet seems fitting for a character who has given himself entirely to a life of vengeance. The Bad Sleep Well gives Mifune one of his most tragic and layered roles, and he thrives when given such lush material. His posture, his facial expressions and his subtle mannerisms all give vital insights into this highly fascinating character. I can honestly say that if there was ever to be a single film which proves how special Mifune was, this would be it.
The film is also littered with many other juicy performances and characters. There is not a failure among them, and they each supporting character goes through a journey throughout the film. Despite the incredibly rich material given to Mifune, the film is also notable for how much significant material is given to the other actors. Shimura is given a slimy and rat-like executive character, a clever twist on the benevolent and wise characters he was typically known to play. Kato is wry and confident as Nishi's closest accomplice, representing the final vestige of Nishi's past (quite literally as the two characters switched names before the events of the film) and is the only character able to bring out the latent joy and contentment of Nishi's younger years. Fujiwara's character acts as the film's voice of reason, however he also drinks from the well of vengeance that has tainted Nishi and is subject to the same melancholic nostalgia to a life before this bleak narrative began. Fianally, Mori is given the film's most villainous role, a character that breathes selfishness and exudes an unspeakable pitifulness. His victory is a completely hollow one, adding to the tragedy of the film's finale. No character escapes the conclusion unscathed and the destructive nature of vengeance and deceit is inflicted upon all the players in the film's vile game of cat and mouse.
At the film's end, Nishi's quest to dismantle the corrupt and erroneous corporation which stole his life from him fails. It fails due to a moment of emotional weakness on Nishi's part, as he attempts to restore his relationship with his wife and build a future for himself. For a tragedy to succeed the character's must feel secure, 99% certain that their plan will prevail. However we the audience, aware of the 1% the character's have overlooked, are powerless as our protagonists ultimate weakness results in their downfall. The Bad Sleeps Well is not quite that simple however. Here, the protagonist is not a force of good, regardless of what he believes. Nishi is a psychological torturer, breaking a man potentially forever, and his reckless vengeance leaves his childhood friend without an identity or a future. Furthermore, the villain gains nothing from his victory, in fact he probably suffers even more as a result. His home life is forever torn asunder and his career (which he spent the film fighting to protect) is called into question regardless.
The Bad Sleeps Well is the beautifully shot, visually told story of a man attempting to fight the corporate machine at their own game. However it ends with lives ruined, families destroyed and futures ended. The film poignantly sets it's final act with the ruins of a factory, bombed during WWII. This serves as the ultimate visual metaphor as to what remains of the character's lives after the screen finally fades to black. Ikiru ends with a final hopeful reminder that all a person's good work will always be remembered, regardless of how cruel the world is. The Bad Sleeps Well shows a world where good intentions, no matter how pure, result in desolation and misery. The Bad Sleeps Well is not my favourite Kurosawa film, however it is very close.
By Jack D. Phillips
Masterpiece Corner #1
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