Customer Reviews

Drunken Angel [VHS]

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am biased, I'll tell you that up front. Kurosawa is my favorite director. Even if he were not, I would still love this film.
Takashi Shimura (the head samurai in "Seven Samurai") plays an alcoholic doctor in a dumpy urban part of post-war Tokyo. Toshiro Mifune plays a small-time gangster who initially visits the doctor regarding a bullet wound. The doctor discovers that the gangster also has tuberculosis, and stubbornly tries to treat it. I say stubbornly because the gangster tries to act macho about the disease. The two charactors are both so strongly portrayed that the doctor's attempt to treat the disease and the gangster's faked but desperate non-chalance makes their relationship a struggle; at times they actually come to blows over the doctor's persistence. The doctor, I think, sees something of himself in the gangster; someone on the edge of society, someone with flaws, someone with unfulfilled dreams. The doctor wants the gangster to survive, and the gangster desperately wants to survive, but his "toughness" keeps him from admitting that he wants to live.
In any event, my wife and I fall in love with the doctor everytime that we see this film. He is the better angel of our nature, scolding and caring. Watch the film; you too will fall in love with it.

The key to "Drunken Angel" is the two main characters, both flawed and somewhat nobel. Mifune is Matsunaga, a powerful gangster coming to grips with his own weakness. He has tuberculosis. Shimura plays Dr. Sanada, a good hearted doctor who's weakness for alcohol has left him in the lower depths of society. When Mifune arrives to be treated for a gunshot wound, Shimura sees something in him, and attempts to treat him for his TB.

This uneasy friendship, and the balance of the two characters as they get to know each other, is the strength of "Drunken Angel." Both performances are gripping. The plot involving a gang boss released from jail, allows the two characters to develop with each other. The direction is tight and controlled.

This is easily a masterpiece, from one of cinema's greatest directors.

When I first saw this film, it took my breath away. Mifune's performance is absolutely overpowering, and the whole structure and pace of the film is just right. It is one of my favorite of Kurosawa's films, and the fact that it is now finally being released to the public thrills me. It has not been very available and is probably the most underappreciated of Kurosawa's masterpieces.

Drunken Angel is a contemporary tale of the squalor of postwar Japanese society, and of an angel shining his light through the darkness to help those few he can. This film introduces for the first time many themes, symbols, and ideas that recieve their consummate expression in Kurosawa's later films, such as Ikiru, and even beyond, and around which Kurosawa's entire body of work revolves.

We see in the gangster the first lead performance of Toshiro Mifune, one of the greatest actors ever to honor the cinema with his presence, and in the doctor the first truly great performance by Takashi Shimura, the most reliable and talented actor in the Kurosawa group. This role also helps to contribute in subtle ways to his greatest performance, that of Watanabe in Ikiru.

And of Kurosawa himself, what can I say, he has once again left me at a loss for words. The end fight sequence with the mirror and the paint is pure cinematic genius.

So this film is a definite must see, not only for fans of Kurosawa, but for the entire world. It has my highest recommendation.

Filmed only three years after the end of World War II, Kurosawa Akira's Drunken takes place within the filthy confines of shanty town marketplace where a heavily polluted swamp dominates the scenery. Within this black market, gangsters rule through their money and weapons, controlling the flow of alcohol, drugs, and rations. However, even within such a dismal place there are some bright spots, even if that bright spot is an alcoholic, scruffy doctor.

Drunken Angel opens with Matsunaga, Mifune Toshiro, coming to the office of Dr. Sanada. He claims that his hand was accidentally slammed in a door, and when the doctor notices that it is also bleeding, he states that there was also a nail. Dr. Sanada, without using painkillers, digs into the wound with a pair of tweezers and eventually finds a bullet and he eventually cleans the wound up and bandages it. Because he has a cough, Matsunaga asks the doctor to give him some medicine. However, the doctor states that Matsunaga should get himself checked for tuberculosis since his "high lifestyle" leaves him a prime candidate to catch the disease. Dr. Sanada does a halfhearted examination with his stethoscope, it is halfhearted because x-rays are necessary to detect the beginnings of tuberculosis, and he soon discovers a fist-sized hole in Matsunaga's lungs. Matsunaga is angered by the news, but this occurrence soon begins a tenuous friendship between Dr. Sanada and Matsunaga. The often drunk doctor not only wants to save Matsunaga from his tuberculosis, but from the environment in which he lives: as a member of the yakuza he is tied to a feudalistic code of "honor" that ties him to a continuous circle of murder and revenge. However, there is something else as well that the doctor hopes to save Matsunaga from.

