The theme that is shown in the movie is that people sacrifice things for stupid reasons even when they know the consequences of those sacrifices are deep.
* Please note that there are some spoilers in this quick review *
There are several instances of this during the movie Drunken Angel.
The main character ( Tishiro Mifune ) continually decides to sacrifice his life by not acknowledging his condition. He also sacrifices himself somewhat to his former boss who just got released from jail. He introduced his girlfriend at the time, to open the door for the new boss's approval, yet sealing his own fate by doing so. All of this is settled by a beautiful climax at the end, wonderfully choreographed by Kurosawa and his crew, and well acted by actors. Particularly the scene when the door opens to the sun.
Other characters displayed pointless sacrifices as well. Such as the Doctor who mentioned he was careless as a younger student, for such things as women. His Treating of gangsters, which somewhat goes against what he believes in as well. But he is at a point where he contrasts those past mistakes by the good natured sacrifices he makes during the movie, one such was standing up for his friend.
Nanou, the girlfriend of the Gangster, made a decision based on gangster politics, to better herself. This may also be seen as a part of the story which adds to the overall theme.
Even the friend of the Doctor out of fear wishes to greet the released gangster, even though she has been abused by him before.
The theme itself is directly mentioned a few times ( Why do we continue to sacrifice ourselves for silly things? ) by the Leading character ( doctor ), who also gave a great performance in Ikiru.
I hope viewers of this movie appreciate Kurosawa's message here as much as I did.
* Please note that there are some spoilers in this quick review *
There are several instances of this during the movie Drunken Angel.
The main character ( Tishiro Mifune ) continually decides to sacrifice his life by not acknowledging his condition. He also sacrifices himself somewhat to his former boss who just got released from jail. He introduced his girlfriend at the time, to open the door for the new boss's approval, yet sealing his own fate by doing so. All of this is settled by a beautiful climax at the end, wonderfully choreographed by Kurosawa and his crew, and well acted by actors. Particularly the scene when the door opens to the sun.
Other characters displayed pointless sacrifices as well. Such as the Doctor who mentioned he was careless as a younger student, for such things as women. His Treating of gangsters, which somewhat goes against what he believes in as well. But he is at a point where he contrasts those past mistakes by the good natured sacrifices he makes during the movie, one such was standing up for his friend.
Nanou, the girlfriend of the Gangster, made a decision based on gangster politics, to better herself. This may also be seen as a part of the story which adds to the overall theme.
Even the friend of the Doctor out of fear wishes to greet the released gangster, even though she has been abused by him before.
The theme itself is directly mentioned a few times ( Why do we continue to sacrifice ourselves for silly things? ) by the Leading character ( doctor ), who also gave a great performance in Ikiru.
I hope viewers of this movie appreciate Kurosawa's message here as much as I did.