The Bad Sleep Well with Toshiro Mifune: DVD Cover
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The Bad Sleep Well
a.k.a. The Rose in the Mud, The Worse You Are, the Better You Sleep, Warui Yatsu Hodo Yoku Nemuru Director: Akira Kurosawa Cast: Toshiro Mifune

DVD - Black & White / Wide Screen Learn more

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  • DVD Release Date: 01/10/2006
  • Original Release: 1960
  • Rating: Not Rated
  • Sales Rank: 398
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Viewer Rating: (3 ratings)

Detailed Rating: "Unforgettable" See All

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  • Overview
  • Editorial Reviews
  • Scenes
  • Customer Reviews
  • Cast & Crew
  • Full Product Details

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

Full Product Details

Scene Index

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]

Scene Index

Editorial Reviews

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

Customer Reviews

  • Viewer Rating:
  • Ratings: 3Reviews: 2

Hamlet in corporate postwar Japanby anselmus

Reader Rating:
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February 10, 2009: Everyone I have spoken with who has seen this film loved it. It doesn't reveal all its treasures the first time through, because it's a bit of a job to figure out what is happening. But as the movie goes on things become clear, and a fine character study emerges, helped by Toshiru Mifune in an atypical role. The movie is loosely based on the plot of Hamlet: a murdered father, a ghost (but not the father), an Ophelia type, and the usurping villain. It is a study of corporate corruption in postwar Japan, and of one young man who is determined to avenge his father's death at the hands of his wealthy, Machiavellian corporation bosses. The film is notable for its black humor, a cliche which in this case should be understood to mean that it is actually very funny very often, although its underlying themes are quite serious.

I Also Recommend: The Hidden Fortress, In the Woods, Ran, Shichinin no samurai.

Great movie but beware of the DVDby Anonymous

Reader Rating:
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December 02, 2004: Just a warning to anyone purchasing the DVD, it is an import for China. Nothing wrong with it except for the fact that the subtitles are a little screwy. All of the name have been changed to Chinese names, so if you've read any of the books on Kurosawa, it'll take you a while to get used to the new names. Otherwise the movie is fine. Not Criterion quality, but they seem a little preoccupied with releasing Renior and Cassavetes' films in groups but not Kurosawa's great contemporary films.

This review was written about the DVD Wide Screen / Black & White edition.