Nora inu
Tags: bleak, suspenseful, murder, atmospheric, flashback

Plot synopsis:
The film takes place during a heatwave in post-war Tokyo. Rookie homicide detective Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) has his Colt pistol stolen during a trolley ride. He chases the pickpocket, but loses him. Filled with shame, he reports the theft at headquarters. He prowls the city backstreets undercover for days, looking for suspects and picking up leads. He eventually picks up the trail of a gun racket.
When the stolen gun is used in a crime, Murakami partners up with the veteran detective Satō (Takashi Shimura). After questioning a suspect, Satō and Murakami end up at a baseball game looking for a gun dealer named Honda. He points them to Yusa, a disenchanted war veteran who has resorted to crime. They investigate Yusa's sister's house and his sweetheart, showgirl Harumi Namiki (Keiko Awaji), to no avail.
Murakami's gun is used again, this time as a murder weapon. They question Namiki at her mother's house. She is still reticent to talk, so Satō leaves to investigate Yusa's trail, while Murakami remains behind. Satō comes across Yusa's last hideout. He places a call for Murakami, but, just as he is about to reveal Yusa's location, the criminal makes a run for it. Satō gives chase, but is shot in the rain and left for dead. A desperate Murakami arrives soon enough to donate blood to his friend at the hospital.
The following morning, Namiki has a change of heart and informs Murakami at the hospital that she had an appointment with Yusa at a train station nearby. Murakami races to the meeting and deduces who Yusa is from his mud spattered clothing. He pursues his quarry into a forest and is wounded in the arm, but manages to take Yusa into custody. Back at the hospital, Satō has recovered and congratulates Murakami on his first citation. Murakami reflects on Yusa's plight and on the parallels between him and the criminal. Satō tells him to forget about Yusa and get ready for the cases he will solve in the future.

Review: I have long regarded the 1952 "Ikiru" as his greatest achievement, with the three modern day day films starring Toshiro Mifune that precede it, "Drunken Angel", "The Quiet Duel" and "Stray Dog", fascinating consolidations of his skill as a director.
Music, also is great.Toshiro Mifune, looking young and handsome, is quite marvellous as the central character, a detective whose gun is stolen on a bus.
The suspense and detective-story plot are well developed in Stray Dog, but what really makes the story captivating is the revelation of the central character's feeling of guilt throughout, and his learning about crime, criminals, and that what is important is to make good come of your mistakes..
STRAY DOG stands as the legendary Akira Kurosawa's first real masterpiece, noteworthy for at least two big reasons: the style - classic American film noir (rich, velvety b&w atmospheres), enhanced with a touch of Italian neo-realism (great use of diverse locations, which provide a great view of day-to-day postwar Japan), and the star, a young Toshiro Mifune, whose truly collaborative association with Kurosawa was cemented here, and would grow in spectacular fashion during the subsequent 16 years.
As an example of film noir, STRAY DOG offers plenty of gripping suspense and moral complexity, and holds up well alongside classics like THE BIG HEAT, THE KILLING or THE MALTESE FALCON.
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.
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.
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.
In ravished, Post-War Tokyo, rookie Detective Murakami's (Young Toshiro Mifune) gun is stolen.
The man-hunt is on, while Tokyo goes through a devastating heatwave, and Mifune goes through an equally devastating change ("A Stray Dog sees only what it chases" a detective warns him.) Made well before Akira Kurosawa became famous for "Rashomon", "Stray Dog" is a roaring classic!
Akira Kurosawa's STRAY DOG (English title) is a riveting, poetic vision of a young Tokyo officer (Toshiro Mifune) who's handgun is stolen from him on a bus.
His basic premise is deceptively simple- a nervous but completely professional and slightly worn-down cop, played by a young & trim Toshiro Mifune, gets his gun pick-pocketed on the subway, and he spends at least half of the film on his own looking for it.
Like De Sica, to a degree, Kurosawa uses the post-war streets and real locations (it's not all just Toho this time), and it adds that layer of heightened realism for our main characters on the prowl; in fact one could look at this film as being like the Bicycle Thief (looking for a lost item in the dark places of the city) had it been written with a fair amount less sentiment and more grit.When the suspense comes forth, it's really a knockout, especially when it comes time for he final confrontation with the thief, where it becomes such a struggle that the two are like, well, dogs, very primal as it boils down to the law versus the criminal.
