Stray Dog (film)

Stray Dog
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa
Screenplay by	Akira Kurosawa Ryūzō Kikushima
Produced by	Sōjirō Motoki
Starring	Toshiro Mifune Takashi Shimura Keiko Awaji Noriko Sengoku Noriko Honma Eiko Miyoshi [ja] Hajime Izu [ja] Ichiro Sugai Minoru Chiaki Eijirō Tōno Teruko Kishi [ja] Iida Chōko Reikichi Kawamura [ja]
Cinematography	Asakazu Nakai
Music by	Fumio Hayasaka
Production companies	Shintoho Film Art Association[1]
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	17 October 1949 (1949-10-17)
Running time	122 minutes[1]
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Stray Dog (野良犬, Nora inu) is a 1949 Japanese

With the aid of a self-missed test fired bullet retrieved in a tree trunk by Murakami, the police forensic firearms expert determines that Murakami's Colt was used to mug a woman of ¥40,000. Nakajima partners him up with veteran detective Satō (Takashi Shimura). After Satō skillfully questions the girlfriend, the two detectives learn that the gun dealer Tachibana, who is using the alias of 'Honda', is a fan of baseball. They stake-out a local high-attendance baseball game looking for Tachibana and manage to lure him away from the crowd before taking him into custody. A rice ration card found on his person reveals that the gun was loaned to Yusa, a disenchanted war veteran who has become involved with the yakuza to support himself. The detectives interview Yusa's sister, one of his yakuza associates, and his sweetheart, showgirl Harumi Namiki (Keiko Awaji); but none of these visits produce any useful leads. Satō takes Murakami to eat at his place, where he meets Satō's wife and children.

Murakami's gun is used again, this time to murder another woman during a robbery. He and Satō continue to question Namiki at her mother's house. She is still reluctant to talk, so Satō leaves to trace Yusa's movements, while Murakami remains behind hoping that Namiki's mother can persuade her to begin cooperating. Satō finds the hotel where Yusa is staying. He tries to call Murakami, but just as he is about to reveal Yusa's location, the criminal (having overheard the hotel owners mention that a cop is present) shoots Satō twice before making his escape. Satō, badly wounded but alive, staggers out the door, passes out from blood loss, and is taken to the hospital. A distraught Murakami is forcibly removed from the hospital on Nakajima's orders when he becomes disruptive and starts wailing loudly.

The following morning, Namiki has a change of heart and informs Murakami that Yusa called and asked her to meet him at a train station so they can skip town. Murakami races to the station and manages to get a positive identification on Yusa by taking into account his age, white suit stained with mud, and left-handedness, three tips he has collected over the past few days. Yusa tries to flee and Murakami pursues him into the forest; Yusa is able to wound him in the arm, but then panics, wastes his last two bullets, and throws the gun away. Murakami, in spite of his injury, wrestles Yusa down, handcuffs him, retrieves the gun, and takes him into custody. Days later at the hospital, Satō has recovered and congratulates Murakami on receiving his first citation. Murakami admits that he sympathizes with Yusa's situation, to which Satō replies that there are lots more like Yusa and that he will lose such sentimentality over time as he arrests more people.

Cast

Production

Kurosawa mentioned in several interviews that his script was inspired by

Stray Dog was mostly shot at a studio rented by Toho with more than thirty sets built. Ishirō Honda, who would go on to direct several monster movies such as Godzilla and Mothra, served as Kurosawa's chief assistant, shooting second unit footage for the 10-minute long sequence of Murakami roaming through Tokyo, and often doubled for Toshiro Mifune in waist shots. Kurosawa later praised Honda for helping him capture the atmosphere of post-World War II Tokyo. The film marks the first appearances of Minoru Chiaki, Noriko Honma and Isao Kimura in a Kurosawa film. Chiaki would go on to appear in ten more movies by the director, Honma played the medium in Rashomon and Kimura played the youngest of the seven samurai in Seven Samurai. The baseball game scene was shot at the actual Korakuen Stadium.

The film was also the debut of then sixteen-year old Keiko Awaji, who plays Harumi Namiki, a dancer and the girlfriend of Yusa, the villain of the film. She was chosen over other actresses because of her mean looks. Kurosawa described her as being too spoiled and that she could not cry on cue, and never cast her again in another movie of his. Awaji would later regret her unprofessionalism during filming. Kurosawa became so close with his cast and crew during filming that he remarked later it was difficult for him to break up with them after filming was completed.^[7]

Release

Stray Dog was distributed theatrically by Toho in Japan on 17 October 1949.^[8] The film received a theatrical release in the United States by Toho International with English subtitles on August 31, 1963.^[8]

Reception

Stray Dog holds a 95% approval rating on

The film was remade in 1973, under the name Nora inu, for Shochiku.^[8] It was later remade for television in 2013.^[11]

References

Sources

• Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography.
  ISBN 978-1461673743
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stray Dog.

• Stray Dog at
  IMDb
• Stray Dog at AllMovie
• Excess in Stray Dog an essay by Chris Fujiwara at the
  Criterion Collection
• Stray Dog (in Japanese) at the Japanese Movie Database