.jeri.

Here is another of the Kurosawa movies we have watched in my class, and yet another favorite of mine. I have been surprised to find how much I enjoy the contemporary movies Kurosawa made (although Ryan scoffed at me when I told him I was tired of watching period pieces a few weeks ago - yes, the samurais are great too!). He was big on making commentaries on social situations, such as the black market and gang life after WWII in Drunken Angel. Here, he tackles a more personal issue, of what separates a good man from a bad man. In this movie, more than any other, he compares his protagonist and antagonist. The protagonist is a detective named Murakami played by Toshiro Mifune, who is trying to track down his stolen gun. When the gun is used in several crimes, he can't help but feel responsible. His anguish and desperation grows, especially in the intense heat of the summer, which is affecting everyone. Now that I'm writing about it, I realize I may have mixed some memories of Drunken Angel and Stray Dog together in my mind. We watched them in a row in our class, and they have such similarities.

At any rate, Murakami is determined to track down the gun. He starts off with the woman he saw in the bus where his gun was stolen, and quickly finds himself wandering through postwar Tokyo. Kurosawa keeps things moving much better in this movie, and we as an audience can feel the urgency Murakami feels. Yet the breaks that are taken are welcome as well. There's a great scene between Mifune and the lady after he confronts her, which Kurosawa uses to show the mentality of the people who seem trapped in this depressing locale.

Kurosawa's eye for detail does take us a little long in some of the search scenes. I always know when a scene is a little too long because people in my class whip out their cells and start texting friends. Perhaps every director and editor should have a test audience that all hold smart phones in their hands while watching the movie. Stray Dog delves into the slums of Tokyo as the hero pretends to be a returning soldier who wants to buy a gun. The montage scene here lasts for quite some time, but also, the distinction and separation of the detective from the criminal lessen as the two worlds collide.

All of the tension comes to a head as the detective closes in, and as the strained weather reaches its peak. I love the scene where the rain actually starts to fall, and I love how that added element contributes to some of the most dramatic scenes. There's a great scene involving a phone call on a dark and stormy night, and the final struggle happens in the aftermath of the rain. Just as in Drunken Angel, the two who are so similar become almost identical in the struggle, as they are covered with mud. The music is key in this scene as well.

It seems that in this movie, Kurosawa's vision was clear, and he knew how to use so many elements to bring the piece together. They work fluidly together, and all are carefully chosen to actually contribute to the movie. The result is effective, entertaining, and artistic, and one can easily understand while it was called one of Kurosawa's first masterpieces.