After World War II came to a close, The Occupation Forces led by SCAP, Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers controlled basically all forms of media, including books and films. When a new film was beginning production, the producers of the film had to send a short synopsis to the Civil Censorship Detachment which cut certain aspects of the film if it had anti-American sentiments, depicted remnants of World War II, the black market, etc., and encouraged the filmmakers to include such things as the different classes working together, anti-feudalistic ideals, kissing, etc. Kurosawa, often considered one of the most "Western" of filmmakers, was in fact quite against Western ideals, i.e. American, ideals forced on Japan and slowness in which the occupation forces restored Japan to a habitable level. The yakuza in the film are the ones who have truly embraced the West. Matsunaga wears an aloha shirt and sports Western-tailored suits, he drinks Western liquor, and dances to jazz music. The dangerous Okada also quickly embraces Western dress after he is released from prison. The filthy swamp could be seen not only as the result of the devastation caused by World War II, but also as a continuous stagnation of the country as long as the American forces were present.

While often not listed as one of his best films, Drunken Angel marks a deviation from earlier films such as No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) and One Wonderful Sunday (1946) which held closer to the standards and ideals established by SCAP.

Unsentimental, gripping morality tale of Japanese society after WW2. This is a simple story with the sharpness and balance of a finely crafted sword! Mifune and Shimura play off each other beautifully. Who is the drunken angel? We are told it is Shimura. But..... as Donald Richie says in his book on Kurosawa, Mifune is also an angel, though of a darker breed. Vivid images remain with you long after the film is over and respect for all those involved increases with each viewing!

How do you choose to live? Dr. Sanada (Takashi Shimura), a drunk who has made some poor choices, has chosen brusque hope over despair. Matsunaga (Toshiro Mifune) is a tough, handsome yakuza making his choices, too, and it turns out he is afraid of hope.

Sanada, a rough-tongued drunk, is a doctor whose patients are as poor as the Tokyo slum they all live in. He tries as best he can to deal with tuberculosis, which is insidious and deadly. A 17-year-old schoolgirl just may survive because of him. When Matsunaga shows up at Sanada's tiny office with a bullet wound in his hand, Sanada fixes him up and immediately suspects Matsunaga has tuberculosis. That's not a good thing for a yakuza, especially a man like Matsunaga. "That girl who just left has more guts than you'll ever have," Sanada shouts at Matsunaga. "She's looking her illness straight in the eye. You don't have a fraction of her guts. You're still scared of the dark." It gets worse. Sanada eventually persuades Matsunaga to begin treatment. When Matsunaga's old gang boss, a vindictive and cruel man, gets out of prison and takes over again, Matsunaga is drawn back to his earlier choices. As Matsunaga's illness worsens, he's isolated and humiliated, yet the relationship deepens between the young, sick yakuza and the older, wiser doctor,

What does Sanada see in the tough, violent and frightened-of-death Matsunaga...a son there never was?...himself making mistakes when he was younger?...a vulnerable human being who, whatever his crimes and attitudes, requires help?...or just a man he might somehow convince to fight against the odds? "It's not just his lungs that are bad," says Sanada. "It's like he's sick to the core. He acts tough and swaggers around, but in his heart I know he's unbearably lonely. He still has a conscience tormenting him. His heart hasn't frozen over with evil just yet." Sanada is a man who refuses to live life without hope. He can become angry when others try to. Well, Kurosawa is nothing if he isn't a director who deals with big themes. There's quite a bit of emotion that Kurosawa draws forth, and he's fortunate in having two fine actors with which to demonstrate those themes. Takashi Shimura is the heart of the movie. Toshiro Mifune, looking thin, provides the soul that Shimura's Dr. Sanada is fighting for. Drunken Angel, for all the existential humanism (as one critic pompously characterized the movie), ends on a hopeful note: That 17-year-old schoolgirl, a wager won and a piece of candy.

No director always scores 100 per cent with their movies. Kurosawa is no exception. Drunken Angel is heavy handed with the symbolism. The opening music announces with a dirge that this is a serious drama with a capital "S." There are frequent cutaways to close-ups of scum-filled puddles when Kurosawa wants to emphasize a point. There's a nighttime guitar player. For those who may know little of Kurosawa, the English title," Drunken Angel" sounds like it might be a Thirties MGM melodrama with Joan Crawford. It's an awkward title. Still, Drunken Angel is a movie worth seeing. I doubt you'll be unmoved by it.

The Criterion release looks very good. I didn't listen to the commentary, but it's by Donald Richie, the highly respected scholar of Japanese film. There are two extras about Kurosawa.

To see Takashi Shimura at his very best, watch him in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai - 3 Disc Remastered Edition (Criterion Collection Spine # 2) and Ikiru - Criterion Collection. For those interested in lonely Japanese doctors who serve their patients selflessly and with hope, this time fighting hepatitis just before the end of WWII, you might enjoy Dr. Akagi.

Drunken Angel is a significant film in the pantheon of Akira Kurosawa's masterpieces. For one its one of his first major succeses after eight films. Its Kurosawa's first time working with the actor he became most associated with, Toshiro Mifune. And years after the end of WWII its a great film made successfuly under strict allied censorship.

