Drunkel Angel (‘Yoidore tenshi’, 1948)
although not one of Akira Kurosawa’s acclaimed
masterpieces, is definitely a landmark cinema in the director’s oeuvre. The
film marked the first collaboration between Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, a
dynamic actor famous for playing righteous samurai characters and for his
on-screen showcase of explosive rage. The collaboration lasted over 16 films,
and until the 19th century drama Red
Beard (1965).
Drunken Angel was also considered as the director’s breakthrough movie since he
made it on his own terms, tackling head-on the pervading corruption in
post-World War II Japanese society. Drunken Angel is a melodrama, chronicling
the delicate bond between a brash, young yakuza guy (Toshiro Mifune)
and an older alcoholic doctor (Takashi Shimura).
But the dynamism visible in Kurosawa’s aesthetic approach turns this drama into
one of the director’s intriguing early stylistic experiments.
Drunken Angel is set around a yakuza-controlled black market
square where bars and dance-halls loudly broadcast American pop tunes, and a
fetid swamp occupies the center of neighborhood. In fact, the film opens with
the shot of large cesspool (in close-up) which constantly bubbles. It becomes the fitting metaphor for post-war Japan’s sickly state of affairs. The swamp is
a character in itself as Kurosawa often uses the
image as a transition device to chart the gangster’s self-destruction. The mosquito-ridden
swamp also literally passes off disease to neighborhood members, particularly
the vulnerable, mal-nourished children who use the ghoulish place as a
playground. The gruff yet well-meaning slum doctor Sanada lives near the swamp and does his best to redeem the surrounding atmosphere, even though he very often
fails.
Matsunaga, the local yakuza leader, comes to Sanada’s clinic
to treat a bullet wound. Dr. Sanada is a very blunt guy and decries the young
yakuza’s lifestyle without fearing for violent reactions. Sanada warns
Matsunaga about the onslaught of tuberculosis, and to halt his drinking habit.
The erratic gangster tries to beat-up the doctor for his blunt talk, and the
doctor responds by throwing things at him. Although Matsunaga continues to drink
and party, his worsening condition takes him back to the clinic. He’s once
again castigated by the doctor and angrily leaves the premises. Nevertheless,
gradually Matsunaga comes to trust the doctor.
Furthermore, Dr. Sanada becomes increasingly concerned for
the gangster. At the same time, circumstances work against Matsunaga’s well
being. An older, wayward crime boss named Okada (Reisaburo Yakamoto) returns
from jail and regains his position, which was awarded to Matsunaga. Okada’s
return also spells trouble for the doctor, since he is shielding the crime
boss’ abused mistress Miyo (Chieko Nakakita), who now works as the doctor’s
nurse. And, Matsunaga despite coughing up blood and on the doorstep of death
feels he must ensure Sanada’s safety.
Drunken Angel works as a cultural and social critique, taking
a jab at both the ‘old’ feudalistic concepts of honor & loyalty and
war-torn nation’s struggle against rampant westernization. In fact, the
American occupation of Japan ended only in 1952. Dr. Sanada scowls at
Matsunaga’s mention of yakuza code of honor. The young hoodlum’s frantic belief
in the gang hierarchy could easily be connected with the betrayal of feudal
system which only escalated the war efforts. Okada is a literal representation
of obsolete feudalism, trying to once again gain his authority in a rapidly
changing neighborhood.
The dingy corridors of night-club and bars stand on the
other extreme, conveying the general corruption brought upon by the occupying
American forces. Akira Kurosawa kept on returning to these ruined corners of
Tokyo. As a matter of fact, Kurosawa followed Drunken Angel with The Quiet Duel
(1949), which was about a young doctor (Mifune) who accidentally contracts
syphilis while operating on a patient. The Lower Depths (‘Donzoko’, 1957), based on
Maxim Gorky’s play was set on the edge of a garbage dump. Perhaps, the most scintillating
portrait of Tokyo’s shanty towns among Kurosawa’s filmography was in
Clickety-Clack (‘Dodes’ka-den’, 1970); Kurosawa’s first color film has
interestingly focused on urban trash heap.
Drunken Angel was Mifune’s fourth film. In his previous
films, Mifune played volatile hoodlums and hence he was cast according to type.
But only under Kurosawa’s direction, the actor was able to bring forth a
humanism and longing to the otherwise one-dimensional character. Wearing a
flashy white suit, Mifune often bursts into the scenes with great power that he
could be mistaken as the titular character The actor actually had a small part,
but Kurosawa impressed by Mifune allowed the character to share equal screen-space
with Dr. Sanada.
As always, Shimura - appeared in 21 of Kurosawa’s films -
subtly embodies the role of a mentor/spiritual guide. The frustration,
gruffness, and tenacity Shimura imparts to Dr. Sanada keep the character far
from being a tedious, saintlike man. Visually, Kurosawa’s presentation of the
dreary atmosphere bestows a chilling and somber movie experience. The first
confrontational scene between Matsunaga and Sanada, the nightclub dance scene,
and eventually the frenzied fight between Okada and Matsunaga which uses bit of
silent-film aesthetics are all some examples of the director’s galvanic staging
techniques.
While Kurosawa concentrated on pointless cruelty and
irrationality of the mankind in Drunken Angel, he does end the film with a quick
optimistic ending. Actress Yoshiko Kuga who has worked with Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji
Mizoguchi, Nagisa Oshima, etc plays a cameo role as a feisty school girl fighting
TB. Dr. Sanada considers her a symbol of rationality and will power, challenging
the overall animalistic tendencies of the post-war society. The doctor leaves
the lingering thoughts of failure and grief and accompanies the young girl
through the cacophony of black-market to buy sweets.
P.S. the
censors were alleged to have imposed that final ‘optimistic’ flourish.
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