There's a certain sense of time and structure that sets apart Stray Dog from the numerous 'film-noirs' of American cinema of the period- while it contains the kind of determined edge and wit of those films, it also relies on portraying the people in this world as honestly as possible, however downtrodden things are (like Kurosawa's later film High & Low, location adds to the mood greatly).
This early Kurosawa effort floats stylistically somewhere between the film noir and neo-realism, incorporating the best from both worlds to elaborately craft a landscape (both physical and social) of post-war Japan.
War veterans return home to find a country torn by poverty and as the saying goes, desperate conditions demand desperate measures.A very young Toshiro Mifune plays the greenhorn detective who has his gun stolen and spends the rest of the movie trying to track down the culprit.
As it turns out the culprit is a war veteran just like Mifune's character, only where the latter tried to do good and found an honest job, the former opted for the easy way out and became a criminal, using the stolen gun to rob and kill.
What makes matters worse for him is that every time his stolen gun is fired someone dies or gets injured, which adds another burden of guilt on the shoulders of the young detective.The story might appear too moralistic and convenient (both antagonist and protagonist share a common background, being war veterans, making the distinction of good and bad all too easy), but it has to be seen in the context of the times.
Kurosawa here neatly balances the social climate of post-war Japan and the conditions of the times with personal responsibility.Story-wise it's a worthy effort, but like Rashomon, it sounds a little bit better than it actually is.
There's also a silent 10 minute montage of location footage shot in rundown neighborhoods as Sato searches the black market for his gun, which serves as a poignant snapshot of Japanese history.Kurosawa would go on to achieve international acclaim with his next movie, Rashomon, but Stray Dog already shows that he was destined for great things.
And while some moments feel overlong, such as the cop's undercover work, there are nice bits like his dogging a suspect or that suspect's later interrogation by an older and wiser cop.The movie hits high Kurosawa in its fantastic forth.
The gun has seven bullets, and by the end of the film, all of them have been fired.Director Akira Kurosawa delivers a high quality effort in capturing a tense atmosphere and stifling Tokyo heat.
As usual, Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura once again gave great performances as the main characters in the movie.Highly recommended for Kurosawa fans as well as fans of crime films in general.7/10.
Finally, my drought has been broken, as I sat down last night to enjoy 'Nora inu / Stray Dog (1949).' A police procedural in the classic film-noir tradition, the film stars Kurosawa-regular Toshirô Mifune as a young homicide detective whose firearm is pick-pocketed while on a bus.
Though it is not quite the masterpiece I had {probably unreasonably} been anticipating, I can only promise that my first Kurosawa will certainly not be my last.Surprisingly, 'Stray Dog' is similar in many regards to Vittorio De Sica's neorealist masterpiece 'The Bicycle Thief (1948).' Both films concern a disillusioned man's seemingly-futile search for an essential stolen object, in a city of poor and pitiable individuals, where, in the aftermath of World War Two, widespread economic difficulties have forced many towards a life of crime.
In the story's climactic chase sequence, the two men tussle violently in the undergrowth, their faces becoming coated in a layer of mud; for a decisive few moments, detective and criminal are practically indistinguishable from each other.One component of film-making that Kurosawa had evidently mastered by 1949 was creating intensity, and, in many ways, 'Stray Dog' is simply discomforting to watch.
STRAY DOG is a relatively early crime film in the career of Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa.
What really drives this steady progression of overwhelming heat is the simple act in the beginning of the film of Det. Murakami's (Toshiro Mifune) pistol being stolen, triggering an intense and labouring journey through the city, where every moment in which the gun is clutched in the hands of a criminal, and every time it's used for some crime, the anxiety is increased immeasurably.
Kurosawa loved the master/pupil dynamic, and this is employed brilliantly in the police procedural format, so as the two detectives scour the city through blood and sweat, dirt and shimmering heat, from a Baseball game to a Burlesque show, getting closer to the man with the gun, the final confrontation itself rests purely on the shoulders of Mifune, in what is a beautiful unburdening of all that accumulated tension.
