STRAY DOG (1949)

Inspired by a true event, Jules Dassin's THE NAKED CITY and the writings of Georges Simenon (and maybe even De Sica's BICYCLE THIEVES), STRAY DOG is the story of a rookie homicide detective (Toshiro Mifune) who's gun is pickpocketed one hot summer day on a crowded bus.  He almost immediately realizes what happen and chases the criminal, but the man gets away.  Mifune becomes obsessed with getting his gun back and then riddled with guilt when the gun is used in random crimes.  Mifune's boss teams him up with veteran detective Takashi Shimura to locate the gun and stop the rabid dog that is using it in a one-man crime spree.

STRAY DOG is an interesting film.  It's pretty cool seeing Kurosawa's take on the police procedural film noir genre (my favorite is still T-MEN), but STRAY DOG is simply too long (the black market montage and the interview scenes towards the end should have been trimmed down) and the script is clumsy at times.  Most notably...the borrowed gun moment was totally unneeded.  That said, it's still a good film that's definitely worth a viewing.  Good acting, fair script, nice cinematography, runtime that's probably around 20 minutes too long, a young Isao Kimura.  Also, this is the first of nine writing collaborations between Akira Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima.  Eleven, if you count TORA! TORA! TORA! and RUNAWAY TRAIN.

DRUNKEN ANGEL (1948)

DRUNKEN ANGEL is considered by many to be Kurosawa's "first picture" and I whole-heartedly agree.  To me, it's the first to have that complete Kurosawa feel to it.  It's also the first of 16 collaborations between Mifune and Kurosawa.  Akira's opinion on the matter: "In this picture I was finally myself.  It was my picture.  I was doing it and no one else."

The story takes place in a large city, but all of the events happen in a slum neighborhood surrounding a large foul-looking pond.  Perhaps it's a crater from the war.  Whatever it's origins, it's now a filth-filled hole full of garbage.  The water looks black and something is slowly bubbling up from underneath.  Around this disgusting cancer live thousands of people.  All going about their lives as best they can.  One such person is a doctor (played brilliantly by Takashi Shimura).  He's an alcoholic, but truly cares about people.  A drunken angel.  One night a local gangster (Toshiro Mifune) comes to him for help.  He says he has a nail in his hand.  Shimura pulls out a bullet.  From this meeting blossoms a unlikely friendship.  Shimura tells Mifune to take it easy since he believes that Mifune has tuberculosis.  At first he does, but when some gangster business comes up Mifune falls back into his old ways of partying hard and fighting hard.

There's not much action in DRUNKEN ANGEL, it mainly has to do with the characterizations and the daily lives of Mifune, Shimura and the people in their lives.  I've read about some people disliking Mifune's surreal dream scene, but I thought it was brilliant.  Reminded me a little of the main characters nightmare in LOS OLVIDADOS.

It's not a masterpiece, but it is the first of Kurosawa's truly great movies.  Highly recommended.