Stray Dog (film)

Stray Dog (野良犬, Nora inu) is a 1949 Japanese crime drama film noir directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. It was Kurosawa's second film of 1949 produced by Film Art Association and released by Shintoho. It is also received as a detective movie (among the first of Japanese films in that genre)[2] that explores the mood of Japan during its painful postwar recovery. The film is considered a precursor to the contemporary police procedural and buddy cop film genres.[3]

For the 1991 film by Mamoru Oshii, see Stray Dog: Kerberos Panzer Cops.
Stray Dog
Directed byAkira Kurosawa
Produced bySojiro Motoki[1]
Screenplay by
Starring
Music byFumio Hayasaka[1]
CinematographyAsakazu Nakai[1]
Production
companies
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • 17 October 1949 (1949-10-17) (Japan)
Running time
122 minutes[1]
CountryJapan

Plot

The film takes place during a heatwave in the middle of summer in post-war Tokyo. Rookie homicide detective Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) has his Colt pistol stolen in a crowded trolley ride. He chases the pickpocket, but loses him. Remorsefully, Murakami reports the theft at headquarters. After some preliminary investigation, he then goes undercover in the city's backstreets for days, trying to infiltrate the illicit arms market. Murakami eventually picks up the trail of a gun racket.

Forensics discover that Murakami's stolen gun was used in a recent crime, and he is partnered up with the veteran detective Satō (Takashi Shimura). After questioning a suspect, Murakami and Satō get a tip that their culprit may be a fan of baseball. They stake-out a local high-attendance baseball game looking for a gun dealer named Honda. When they confront Honda, he points them to Yusa, a disenchanted war veteran who has resorted to desperate crime. They investigate Yusa's sister's house and his sweetheart, showgirl Harumi Namiki (Keiko Awaji), which does not lead to immediate leads.

Murakami's gun is used again in a crime, this time as a murder weapon. They continue to 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 hoping that Namiki's mother can persuade her to begin cooperating. Satō comes across a hotel, Yusa's most recent hideout. He places a call for Murakami, but, just as he is about to reveal Yusa's location, the criminal (having overheard the hotel owners mention Satō being a cop) tries to shoot Satō dead in the hotel phone booth before he makes a run for it. Satō, though badly wounded, tries to give chase but passes out from blood loss and is left for dead. A desperate Murakami arrives at the hospital to donate blood but is distraught when there is no word from the doctors if Satō will survive.

The following morning, Namiki has a change of heart and informs Murakami that she had an appointment with Yusa at a train station nearby. Murakami races to the station and confronts a man based on his age, muddy clothes, and left-handedness, three tips he has collected over the past few days. Yusa is flustered by the unexpected confrontation and tries to flee. Murakami pursues him into a forest and is shot in the arm, but Yusa wastes his last two remaining bullets. Murakami, in spite of his injury, still manages to wrestle Yusa down, handcuff him, and take him into custody. Days later back at the hospital, Satō has recovered and congratulates Murakami on receiving his first citation. Murakami briefly sympathizes with Yusa's situation, until Satō tells him to forget about it and to get ready for the cases that he will need to solve in the future.

Cast

Production
Stray Dog contains elements associated with film noir and was a precursor to the buddy cop film genre.

Kurosawa mentioned in several interviews that his script was inspired by Jules Dassin’s The Naked City and the works of Georges Simenon.[4] Despite being one of Akira Kurosawa's most critically renowned postwar films, Stray Dog was not always held in such high regard by the director himself. Kurosawa initially said that he thought little of the film, calling it "too technical" and also remarking that it contains "all that technique and not one real thought in it." His attitude had changed by 1982, when he wrote in his autobiography that "no shooting ever went as smoothly," and that "the excellent pace of the shooting and the good feeling of the crew can be sensed in the finished film."[5]

Release

Stray Dog was distributed theatrically by Toho in Japan on 17 October 1949.[6] The film received a theatrical release in the United States by Toho International with English subtitles on August 31, 1963.[6]

Reception

Stray Dog holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 7.42/10.[7] At the 1950 Mainichi Film Concours it won awards for Best Actor (Takashi Shimura), Best Film Score (Fumio Hayasaka), Best Cinematography (Asakazu Nakai) and Best Art Direction (Sō Matsuyama).[1][6] The film was included on Kinema Junpo's "Best Ten" of the year at third place.[6]

Remake

The film was remade in 1973 as Nora inu for Shochiku.[6] It was remade for television in 2013.[8]

References
  1. Galbraith IV 2008, p. 73.
  2. Broe, Dennis (2014). Class, Crime and International Film Noir: Globalizing America's Dark Art. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 162–67. ISBN 978-1137290137. Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  3. "FilmInt". Film International. Sweden: Kulturrådet. 4 (1–6): 163. 2006. Retrieved 28 April 2012. In addition to being a masterful precursor to the buddy cop movies and police procedurals popular today, Stray Dog is also a complex genre film that examines the plight of soldiers returning home to post-war Japan.
  4. "DVD Review of Stray Dog by Gary Morris". imagesjournal.com. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
  5. "Stray Dog: Kurosawa Comes of Age". criterion.com. Retrieved 2011-10-12.
  6. Galbraith IV 2008, p. 74.
  7. "Stray Dog (Nora inu) (1963)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  8. "Nora inu". Archived from the original on January 14, 2013.

Sources
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.
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