After working for studios and making conventional and by-the-book films, Akira Kurosawa finally gets to do his own thing with Drunken Angel, a film widely recognized as his first significant cinematic achievement in a five-decade distinguished career. It also marks the beginning of sixteen collaborations between Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, one of cinema’s greatest actor-director duos.
In postwar Tokyo, a Yakuza thug, Matsunaga (Toshiro Mifune), seeks the assistance of an alcoholic doctor, Dr. Sanada (Takashi Shimura), to remove a bullet from his hand as a result of a gang fight. Looking at Matsunaga’s condition, Sanada correctly diagnoses him with tuberculosis. However, Matsunaga refuses to acknowledge and deal with his illness due to the fear of appearing weak. It is only after Sanada’s continuous pestering that he eventually decides to give up smoking, drinking, and womanizing and allow the doctor to take care of him. Things get complicated when Matsunaga’s ex-boss and sworn brother, Okada (Reisaburo Yamamoto), who is also the abusive ex-boyfriend of Sanada’s female assistant, Miyo (Chieko Nakakita), is freed from prison. Matsunaga succumbs to peer pressure and resumes drinking, badly impairing his health. Adding insult to injury, Okada wishes to reinstate his control in the area, which Matsunaga has been running in his absence. Additionally, Matsunaga learns that the syndicate boss plans to sacrifice him in a war with the rival syndicate. To make matters worse, Okada wants Miyo back, but Sanada is against it, so he threatens to kill him. As a result, Matsunaga chooses to confront Okada to protect the only person who cares about him and is worried for his well-being.
On the surface, Drunken Angel appears to be about an unorthodox relationship between an alcoholic doctor and a violent mobster, but the multi-layered characters and social critique of postwar Japan give the film depth and emotional resonance. Kurosawa deftly blends elements of neo-realism—emphasis on depicting economic depravity, sympathy for its characters, and filming on location—with those of American noir—the high contrast lighting, the anti-hero protagonist, and the postwar disillusionment.
The film’s first half focuses on establishing Sanada and Matsunaga’s relationship, which is, to put it mildly, tumultuous, with most of their encounters ending in physical altercations, while the second half delves into the crime genre, particularly following Okada’s arrival. Furthermore, the film’s world is expertly built by Kurosawa; central to it is a cesspool, which the camera returns to several times throughout the film. Symbolically, this cesspool—a disease-infested marsh with filth and suspicious substances bubbling to the surface—represents the devastated landscape and the Japanese spirit, which has sunk to an all-time low following World War II, with many turning to crime and corruption for survival and the country as a whole having collapsed socially, culturally, and institutionally.
Among the film’s unique attributes is Kurosawa’s compassionate portrayal of Sanada and Matsunaga, the film’s lead characters, as complex individuals with nuanced personalities. Sanada is socially conscious and a good person with a genuine desire to help others, but he is also a heavy drinker, which may be a way to numb himself to the misery and sorrow he sees around him. He despises Yakuzas, calling them the scum of the earth, and believes that “Yakuza power is nothing but a myth; they’re just good at scaring people.” He is also frustrated and exhausted by the Japanese mentality of making sacrifices for stupid things, as demonstrated through the character of Miyo, Okada’s ex-mistress and a victim of abuse, who feels compelled to return to him upon his release from prison, even though knowing that she will be subjected to his torture and abuse once again.
Then there’s Matsunaga, a violent gangster diagnosed with tuberculosis. Kurosawa deftly employs Matsunaga’s situation to illustrate the problematic mindset of the people and the society as a whole. Matsunaga refuses to acknowledge his illness for fear of the repercussions on his social standing and peer group, as keeping his issues hidden and putting on a strong facade is what he perceives as courageous, but Sanada rejects that notion and thinks that running away from confronting one’s problems head-on is an act of cowardice.
Whenever Sanada and Matsunaga are in the same frame, the screen comes alive with their electric chemistry. Despite their rocky and unpredictable relationship, Sanada still wants to help a thug like Matsunaga and goes to great lengths to ensure he gets better. This is likely due to the fact that Sanada sees a bit of himself in the young man and believes that, despite his crooked front, Matsunaga is a good man at heart. On the other hand, despite walking out several times, Matsunaga keeps coming to Sanada because he views the doctor as a father figure who cares for him—something he has seldom experienced. Both these flawed characters are desperately trying to reform themselves but are having difficulty doing so.
The film’s devastating climactic knife battle climax is expertly handled, capturing the protagonists’ sense of urgency and desperation. It was easily among Kurosawa’s most accomplished and visually compelling action sequences at that point in his career. However, through the story of a young girl who is Sanada’s patient, Kurosawa decides to end the film on a hopeful note by conveying that obstacles can be overcome in these difficult times with enough willpower and perseverance.
Kurosawa regular Takashi Shimura delivers a stellar performance as the titular character, deftly navigating the complexities of a stressed-out doctor battling alcoholism while attempting to aid Japan’s poor people. However, the performance that truly stands out here belongs to Toshiro Mifune, whose portrayal of Matsunaga marked a turning point in his career and ultimately elevated him to the status of one of the most revered stars in the world. Mifune’s ability to physically portray the degeneration of his mind and body is the most striking feature of his performance.
Drunken Angel movie links: Letterboxd, Wikipedia
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