WILLIAM FLANIGAN Viewed on DVD. The "Iron Triangle" is a label often applied to inherently corrupt (by the standards of most Giajin) and inclusive business relationships consisting of government ministry bureaucrats, a major financial institution, and a large corporate monopoly where each is in the pockets of the others (to, of course, gain/retain power and get rich before and/or after "retirement"). Script (and its execution) in this film has it's moments, both good and bad. Among the latter: a mother who conveniently (and within seconds) finds an old funeral photo that just happens to include Toshira Mifune (who is her illegitimate son) that looks like a PR shot; and a glass of wine laced with poison (or so we are lead to believe) that turns out to be a sedative. Very uneven direction: players like Mifune and actress Kyoko Kagawa deliver restrained, solid, and believable performances; others are allowed to over act to the point of becoming self caricatures and cartoon figures. Kagawa's role is small, but critical. She projects the fundamental sweetness of her character to the point of stealing most of the scenes she is in. Deep focus cinematography (where both the foreground and background are in focus) is most impressive. Foley (i.e., dubbed sound effects) is marginal: even those wearing sandals or men's shoes sound like they have high heels on! The music score is, well, simply terrible: it grates on the ears and greatly distracts from rather than adding to the film experience. All in all, an OK movie, but no cigar. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

TheLittleSongbird The Bad Sleep Well is one of Kurasawa's most underrated, and while not his best or one of my favourites it is towards the better end of the spectrum in regard to his movies. The movie is perhaps a little too long, but so much compensates. Such as the superb cinematography(always deliberate yet with something always to see and admire) and direction(subtle while not undermining the sombre and sometimes tense tone), and the beautifully compositioned scenery. The music is often haunting, while the story(loosely based on Hamlet) while not quite as riveting as High and Low is interesting with an astonishing sequence involving Nishi and Wada at his own funeral and a suitably bleak ending. Toshiro Mifune plays one of those characters that goes to extremes but you do feel pity for him, and Mifune acts with his usual charisma.Overall, I can think of better films from Kurasawa but I was very impressed with The Bad Sleep Well first time on viewing and still hold it in high regard. 9/10 Bethany Cox

TheHighVoltageMessiah This seems to be considered by some to be 'minor' or 'mediocre' Kurosawa. In my opinion, nothing could be farther from the truth. This is one of the director's greatest achievements. It is elegantly done, thrilling, and in its final scenes has the force and power of the finest of tragedies.It is the story of a man called Nishi, played by Toshiro Mifune, who attempts to expose corporate corruption and bring the bureaucrats responsible for his father's death to justice. To further his efforts, he marries the daughter of an unscrupulous businessman. At first things seem to go well for him. But he cannot even begin to comprehend the might of the system with which he is dealing… Mifune's role may not be as flashy as his lone samurai in "Yojimbo" or his exuberant bandit in "Roshomon", but the part is no less great. Nishi is a character consumed with inner demons. His relationship with the father he seeks to avenge is complex. He is the illegitimate child of a man that abandoned his mother before Nishi could even remember him in order to marry a woman of higher standing. Still, Nishi recalls that his tormented father returned to him from time to time in the guise of an uncle, showing love under cover he was unable to reveal any other way. Nishi is fueled by a sense of righteousness and justice, but must come to grips with whether his quest for revenge is making him as ruthless as those he stands against. Also, he must deal with the love that begins to stir in him for his nemesis's daughter. It is an incredible role, to be sure, played with quiet restraint and gravitas by Mifune.Although Nishi goes to extremes to achieve his ends, and can at times seem merciless, the viewer never loses sympathy for him. He can show pity when he seems the most brutal. He can appear cold, and then later reveal the sensitivity and tenderness buried under a bitter exterior. This is most evident in gentle scenes with his wife, or exchanges between him and his only close confidante and fellow conspirator, a friend from his childhood. He seems so very human, so vibrant with passion, confidence, and life, that one almost feels he is going to make it and be successful – which only makes it all the more crushing when he is destroyed.The ending of the film is unsparing in its bleakness. Not only does the Corporation kill Nishi, it also demolishes his reputation and consigns him to ignominy in the memory of the general public. All his noble efforts fall to ruin. Only those that had been near to him in life realize the truth, but without proof they are left to whine and wail in anguish to an unfeeling sky. There is no hope. There is hardly even any room for catharsis, because everything unfolds with such relentless swiftness and bluntness. Those with honorable intentions are squashed like ants while the corrupt officials of the company get on comfortably with their lives. That's it. That's how it goes. This closing leaves the viewer gutted, overwhelmed with a deep, visceral sense of despair. It is among the most powerful endings I have seen in a film, and Kurosawa's sobering comment on the darker nature of the world again shows the perceptiveness that made him one of the best directors of all time.A masterpiece, and worthy of the same recognition as "The Seven Samurai" or "Ran".

LouE15 One of the world's great directors (Akira Kurosawa ) paired again with one of the world's great actors (Toshiro Mifune) in a noir attack on corporate corruption. Kurosawa is a consummate storyteller, with a genuinely all-seeing eye. I don't know enough about film theory to tell you exactly why it is his films work or are great; I can only compare them to my other experiences watching a wide variety of films, and his are entertaining, morally complex, living things, that fed from, and into, western cinema, bringing a something very Japanese in terms of both storytelling and acting style. He seems to elicit emotional responses, without seeming to try. All the best acrobatic feats have this effect, and this, I think, is one reason why Kurosawa is a great director. Mifune has an intensely charismatic presence: you feel he really gives of himself in every performance. Actors today who remind me of him are Tony Leung ("In the Mood for Love") and Christian Bale. This probably isn't his best showcase, though: check out "The Seven Samurai" and "Yojimbo", among his best.In "The Bad Sleep Well", Nishi seeks revenge for his father's 'suicide'. Hiding behind thick horn-rimmed glasses and a formal, reserved image, he mercilessly hunts down the 'Corporation' leaders responsible, and no target is too great, or price too high, to pay. Apparently this takes the 'Hamlet' model for its story, but I don't really care about that. Any story, however old and continually retold, can be invigorated by an entirely new, and skillful perspective.The wedding scene is absolutely extraordinary; the way the tension is slowly ramped up, the vague (and not so vague) feelings of unease, the differing perspectives on it, the silence. In such a charged atmosphere, the smallest detail – the bride, who limps and has to wear a specially raised shoe, stumbles, and the groom is notably not the first to rush to assist her – takes on significance and high drama. The journalists who crowd the edges of the scene act like a Greek chorus, with their sardonic comments about the proceedings.The other amazing scene, showing skillful use of sound, is when Nishi forces a worker who was ordered to commit suicide to watch his own funeral, and to listen to a recording of his callous bosses in a nightclub. The louche bossa nova plays swooningly out over scenes of the man's wife and daughter at the ceremony, seen through a car window, bowing repeatedly as a succession of mourners pay tribute. The chanting of the monks can be heard in the background, and at the moment when his bosses are before him, bowing to his family, their heartless voices can be heard on the nightclub recording. The man's desperation at the climax of this scene is very moving. It's masterfully done. All Kurosawa's films, but particularly "High and Low", exhibit his extraordinary use of sound, music and dialogue. The savage, dismal end of the film – and the bomb-devastated surroundings – seem to reflect strongly the sense of moral dismay, of waste and shame and corruption.Don't get caught up – or put off - by the whole 'great director' thing; likewise, don't let the subtitles or that it's black and white make you glassy-eyed. If you can strip your mind of the need for modern day filmic tics, you'll find this an engrossing and intelligent drama.