What is special about Stray Dog is the story, in the action you feel the summer heat and Mifune's self-loathing, but emphasis is cleverly put on the goodness of ordinary people and the world's beauty.
I remember Ali and his sister Zahra, in permanent anxiety about the tennis shoes worn they share.And behold, with its immense sensitivity to the common people and humanistic lyricism that flowed constantly, also the master Akira Kurosawa was busy making a film where, for a rookie detective, your weapon becomes endowment constant goal, when it was stolen on a bus.
Stray Dog is the other detective noir film by Kurosawa along with High and Low. In this film a rookie homicide detective has his gun stolen which leads to a string of crimes each more violent than the previous.
Stray Dog together with Rashomon are the two films that boosted Kurosawa into international popularity as a great filmmaker.Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) is a young police detective.
In particular, there are portraits of two women from the sleazy underworld that stand out - he really lavishes attention on them and it does the film the world of good because the cops have long become tiresome.The weather is close and the tension is building (way too much mopping of the brow from Shimura) - an old trick to build atmosphere, but it does provide the opportunity for several climactic scenes that run concurrently as the storm breaks.The story is worthless, but watch it for the technique..
As one might have expected, it's also happened in the case of Stray Dog. Although the picture is greatly influenced by the western noir genre and it looks but that way, it clearly possess this mesmerizing Japanese touch, making it even more astounding and provoking than many classic American crime pictures.
What's fascinating about Stray Dog is the fact that it starts with such a seemingly trivial matter like a stolen gun, but proceeds to develop a mostly riveting intrigue filled with unnecessary murder and deep obsession.The storyline closely follows Detective Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) who – along with Detective Sato (Takashi Shimura) – embarks on a dangerous journey in order to find his precious Colt.
Apart from creating a visually stunning masterpiece and a truly compelling detective story, Kurosawa also skillfully persuaded the audience that behind most violent acts hides a purpose, even when it all seems like the work of a titular stray dog.
They're on the hunt for a killer who has, by various means and routes, gotten hold of Mifune's gun, pick-pocketed from him on a bus.That stray dog could also possibly be seen as the desperate cop trying to pick up on any lead possible, walking miles in the heat, his sweated, frustrated brow superimposed onto shots of a bustling postwar Tokyo.I watched this from the BFI's very nice Kurosawa Crime Collection and is an early Kurosawa, from 1949.
Like many others, my first Kurosawa film was "The Seven Samurai." I enjoyed his films, but until watching Stray Dog I thought that his work all took place in feudal Japan.
This was one of Kurosawa's first films and was set in modern Japan.Kurosawa regular Toshiro Mifune plays a rookie police officer whose gun is stolen on a hot summer day.
From there, he an a veteran detective track down his gun as it is used to commit armed robberies and a murder.The focal point of this film is really Mifune's character.
I really liked him in Stray Dog because, in the way he smoothly extracts information from shady characters and efficiently makes use of his time and effort, he is the perfect contrast to Mifune, who lashes out in all directions to recover his stolen gun.
So you know Kurosawa is into more, he's a filmmaker who announces at the beginning of his film, though his narrator, that this story is set during a heat wave, and who will remark you that all the time and even occupy like 3 minutes to simply show that (that scene when we see the dancers sweat).
Stray Dog. Stray Dog (1949) *** (out of 4) Kurosawa's film noir about a rookie detective (Toshiro Mifune) who suffers great humiliation after a pickpocket steals his gun.
I just finished watching the Criterion edition of Akira Kurosawa's "Stray Dog," and I honestly cannot think of a better thing to say than, "Oh, my God!" This movie, clocking in at just over two hours, so mesmerized me with its story, naturalistic acting and technique, I honestly did not notice the time.
One of his earlier efforts, Stray Dog is nevertheless a masterful weaving of what we would come to expect from a film by the Japanese Maestro.The legendary Toshiro Mifune stars as a police detective who gets his gun stolen on a crowded city bus.
A detective whose gun is stolen; he sets out on an odyssey to reclaim his weapon, and to seek out a killer.Not Kurosawas best but here you see a young Toshiro Mifune acts great.I must say that this film has aged a bit and overall it´s not perfect but still very exciting and the acting is superb.4,5 out of 5.
