Unboxing DVDs that I’ve had in storage for several years, I didn’t realise I had this copy of Akira Kurosawa’s The Bad Sleep Well (1960). So I finally watched it and it was excellent. Set in post-war Japan, it unravels the revenge plot set in motion by Nishi (Toshiro Mifune) who is climbing the ranks by marrying the daughter of the Vice President of a powerful company that he works for. As corruption is unveiled and upper level management caught by police are pressured into suicide by their superiors, it all flows back to the death of another employee several years ago, Nishi’s father (a connection kept hidden from his coworkers and his bosses). A revenge thriller that is an indictment of corporate culture, and the tendency towards unchecked corruption, this was beautifully crafted and stridently compelling. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 