This is an early gem from Kurosawa who was working with actor Toshiro Mifune for the second time. However the standout performance for me in this film is Takashi Shimura as the Drunken Angel (Shimura plays the titular character who is a Doctor), this is one of his great performances, whereas I find Mifune's acting too "big" in this film. I still believe however, that Mifune was arguably the greatest of all screen actors. The scenes between Mifune and Shimura are powerful , something Kurosawa would continue to use in many future films. Reizaburô Yamamoto is also excellent as the gangster Okada.
There are certainly some hidden sentiments about the then American Occupation of Japan in this film and I find the swamp in the middle of the set very interesting as if it represents the underlying darkness of the situation in Japan at the time seeping out onto the surface. We also see this in a more mundane form of the Gangsters and Japan taking on aspects of the American lifestyle that Kurosawa does not appear to approve of.
As can be seen in other films of Kurosawa's such as Yojimbo, Kurosawa displays his complete contempt for Gangsters in Drunken Angel. There is nothing glamorous about the gangsters in this picture, they are shown for what Kurosawa believes them to be, venal and depraved human beings who create a lot of human misery. Having said that, the strong humanist streak that is ever present in Kurosawa's films is also found in the character of the Drunken Angel, his long suffering helpers at his Medical Clinic and his student patient who is eventually completely cured of TB.
Kurosawa said about Drunken Angel that this was the first time he felt he had found his own style. This film is undoubtedly that of a master film maker.
There are certainly some hidden sentiments about the then American Occupation of Japan in this film and I find the swamp in the middle of the set very interesting as if it represents the underlying darkness of the situation in Japan at the time seeping out onto the surface. We also see this in a more mundane form of the Gangsters and Japan taking on aspects of the American lifestyle that Kurosawa does not appear to approve of.
As can be seen in other films of Kurosawa's such as Yojimbo, Kurosawa displays his complete contempt for Gangsters in Drunken Angel. There is nothing glamorous about the gangsters in this picture, they are shown for what Kurosawa believes them to be, venal and depraved human beings who create a lot of human misery. Having said that, the strong humanist streak that is ever present in Kurosawa's films is also found in the character of the Drunken Angel, his long suffering helpers at his Medical Clinic and his student patient who is eventually completely cured of TB.
Kurosawa said about Drunken Angel that this was the first time he felt he had found his own style. This film is undoubtedly that of a master film maker.