Vitals

Toshirô Mifune as Murakami, homicide detective

Tokyo, Summer 1949

Film: Stray Dog
(Japanese title: 野良犬, Nora inu)
Release Date: October 17, 1949
Director: Akira Kurosawa

WARNING! Spoilers ahead!

Background

Considered one of the greatest actors of all time, Toshirô Mifune was born 105 years ago today, on April 1, 1920. Before his Hollywood debut in Grand Prix (1966), Mifune starred in sixteen films directed by Akira Kurosawa. Their third collaboration was the 1949 drama Stray Dog, a film that blends elements of film noir with themes of disillusionment in postwar Japan and is now regarded as an early example of the police procedural.

The story begins on “an unbearably hot day” in Tokyo, where Mifune’s newly promoted homicide detective Murakami reports the theft of his sidearm. After recounting the incident—including his failed pursuit of the pickpocket—Murakami partners with veteran detective Satō (Takashi Shimura) to track the weapon into the depths of Tokyo’s underworld. Their investigation leads to a desperate small-time crook named Yusa (Isao Kimura), whose escalating crime spree weighs heavily on Murakami, forcing him to confront difficult questions about guilt, duty, and justice. Continue reading →