Review of Drunken Angel (1948) by John E — 21 Jun 2011

A rough and uncouth film whose visual style closely matches the mien of its two main characters. At once reservedly controlled and violently incendiary, Kurosawa's camerawork adroitly relates to Mifune's gangster's thin polish of American-infused kitschy glamor which flakes away at the slightest provocation to reveal his violent tendencies.

The gangster plays quite well off Shimura's ever-inebriated and moodily vacillating doctor who shifts between spells of cynical introspection and bellicose pugilism when he's forced to care for his gangster friend.

Their affection is not obviously visible but their continue loyalty to each other is a testament to the strength and quality of a fire-tested friendship. The film is artfully directed, utilizing the squalor of this post-war Japanese town to sickeningly blend the diminished morale of the bitterly defeated populace with the suffocating and meretricious invasion of American culture.

Ironically, this off-putting mish-mash extends to the film's tone which occasionally attempts to create a mood antithetical to what is being shown. The tone shifts too often between comedy, tragicomedy and drama for its own good: while it is obvious that Kurosawa is making light of those who are forever cynical and showing that people suffer from actions of their own doing, there is still is a sense of ineluctable and superhuman forces that agitate the characters to their frenzied mental state.

It's all a bit too sloppily ambiguous for my tastes, but there is definite talent in evidence here.