Recommended. Throughout his distinguished career, Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon) mixed several very noir crime dramas among the many samurai fables and remakes of Shakespeare for which he is better known. Having said that, some of the samurai code, particularly as channeled by the rōnin, or masterless warrior, is essential to the ethics of the Chandler/Hammett hard-boiled detective. Of course, the rōnin is also thought to have evolved into the yakuza. Into this dark alley, steps The Bad Sleep Well, featuring Kurasawa’s usual suspects. Toshirô Mifune (Seven Samurai), seeks vengeance for his murdered father. Pop worked for corrupt land developers, Masayuki Mori (Rashomon) and Takashi Shimura (Stray Dog). My favorite character is Kô Nishimura (Yojimbo) horribly disfigured by guilt over the course of the story . . . much like the rotting corpse of Griffin Dunne in An American Werewolf In London. My only complaint is the ending, which seems realistic but dramatically unsatisfying.
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