Nora inu (1949)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Ryûzô Kikushima (writer)
Akira Kurosawa (writer)

Release Date:

31 August 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Plot:

During a sweltering summer, a rookie homicide detective tries to track down his stolen Colt pistol.

Plot Keywords:

Bus | Police | Dress | Negative Atmosphere | Police Surveillance

Awards:

4 wins

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Det. Murakami
Takashi Shimura	...	Det. Sato
Keiko Awaji	...	Harumi Namaki, showgirl
Eiko Miyoshi	...	Harumi's mother
Noriko Sengoku	...	Girl
Noriko Honma	...	Wooden Tub Shop woman (as Fumiko Honma)
Reikichi Kawamura
Eijirô Tôno
Yasushi Nagata		(as Kiyoshi Nagata)
Katsuhei Matsumoto
Isao Kimura	...	Yusa
Minoru Chiaki	...	Girlie Show director
Teruko Kishi
Ichirô Sugai	...	Yayoi Hotel owner
Gen Shimizu	...	Police Inspector Nakajima

Also Known As:

Stray Dog (USA)

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-12 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Japan

Company:

Film Art Association

Trivia:

Debut of actor/stuntman Haruo Nakajima.

Quotes:

Det. Sato: A stray dog becomes a mad dog.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Magnum Force (1973)

Soundtrack:

Barcarolle

Akira Kurosawa on the verge of greatness.

The following year, 1950, would see Kurosawa achieve his first major international success with the masterpiece Rashomon. Here, Kurosawa doesn't quite have the sureness of touch which would characterize most of his career, but Stray Dog is nevertheless a fine film noir and an effective exploration of Kurosawa's ideas about postwar Japan in particular and the human condition in general.

As you might expect from such a genius, Kurosawa is not satisfied with a simple good-guys/bad-guys cops-and-robbers story. He explores in depth the social and economic conditions in postwar Japan which led many young people--particularly returning veterans--to take to crime, and also the particular circumstances which motivate the acts of Yusa (Isao Kimura), the criminal. Indeed, a series of mistakes by the hero, rookie detective Murakami (Toshiro Mifune), are one factor behind Yusa's crimes.

But neither is Stray Dog a facile blame-society message film, either. Kurosawa makes no excuses for Yusa. By giving Murakami a very similar history (so similar, in fact, that it comes off as a little contrived), Kurosawa makes the point that Yusa had the same choice as Murakami. That he chose differently is his responsibility.

But even more interesting to me is the character of chief detective Sato (Takashi Shimura), Murakami's superior officer, mentor, and friend.

Sato is the wise elder figure in this film, and in the hands of a lesser artist than Kurosawa, such a character generally ends up as a mouthpiece for the director's own viewpoint. Here, though, Kurosawa permits Sato to espouse a hardcore law-and-order philosophy: The cops are the good guys, the crooks are the bad guys, and that's it. Sato has no patience for Murakami's guilt feelings or touchy-feely philosophizing.

That Kurosawa would permit this view (which is not Kurosawa's view, nor the film's) to be given voice by the film's wisest, kindest, most competent, and most likable character is a mark of his confidence and courage.