Rent Drunken Angel (1948)
3.8 of 5 from 93 ratings
1h 34min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
Dr. Sanada (Takashi Shimura), the drunken angel of the title, runs a clinic in the slums of Tokyo. When small-time hood Matsunaga (Toshiro Mifune) comes to his surgery after a gunfight Sanada diagnoses him with tuberculosis and convinces him to begin treatment. The disillusioned doctor feels that, by saving this young yakuza, he can retrieve a sense of his own lost youth and idealism. Thus they embark on a troubled friendship which is tested by the prejudices of the two and the release from prison of Matsunaga's mobster boss. Mifune, in his first major screen role, and Toho regular Shimura star together in a film which is part gangster, part melodrama and part social critique, establishing for the first time their dynamic relationship and the extraordinary on-screen chemistry which Kurosawa would explore further in films such as 'Stray Dog' and 'Seven Samurai'. Despite being Kurosawa's eighth feature, 'Drunken Angel' was the director's first critical success and the first film in which he 'finally discovered. The 'existential humanism' which made him famous is at the root of this extraordinary tale with the correlation between strength of spirit and physical well-being representing the two forces at work in post-war Japan. - Actors:
- Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Reizaburô Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure, Chieko Nakakita, Noriko Sengoku, Shizuko Kasagi, Eitarô Shindô, Masao Shimizu, Taiji Tonoyama, Yoshiko Kuga, Chôko Iida, Ko Ubukata, Akira Tani, Sachio Sakai, Senkichi Ômura, Tateo Kawasaki, Mayuri Mokushô, Toshiko Kawakubo, Haruko Toyama
- Directors:
- Akira Kurosawa
- Producers:
- Sôjirô Motoki
- Writers:
- Keinosuke Uekusa, Akira Kurosawa
- Aka:
- Yoidore tenshi
- Studio:
- BFI Video
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Romance, Thrillers
- Collections:
- Films & TV by topic, Shakespeare in Disguise, The Instant Expert's Guide, The Instant Expert's Guide to Wes Anderson, The Instant Expert's Guide to: Akira Kurosawa, Top 10 Films By Year, Top 10 Films of 1948
- Countries:
- Japan
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Reviews (1) of Drunken Angel
Toxic, Tense and Ticking Away - Drunken Angel review by griggs
Drunken Angel is postwar noir with a fever—sweaty, swampy, and slowly rotting from the inside. Takashi Shimura plays the world-weary doctor, treating both a festering city and a gangster on the brink. Enter Toshiro Mifune, a live wire wrapped in a white suit, coughing up blood and defiance. Their push-pull dynamic crackles. Kurosawa keeps it tight and twitchy, with sewers, swamps, and swing clubs oozing menace. It’s a portrait of physical and moral decay—tuberculosis as metaphor, violence as inevitability. Watching these two men clash, bond, and unravel is gripping. Everyone’s drowning in something, and not just the booze.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.