Past Movie Squad reviewer Paul Grace wrote a recommendation of Drunken Angel (1948) for an old issue of the VHS Tracking zine. Directed by Akira Kurosawa, I only realised after I had watched it that it was his first collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune. While he’s always been a handsome, attractive man to me, Mifune is damn sexy here (more so in the early part of the movie) as a young, sharply dressed Yakuza gangster. Set in a poor urban area of Japan, Takashi Shimura plays Sanada, an alcoholic, grouchy yet skilled doctor who treats Matsunaga (Mifune) one night, stitching up a wound on his hand. Yet Sanada also finds that Matsunaga has Tuberculosis, a common ailment in the poor living conditions, and a cantankerous relationship between them develops. One visits the other and things keep derailing into arguments and outbursts; Sanada wants to help Matsunaga at the same time as saving him from his Yakuza lifestyle – Matsunaga is scared enough that he kind of wants to be helped despite his ego and pride. There is masterful framing of the two characters in two-person shots and their shifting dynamic. The tension is also heightened with the return of a nasty Yakuza gangster from prison, Okada (Reisaburo Yamamoto), Matsunaga’s boss who is also looking for his old girlfriend that he abused and tormented from years ago – coincidentally, Sanada’s nurse and assistant Miyo (Chieko Nakakita). On one hand, Drunken Angel is a film noir and a yakuza drama, but it is also a medical melodrama and a human story. Brilliant black and white cinematography and imagery, subtly commenting on the post-war state of occupied Japan. For example, the opening shot of a swampy puddle of street water is beautifully framed and becomes layered with symbolic meanings as it reoccurs throughout the movie. Atmospheric setting and unique character choices, particularly the background character who comes out to play his guitar at night, which soundtracks a few key scenes. Really glad I sought this one out: Shimura and Mifune give wonderful performances. Available to stream on Criterion Channel. Recommended.
VHS Tracking 