STRAY DOG (1949)

[rra]

STRAY DOG (1949) - ****1/2

The movie opens on an exausted dog on the street, suffering under the hot sun and endlessly panting. Yet as much as we like dirty mutts, its got the look of desperation in its eyes, and not of the good kind. Michael Vick probably owned him at one point.

This is the allegory for what is to come in Akira Kurosawa's STRAY DOG, a very underrated film-noir that had the misfortune of being obscured by the greater later works of a master filmmaker this side of Stanley Kubrick's PATHS OF GLORY.

Since this is film-noir, you have a tale about very desperate people trapped in a narrowing scheme set against the backdrop of an urban hell. STRAY DOG was produced in the great cinema era of the film-noir, except its a very fascinating and gripping Japanese take on the genre.

Like many film-noir tales go, the premise is rather simple. Toshiro Mifune is a rookie cop who gets his Colt pistol stolen by a pickpocket, and the hero spends the whole movie scouring the streets of Tokyo to retrieve his piece. But beyond the really good police procedural in STRAY DOG is Kurosawa's dramatic exploration of post-war Japan.

Endless streets are cluttered with rubble and bombed-out homes, with civilians trying to grind out a survival a few years after the conclusion of World War 2. Even a senior police officer is lucky to simply have the remains of what was his house be cleaned up of debris. The back alleys of this very crowded city are full of a several seedy characters willing to capitalize on the despair of so many people.

Yet the thematic punch that makes STRAY DOG a great movie is its humanity. The greenhorn constable hero searches day and night to retrieve the gun back, and he gets heavily depressed when his piece becomes involved in several horrendous crimes.

STRAY DOG is a guilt drama that one would expect from a Martin Scorsese or an Abel Ferrera, not out of the stereotypically solemn Japanese. Without any obvious religion, its a surprisingly Catholic picture.

A brilliant touch though by Kurosawa is when the hero is on the trail of the culprit, who actually remains faceless until a key moment in the climax. Until then, the only information we get of said criminal is intel squeezed out of interrogation and clues.

Witnesses and associates talk about this "stray dog," we imagine these scenes very lividly. A hack director would have actually shot them, but Kurosawa knew that he didn't need to. The audience will create the scenes for him.

Yet when the finale arrives, and Mifune confronts the crook, we realize that these men are of the same generation that went off to war, came back to a humiliating occupation, and either controlled their bitter anger or indulged within it. Mifune is practically facing off against a mirror image, an alternative reality of himself, minus the stupid evil goatee.

Yet as they lay exausted in the grass, a new generation of kids play off in the distance, an aeon that won't know of the demons that made these men suffer or prevail in spite of them.

NOTE: You can watch this movie on its Criterion DVD edition, or watch it for free, since its a public domain title. Its absolutely worth watching. www.archive.org/details/Nora_inu

Coming Soon.....Is $12 million worth seeing implants?

[rra]

For boards with quite a few Kurosawa fans, I wonder how many of you have seen STRAY DOG.

[REDUNBECK~!]

Haven't seen Stray Dog yet. Have seen Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Kagemusha, and RAN. The first two were enjoyable, but not really all that great. Kagemusha and, especially, RAN are essential masterpieces for anyone who's interested in cinema, Japanese or otherwise. Phenomenal works.

[rra]

csm126 said:

Haven't seen Stray Dog yet. Have seen Sanjuro, Yojimbo, Kagemusha, and RAN. The first two were enjoyable, but not really all that great. Kagemusha and, especially, RAN are essential masterpieces for anyone who's interested in cinema, Japanese or otherwise. Phenomenal works.

I agree with you on KAGEMUSHA and RAN.

SANJURO is a fun sequel, though I will disagree with you on YOJIMBO.

[Jason Todd Grisham]

I am ashamed to say I have yet to see a single Kurosawa film. When one of my college classes came to the point where they were supposed to show some Japanese film the Professor said he was going to put in a film by another director because everyone does Kurosawa. That said UGETSU is a great film.

But for January Term I'm taking a Japanese Film class where we just watch Japanese films and talk about them. We are bound to watch at least one Kurosawa film. The movie rentals in my area are pretty bad when it comes to foreign filims.

[REDUNBECK~!]

a2j88 said:

That said UGETSU is a great film.

Yes.

[Near Fantastica]

I just have to say I don't care for older movies. I don't care if they're classics, I just can't stand to watch something from the 30s or 40s, 50s or 60s (excluding NOTLD).

[Harmonica]

breakfastinbed said:

I just have to say I don't care for older movies. I don't care if they're classics, I just can't stand to watch something from the 30s or 40s, 50s or 60s (excluding NOTLD).

Really?

Watch Yojimbo, The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, The Seventh Sign, White Heat, The Maltese Falcon, or M. Try watching any of these film and you'll probably change your mind.

