web - The Sleeping Beast Within 1
The Sleeping Beast Within (1960)

The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present

The Sleeping Beast Within

Seijun Suzuki | Japan | 1960 | Unclassified (15+)
Film

When

Wed 30 Jul 2025

See below for additional related events

Drawing inspiration from Hitchcock and the nouvelle vague, Suzuki delves into the gritty reality of life in post-war Japan in this murder mystery that sees a newspaper reporter enter the heart of the Japanese underworld as he searches for his girlfriend’s missing father.

Equally paranoid and thrilling, this key early work in the director’s career is a fascinating amalgamation of the Japanese and American influences that Suzuki would draw on and refine throughout his filmography. With Kazuko Yoshiyuki and regular Kurosawa actor, Ko Nishimura.

35mm print courtesy of the Japan Foundation.

Format: 35mm
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Source: Japan Foundation
Courtesy: Japan Foundation
Runtime: 86 mins

Event duration

86 mins

Rating

Unclassified (15+)

Where

Cinema 1, Level 2
ACMI, Fed Square

Plan your visit

Membership options

Mini membership
(3 consecutive weeks)
$30.5–36

Annual memberships
$174–325

See full options

More films screening in this program

There are no upcoming related events at this time.

About Melbourne Cinémathèque

Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.

Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven. 

Learn more | View the 2025 program | See membership options

Melbourne Cinémathèque - Dirk Bogarde in a still from Victim

Join our newsletter

Get updates on the latest news, exhibitions, programs, special offers and more.

You might also like