Fearing for his job, and fuelled by embarrassment he sets out to find his pistol, which has been used in two crimes by the thief, in Tokyo during a sweltering heatwave...Kurosawa's western influences are as clear as ever in Stray Dog, as for all intents and purposes it plays like a conventional American police story.
The symmetry of the shot creates a parallel between the two characters which is further explored in the rest of the movie, revealing that the two men are of the same kind.The acting is wonderful, Takashi Shimura does a great job in portraying his veteran/mentor character and a young Mifune does a great job in showing Murukami's shame and lack of self confidence.It's a shame the quality of the picture isn't as good as other black and white films but the movie's from 1949 so you can't really blame Kurosawa.
Turns out the criminal is of the same generation as Mifune, a veteran like Mifune, and they have simply taken different paths in the squalor and chaos (meticulously depicted) of postwar Japan.Mifune ends up seconding a wily veteran cop on the case (Takashi Shimura, who played Mifune's doctor/mentor in the star's first film for Kurosawa, "Drunken Angel"), and a series of mounting climaxes follows.
This is one of those times when a sensibility profoundly Japanese (the young cop's sense of personal responsibility and shame) figures in a Kurosawa film, and yet we westerners are able to identify strongly with it -- even as Shimura and the partners' superiors act as voices of reason and experience, and tell Mifune at every turn that it's useless, no matter what the circumstances, to blame anyone but the fugitive.The gun had seven bullets when it was stolen, and the movie makes Mifune (and us) conscious of the remaining number after each occasion the gun is used.
Stray Dog is directed by Akira Kurosawa, is written by Kurosawa and Ryuzo Kikushima,has music by Fumio Hayasaka and stars Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura.During a heatwave young detective Murakami(Toshiro Mifune)is devastated when his police gun is stolen while he is on a bus.
Kurosawa's 'film noir' about a rookie police officer (Toshiro Mifune) who loses his gun, and then endures shame and guilt as it's used in robberies and murder while he tries to track it down with a more seasoned officer (Takashi Shimura).
Take the untouchables like "Rashomon", "Ran", "The Seven Samurai", "Yojinbo" or "Ikiru", then consider "Sanjuro", "Kagemusha", "Throne of Blood", "Red-Beard", and when you explore with more depth the Master's oeuvre, you find some great movies, hardly mentioned by the critics or discussed by the fans, underrated gems such as "The Bad Sleep Well", "The Idiot", "I Live in Fear", "Scandal", the epitaphic "Madadayo" and the movie I will review now, "Stray Dog"."Stray Dog" is probably the ancestor of the buddy cop and it features the greatest tandem one could dream of in a Kurosawa film, a youngish and quite handsome looking Toshiro Mifune as the rookie Detective homicide cop Murakami, and Takashi Shimura as Sato, the veteran cop.
In addition to these basic film noir elements, Stray Dog deals with common themes for Kurosawa, honor, morality and responsibility.A gun, colt has been pick pocketed from a new policeman, Murakami (Toshiro Mifune).
However, unlike Kurosawa's greater films (Dodes'ka-den and Rashomon), Stray Dog still feels like a young man's work.
Shot in black and white, it tells the story of a young detective in post-war Japan, who gets his gun stolen.
But then again, this film is not about Japan's post-war-era of reconstruction.) During a sweltering summer heatwave, a pistol belonging to young Detective Murakami (a young Toshiro Mifune, one of Kurosawa's cinematic regulars) is stolen by a pickpocket while riding on a crowded city bus one day.
During this time, he is also partnered up with an older, more experienced homicide detective, Sato (Takashi Shimura, another Kurosawa regular, most famous for "Ikiru" and "Seven Samurai," perhaps), to nab Yusa, the so-called "stray dog" of the title.
With the assistance of veteran cop, Detective Sato (Takashi Shimura), Murakami delves into the seamy underworld of black market dealers and desperate criminals in a race against time to recover the weapon.Made before Kurosawa's famed Rashomon, STRAY DOG is a noir-style examination of responsibility and the chain of destruction and harm generated by the material cause of one moments inattention.
This film is a must see for fans of kurosawa, mifune, noir, or detective procedurals.