Drunken Angel

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G L. @RT09869090 May 3 Another good noir as shown on Noir Alley. See more Insomniac X @RT03001349 05/08/2025 Social crime drama succeeds on the strength of its characters. Kurosawa's first pairing of Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura (and first ever film with Mifune) provides a look at the chemistry and personalities that would feature heavily in the rest of his career. Elements from westerns reinforce the film's criticism of American occupation and influence after WWII. See more 11/07/2021 Surprisingly layered and nuanced, this emotional drama about a Yakuza who contracts TB and the doctor trying to help him while dealing with his own disease, is profound on many levels. The title might refer to either the Yakuza or the doctor or both. The tragedy of these characters and their separate but connected struggles is moving to watch and Mifune both crackles with charisma and breaks your heart simultaneously. The atmosphere is cozy, chilly and melancholy but with a constant drive for hope. This is truly a beautiful film. See more william d @acsdoug 01/04/2021 The story is rather weak, but the acting by Mifune and Shimura is excellent. See more 04/05/2020 Not a favorite Kurosawa for me, but visually there's a lot to appreciate. I saw some seminal ideas that would be further developed in Ikiru, such as the bubbling, pestilent swamp in the Tokyo neighborhood where the film is shot. The plot didn't do a lot for me. See more 07/22/2019 Excellent. Shimura, one of my favorite actors, completely fills the lead: a hotheaded, moralizing, committed doctor who either is working in the ghetto because he hit the bottle, or hit the bottle because he chose to work in the ghetto. Mifune would go on to become the bigger star, but here Shimura is the star and i like the different dynamic between them. There are a few hackneyed moments, but Kurosawa's full-throated thrashing of mobsters is so refreshing, after their stupid elevation in American cinema. See more Read all reviews

Drunken Angel

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