Drunken Angel

1948 1h 38m JA

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 323

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when the gangster’s ruthless former boss returns and drags him back toward the swampy underworld he can’t escape.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Takashi Shimura
Sanada
Toshirō Mifune
Matsunaga
Reizaburo Yamamoto
Okada
Michiyo Kogure
Nanae
Chieko Nakakita
Miyo
Noriko Sengoku
Gin
Shizuko Kasagi
Singer
Eitarō Shindō
Takahama

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Writers: Keinosuke Uekusa, Akira Kurosawa
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 6

ERA

Did you know

78 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Akira Kurosawa, shot by Takeo Itō. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Fumio Hayasaka. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 6

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Akikazu Kono shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 6

CAST

Did you know

Takashi Shimura and Toshirō Mifune and Reizaburo Yamamoto carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 6

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0040979 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Akira Kurosawa directs. Takeo Itō behind the camera. Fumio Hayasaka scores. Akikazu Kono cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

178 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Akira Kurosawa, shot by Takeo Itō. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Fumio Hayasaka. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Akikazu Kono shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Takashi Shimura and Toshirō Mifune and Reizaburo Yamamoto carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0040979 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Takeo Itō
Original score: Fumio Hayasaka
Editing: Akikazu Kono
Production design: Takashi Matsuyama
Sound: Wataru Konuma
Runtime: 98 min · 1h 38m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: JA
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Drunken Angel (1948)

Also by

Akira Kurosawa

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-11-17
★ 7/10
Takashi Shimura is impressive in this slightly squalid tale of a dipsomaniac doctor ("Sanada") charged with caring for a population housed in a bombed out part of the city. A large stagnant pond amidst their community is as likely to prove a source of toxicity as the pervading Yakuza activities. Those centre around "Matsunaga" (Toshirô Mifune) who turns up at the surgery with an injured hand. The doctor treats the wound but also suggest that the man might want to get treated for what he suspects is a case of tuberculosis. The two men fight - verbally and physically - and things continue to worsen when his boss "Okada" (Reizaburô Yamamoto) gets out of prison and starts to reassert his authority amongst the shopkeepers. Despite the initial hostility, Kurosawa manages to generate a considerable degree of amity between the two men as the story progresses. It is a friendship - of sorts - borne out of frustration and a desire to drink a great deal, and that dynamic becomes more engaging as the inevitability of parts of the story become ever clearer. There is some lovely guitar accompaniment to Fumio Hayasaka's score and the dialogue sparingly but convincingly guides us along as these two opposites start to attract. It is tightly paced with plenty of action as well as engendering, for me anyway, quite a degree of sympathy for the physician caught in a maelstrom of despair that is as much self-induced as anything.

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