Stray Dog and Yojimbo were the first Kurosawa films I saw. I saw them on IFC a couple of years ago and got me hooked on Kurosawa films.

[ChibiDiablo]

I've seen it and think it's massively overlooked

[Jason Todd Grisham]

I'm sorry for this bit of thread necro, but it turns out the Japanese Film class I mentioned played this very film. And I feel the need to comment on it.

I agree that it is a great film. Fun tidbit, Akira Kurosawa didn't like the film himself, because it didn't turn out the way he wanted. Which is a terrible way to put himself down. The result is still great, and I doubt a Japanese film maker could make an accurate representation of a French Man's noir novels. What we get out of it is something uniquely Japanese.

I could not see an American filmmaker making this film, even if the director was Catholic. If this was made in Hollywood the lead character wouldn't be driven by guilt, he'd be driven by anger. Something as simple as losing a gun wouldn't trigger a request for resignation. The Japanese have guilt too, they also have shame, which is what he felt.

While using the Post-War period as a backdrop the main theme of the film is that when bad things happen you have to build yourself up. The title comes from both the Criminal and the Main Character. Both are stray dogs, left to die after the Japanese lost the war. One just found his master, though when he finally learns to obey is left ambiguous.

Your rating seems fair enough, I loved the movie personally. And with this movie as well as SANSHIRO SUGATA under my belt I feel like I need to visit his classics. Luckily they can all be found at my school's library.

[Mozenrath]

I've seen Yojimbo, but I would like to see more of his films.

[rra]

a2j88 said:

I'm sorry for this bit of thread necro, but it turns out the Japanese Film class I mentioned played this very film. And I feel the need to comment on it.

I agree that it is a great film. Fun tidbit, Akira Kurosawa didn't like the film himself, because it didn't turn out the way he wanted. Which is a terrible way to put himself down. The result is still great, and I doubt a Japanese film maker could make an accurate representation of a French Man's noir novels. What we get out of it is something uniquely Japanese.

I could not see an American filmmaker making this film, even if the director was Catholic. If this was made in Hollywood the lead character wouldn't be driven by guilt, he'd be driven by anger. Something as simple as losing a gun wouldn't trigger a request for resignation. The Japanese have guilt too, they also have shame, which is what he felt.

While using the Post-War period as a backdrop the main theme of the film is that when bad things happen you have to build yourself up. The title comes from both the Criminal and the Main Character. Both are stray dogs, left to die after the Japanese lost the war. One just found his master, though when he finally learns to obey is left ambiguous.

Your rating seems fair enough, I loved the movie personally. And with this movie as well as SANSHIRO SUGATA under my belt I feel like I need to visit his classics. Luckily they can all be found at my school's library.

We must make something clear.

A ***** masterpiece is very rare, and suppose to celebrate when a film is able to pull the impossible....not just a great film, but one that defines or re-defines a genre, and one that many can view as "perfect" somehow.

A ****1/2 is a really great film, and not a slap at all that it doesn't have the other 1/2 star.

If those defintiions I have for my ratings seem vague....they are. Its just, whats the difference between great movies, and THE great movies?

Now while I don't think STRAY DOG is as good as say SEVEN SAMURAI or YOJIMBO from Kurosawa's career, I do think it is a great film that is very damn unique, and absolutely overlooked.*

In fact, I don't blame many folks who think it is a masterpiece. It is indeed a must-watch not just for Kurosawa fans or viewers of Japanese cinema, but as well for cinema buffs, period.

As for the Catholic comment, I think you might be right since the Japanese have a shame-honor-guilt complex that Americans either externally admire, or consider just bizarre. I simply reminded me of many Scorsese/Ferrera movies about Catholic characters feeling great guilt, i.e. BAD LEUTENANT or MEAN STREETS.

Anyway, I'm glad your class viewed STRAY DOG, since beyond the expected Kurosawa titles (SAMURAI, YOJIMBO, maybe IKIRU and RASHAMON), he's not analyzed.


*=Thus why I employed my allegories to a great Stanley Kubrick picture, PATHS OF GLORY. But its overshadowed by 2001, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, DR. STRANGELOVE, etc.

[Jason Todd Grisham]

This film came out right before RASHOMON. So it really is overlooked a lot.

I said it was a great film, but I can get your point as to why it's not among the greatest. I can't really touch it, but at some moments it seemed like I should feel like I'm about to cry but I don't. For example the end of the climax where the main character is laying in the grass with the criminal, we see a flower, then the kids passing by singing a song. I felt like I should be crying, but the urge never struck.

And did we really need to see him wandering about the market for 10 minutes?

But I'm glad I got to see this film. And I suppose I should be happy that I have yet to see his greater ones. I can only go up.