Academic Essays

An Analyzation of Akira Kurosawa’s The Bad Sleep Well and its Commentary on Western Influence in Japanese Culture

Written December, 2019.
Excerpt:

"Among an extensive list of famous film auteurs, Akira Kurosawa is one whose legacy continues to prevail to this day. His films and innovative filming techniques continue to inspire remakes and adaptations of his films “like A Bug’s Life and Hoodwinked!, which took Seven Samurai and Rashomon as their respective inspiration” (Wild, 7) or “actual remakes such as At the Gate of the Ghost and The Last Princess, the former revisiting Rashomon, the latter another take on The Hidden Fortress” (Wild, 7). Kurosawa’s film career consisted of 30 films that were directed over a span of 57 years, and some of the most famous of his films are his three adaptations of Shakespeare plays— Ran, an adaptation of King Lear, Throne of Blood, an adaptation of MacBeth, and The Bad Sleep Well, an adaptation of Hamlet. Of these three different adaptations, The Bad Sleep Well was released in 1960 and is the least well-known and, arguably, the most controversially received of these Shakespearean adaptations. Reception of the film was mixed, particularly due to its ending, which many view as “a shapeless, anticlimactic ending” (Phipps). However, The Bad Sleep Well stands as not just a skillful and intriguing adaptation of a Shakespeare play, but also as an adept film that focuses on making intriguing commentary about a number of topics that were at the forefront of Japan in the 1950s and 60s. In this essay, I will discuss Kurosawa’s adaptation of Hamlet and how the differences between the film and the original play, directorial and artistic choices made by Kurosawa, and the references to Japanese zaibatsu groups throughout the film allow The Bad Sleep Well to give the viewer of the film a critical view of Japanese economics and Western influence on Japanese culture and economy."