Film critiques on The Bad Sleep Well (Kurosawa, 1960) - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... This opening goes a long way in setting the groundwork for the plot of the story, since the audience is shown a few facts about those involved with the wedding. We see that Tatsuo has threatened to kill Nishi and that Nishi has only married Keiko for the wealth and power of her family. All of this is revealed during a seemingly happy time, which sets the rest of the film up very well.
The audience is also privy to Nishi seeking revenge for the death of his father. He blames corporate entities for this death, which is why he wants to show the world how corrupt the corporate world is in Japan. The main issue is that the corporation that he focuses on is owned by his father-in-law. At the same time, however, we see Nishi legitimately fall for his new wife, which makes it more difficult for him to reach his objectives. This part of the plot features similarities to Shakespeares Hamlet, as the protagonist, Hamlet, focuses on getting revenge on a family member for the death of his father. The ending of this film is a tragedy, similarly to Hamlet, since the protagonist dies while attempting to reach his goals. The main difference is that the villain in The Bad Sleep Well, Iwabuchi, does not die, while Hamlet’s villain, Claudius, does perish.
Perhaps the main goal of this film is to create a social commentary on the state of Japan at that time. Those who were involved in the corporate world could get away with nearly anything, unless there was enough evidence to back it up. We see at the end of the film that even though Nishi and Wada were both murdered, everyone involved in the situations knows that no one will ever be convicted of the crime because there was not any firsthand evidence present. On the other end of the spectrum, we see lower level employees of this corporation feeling bound to the company. Wada, for example, would rather die than ...Download file to see next pagesRead More