The film itself is a tale involving two men on, a doctor and a young yakuza living in a swampy slum outlying Tokyo. The doctor, the titular Drunken Angel is Sanada who makes a pitiful ammount treating poor residents while mixing tea with pure alcohol (easier to get than bootleg whiskey on the black market). Into his life comes young Matsunaga, the leader of a small group. Matsunaga comes saying that he was injured from a door which left a piece in his hand. Of course when Sanada pulls the piece out it looks suspiciously like a bullet. Then Matsunaga coughs and Sanada becomes concerned that he might have tuberculosis. Matsunaga laughs him off but Sanada won't stop tailing Matsunaga as he grows sicker even though most of their run ins end with him being thrown to the ground or fighting with the younger man. Things get complicated when the original head of the family gets released from prison, who just happens to hold Sanada's nurse under his thumb. Where it goes from there I won't say.

This is simply a great film. After I watched Stray Dog for the first time this was one film I had wanted to see for a long time and it thankfully didn't disappoint me. For one thing there is the humanity that Kurosawa embues in his characters that makes them human and interesting. The great Takashi Shimura who played the leader of the Seven Samurai is excellent as Sanada a little man who fights hard trying to protect peoples health living in the slum surrounded by stagnant swamps. Its an easy character to like especially involving the character of young girl also suffering from TB who's almost healed. Without a doubt though the reason to see this movie is Toshiro Mifune as Matsunaga. In his later work with Kurosawa he mostly played gruffer older men, sly and cunning characters that fit the action. Here Mifune was in his mid-twenties, a brash and impudent young man and it tempers his performance as the young hothead. He's rakish and dismissive but also charming in a way that makes him watchable. On the opposite side of the camera of course Kurosawa holds his own as a writer and a director with little touches here and there to bring his slums to life. Some memorable traits I enjoyed are the musical moments like a night club scene where you can see Matsunaga's relationship with his boss slowly disintegrating. And for the first half of the movie theres a bit with a guitarist outside of the doctors office playing a mournful tune. When the lead gangster shows up people know of his return as he takes the mans guitar and plays his own little song. Its a shame that Kurosawa only worked with Mifune for twenty years but every one of their films together is a terrific piece of entertainment. See this movie to see how it began.

The DVD itself from Criterion is of course worth every penny for any fan of Kurosawa. The image is somewhat scratched in places with visible lines running through the image but compared to other films of the age on DVD it is restored greatly from what it could have been from a lesser company. Theres an audio commentary from noted film historian Donald Richie and two documentaries. One is the usual Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to create ported from Japan which does hold a lot of information on the making of the film. The second titled Kurosawa and the Censor is a documentary produced for the dvd documenting the postwar censorhip filmmakers faced from several agencies set up by the government and military. Its a fascinating piece featuring documents from the period with hand written notes outlining problems. For fans of Japanese films this is an interesting historical feature. All in all the usual well rounded package from Criterion and well worth the price.

The period of time after the end of the Second World War, and the beginning of the great economic miracle for Japan was one that is a mystery to most westerners. Living in the poverty left by the war, crime flourished, the black market thrived, and those "angels" like doctors and other professionals not lost in the war took on a new role, often serving the denizens of TB- and infection-ridden neighborhoods for little pay and nearly no respect. The interplay of Kurasawa's favorite pair (Mifune and Shimura) provides a tense and gripping story of life in a nation desperately trying to pull itself out from the throes of war. Filmed in glorious black and white, it retains much of the stark interest of other postwar films, such as Stray Dog, arguably one of Kurosawa's best.

A Gripping and haunting tale...Drunk Angel shows the various level human spirit can descend, ascend to and then back again. That even in the worst of us there can be some good. A doctor with a drinking problem tries to save a gangster (Toshiro Mifune) from TB and himself. Along the way a warped on and off friendship develops between the two. As the gangster stuggles with TB he also fights with the urge to make a name for himself as well as defend the only people who ever cared for him. As one reviewer puts it.........who really is the drunk angel?" Buy this movie and decide for yourselves. As usual great performance by Toshiro Mifune and a tale to remember by Kurosawa.

the movie is excellent without any traces of the commercialism that splashes the movies of today and makes them appear rehashed and contrived. a beautiful, sad and touching storyline that contributes to the grace of kurosawa's flowing style of filming and brilliantly stark camerawork. toshiro mifune is masterful in his portrayal of a gangster torn apart by the conflict of saving his own life or preserving his image. one of the director's many seminal works- philosophical and charmingly amusing. leaves the viewer wondering, half-ashamed, why so much of the seemingly obvious magic in life explored in this picture remains undiscovered until we look closer and learn to appreciate it. a rainy saturday afternoon kind of film that is both thought-provoking and very entertaining in its portrayal of life in pre-war japan.