Stray Dog

I'm taking a break from the "Hou marathon" I've been on for a few days. But I'm not making this break easy for me at all for I have decided to rewatch a few films by none other than Akira Kurosawa. The first choice for me was Stray Dog (1949) because when I saw it for the first time years ago I thought it was boring. Oh, how wrong I was back then.

Essentially, Stray Dog is the story of a young cop whose gun is stolen and he tries to get it back by all means necessary. While the film explores the feeling of guilt and paranoia that the cop experiences, it goes far beyond that.

The title, "stray dog", refers to the man who commits crimes with the stolen pistol. As Takashi Shimura's character (who becomes a mentor to the young cop) says, a murderer is like a stray dog: he only sees the road in front of him. Kurosawa's main point seems to be in showing how the World War II has affected the Japanese - especially its influence on upbringing. In the end, the cop and the murderer are almost the same - only different by occupation and one single choice.

There is also an interesting polarisation Kurosawa uses between the young cop and his "mentor". While the young cop strictly believes that evil is the result of negative surroundings, the older cop dismisses that belief outright. "Evilness is purely evil", he says. It is also very interesting to see how the film almost literally explodes into ferociousness in its final act. Kurosawa certainly knows how to build the tension up towards the climax.

Akira Kurosawa's form is also fascinating. His way to place the characters onscreen is powerful. When compared to Yasujiro Ozu, Kurosawa's editing is aggressive. That can especially be noticed when he uses montages which are used quite well actually. Kurosawa wouldn't be Kurosawa without melodrama, and the music is a bit dramatic most of the time, but luckily it is never too distracting. The same thing can be said about acting in his films, but in Stray Dog the melodrama never bothered me. In fact, Toshiro Mifune's melodramatic performance was so great that he even rivalled Takashi Shimura's more restrained performance.

I would strongly recommend Stray Dog to anyone: it's a powerful (even if old-fashioned) thriller that has a lot to say.

Score: 9 out of 10