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Stray Dog

Stray Dog (1949)

October. 17,1949
|
7.8
| Drama Thriller Crime

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side.

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BootDigest
1949/10/17

Such a frustrating disappointment

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Invaderbank
1949/10/18

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

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Gurlyndrobb
1949/10/19

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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Neive Bellamy
1949/10/20

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

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Antonius Block
1949/10/21

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). The film is gritty, realistic, and successful as a police drama set during a sweltering heat wave that has everyone sweating and fanning as the cops descend into the underbelly of Tokyo. The only miss on Kurosawa's part that I could see was a long stretch of time early on where Mifune wanders around through the streets; this was simply too long, but even then, it allows us some excellent scenes of postwar Japan. Kurosawa heightens the action by having it run through places like a baseball game and a risqué dance hall; the cinematography is excellent, and the tension is great particularly towards the end of the film.It was remarkable for me to reflect that the Japanese had been in such a bitter, violent war just years earlier, as the film's general themes are universal, and we're reminded of just how similar we all are. The older cop's traditional family life is shown in one scene, ending sweetly in them looking on at his little kids sleeping, "like pumpkins in a field".At the same time, the distinctive psyche of the Japanese in this time period is also revealed. Tellingly, the rookie policeman has had a similar background as the criminal they're pursuing and sympathizes with him; the older cop sees that as philosophy stemming 'après-guerre', and believes in more black/white, good/bad terms. There is certainly symbolism at play in both of the younger men having been dealt an unfair fate, robbed of an easier life in the world they're growing up in. One turns to a life of crime, which continues on until the 'stray dog' becomes a 'rabid dog'; the other is upright and moral to the point of even sympathizing with him, which is admirable. The older cop provides stability, and at the end cautions him to forget, and let time heal. Kurosawa seems to show validity in both views. One must understand why others may falter in such an environment, and yet remain righteous. One must remember the past, and yet move on.

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Charles Herold (cherold)
1949/10/22

This police procedural has the interesting premise of a cop obsessed with finding his stolen gun, and his sense of responsibility for everything that happens because of the theft. It's an interesting idea, a sort of cop version of Bicycle Thieves, but it's a bit slow and static. For all the comments here that call it a film noir, it lacks that sort of intensity, although it does have interesting anti-noir qualities - much of it takes place in daylight among people wearing light colored clothes.Even at its weakest, there are interesting Kurosawa touches throughout, most notably the use of the oppressive summer heat as a character in the film. 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. From a stunning image of a girl twirling in a dress just as a thunderstorm breaks,the film is everything you expect from the great director, as though a more experienced Kurosawa had jumped into a time machine to do the last part, and the final confrontation is brilliant, even if the movie's last short scene is as flat and dry as the first ones.Kurosawa has made much better movies, but there is enough of interest in this one that fans of the director should check it out at some point.

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Kong Ho Meng
1949/10/23

This would be probably my least favourite of all kurosawa films because I believed Kurosawa at that point still had a lot to learn on how to make a really good detective drama -- though it is understandably about a rookie detective who has no clear idea of how to conduct his job properly (chasing after an armed criminal without backup is one example), I cannot accept that even with the whole experienced police force around there is such a lack of seriousness and professionalism in their conduct, also the logic of Takashi's deduction methods was totally unexplainable.There is also a severe lack of focus on the villain ...but this is forgivable as the film is made from the detectives' point of view and the subject matter of the film is actually the rookie himself. Mifune's dummy acting is probably the weakest one I have seen so far. However the strength of this film lies not in the characters nor plot, but it is the setting that has nothing to do with the story. I found myself more fascinated by the music and the environment in the background, especially during certain prolonged scenes of 'investigation'...which gave some idea of a real life post-war japan. It ended up looking more like a documentary in the end, and didn't work for me.Domo gomenasai, kurosawa-sama!

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keegan purdy (trioxinforlunch)
1949/10/24

In the sweltering heat of post-war Japan, rookie detective Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) loses his Colt automatic after boarding a crowded tram. 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. The film takes obvious visual inspiration from American film noir, though the moral predicament which consumes Murakami can be understood in a distinctively Japanese way; as a thoughtful articulation of simple decency and honour reclaimed."The swords the samurai wore as their prerogative and sign of caste were not mere decorations. They had the right to use them on the common people" The loss of a samurai's sword was the loss of honour, which only its recovery could restore. For Murakami, his aloofness resulting in the theft of his gun is a source of great shame. On first hearing of the Colt's implication in an armed robbery, he offers his superior a letter of resignation. Rather than accept, the chief partners him with the experienced Detective Sato. A sort of master/student dichotomy. The idea of culpability,explored to a greater extent in RASHOMON(1950) is the locus of STRAY DOG. It also provides a moral imperative for the films protagonist.In order to redeem himself, Murakami traverses the ruins of a post-war society. His search leads him through slums and sleazy districts; lowly inhabitants desperate for money explain their rejection of morally coded behaviour. The sense of duty Murakami ascribes to is starkly opposed to this, essentially, that the vicissitudes of life can justify larceny and violence. The trail leads to Yusa (Isao Kimura) whom Murakami shares a great deal in common with though they have chosen to take different paths. Both are veterans of the war and have been victims to theft. Yusa embodies the fall of moral righteousness in the face of persecution and misfortune.As Sato mentions at one point "a mad dog knows only a straight road". The ability of an individual to react with wisdom in the face of a moral dilemma is diminished once one has become accustomed to the temporal fruits of vice and materialistic greed. Yusa steals to buy fine clothes, in essence, purchasing status. STRAY DOG shows the blinding nature of this path to be a a very human predicament. In the film's final sequence where Murakami pursues Yusa, the two lie side by side exasperated from the chase. The irreconcilable dualism of 'good' and 'bad' so fundamental to film noir is eroded when Yusa bursts into tears, conscious of the futility of his path. Defiance is replaced with sincerity, where "nothing is kept in reserve, nothing is expressed under disguise, nothing goes to waste".STRAY DOG is a great example of Kurosawa's attention to questions concerning morality and honour, independent of his famed period films.

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