Drunken Angel

Akira Kurosawa’s samurai films are fantastic, but this film and Ikiru make me wish he made more films about fatal diseases. Death is a key part of his films. An obsession with mortality and purpose that stick with him despite how his bias towards nihilism or optimism change over the decades.  When I look at both Mifune and Shimura’s characters, it’s hard not to see myself. Matsunaga especially feels like a mirror into the most pitiable aspects of my past and present behaviors. The inability to see my self-destructive behaviors, for fear of confronting something insurmountable. The desire to cling onto false delusions of beliefs greater than the terrifying mundanity of common life. Watching everything he hold dear crumble in a mad spiral was earned, yet every single time I wished better for him. The way I saw Doctor Sanada constantly try to help Matsunaga, I see a man chiding his younger self. The post-war context adds a layer to criticism poised against false loyalty.  All the actors were incredible, but ofc Mifune and Shimura constantly prove why they are the best actors to grace japan’s screens.  The lighting was haunting and beautiful, as was the composition. I will say what caught my eye most was how long the shots were in this film. Kurosawa does this a lot, or the times have changed so much lately that common practice now feels like ingenuity, but the length of each shot and the composed movement feels like magic. A note I will make in analysis of all of Kurosawa’s work, is the lack of connection present in his work. There is a staggering loneliness to the movies of his that I’ve seen. The main heart of this film is Sanada and Matsugana’s bond, but it’s defined by the emotional gap between them. It adds a very human contrast to the point Kurosawa keeps making about our purpose in service to others despite that lack of close emotional ties. I can’t recommend this film enough, both for it’s technical skill and what you can emotionally get out of it.