Drunken Angel (1948) Review - Dylan McCully

Written by Dylan McCully, 10/14/22

Dylan McCully's Cinema: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls521125877/

While it may seem quaint compared to Kurosawa's other collaborations with the legendary Toshiro Mifune, it still holds a special place in Japanese cinema. The "Drunken Angel" is a doctor, Sanada, who is played by Takashi Shimura. Shimura is in more of Kurosawa's films than Mifune, but rarely gets roles with as much depth. That being said, Shimura always puts heart into his characters, even if they are minor. Thankfully, Shimura is one of the leads here and is an alcoholic who is helping Mifune's Yakuza character Matsunaga with tuberculosis.

Sanada convinces Matsunaga to give up his playboy lifestyle until some of the members from his gang get involved. Without spoiling, it's a more down to earth story than the epics that Kurosawa is known for, and is watered down a bit from the US government. At the time of filming, Japan was recently occupied by the US following a minor conflict known as World War II, which meant that Japanese films had to adhere to the code that was in place in America at the time. (There are still some sly shots taken at America.) My favorite scenes in the film are at the end of the second act when Matsunaga is at his lowest - he passes out because he went back to his old ways, realizes his sworn brother, Akira, and the entire Yakuza are planning to kill him and take back his territory. Through this, though, he gets a heroic moment when he sticks up for Sanada. The third act has some exciting moments which I won't reveal, and a more upbeat ending that was demanded by the US motion picture code.

Is it as great as some of the later works from Kurosawa? No. But it's a well crafted story nonetheless - a director on the verge of becoming a true master. 6.5/10

Kurosawa Ranking: 1. Drunken Angel (1948) - 6.5/10