Postwar Japan was riddled with censorship following America's occupation of the country in 1945, but Kurosawa refused to let any of that hinder him from creating a subtle testament to the hardships Japanese citizens endured after World War II. With incredible tact, Kurosawa managed to breach the establishment’s censors without detection in his first project with then up-and-comer Toshiro Mifune. The film was called Drunken Angel, an influential triumph that would largely shape Mifune's "tough guy" image in many of his collaborations with Kurosawa.
The public’s demand for cinematic realism was high after the war, and Kurosawa, sensing this, delivered a meditative drama that touched on everything that was politically and socially debauched during the late 40s. Wary of, but not deterred by the censors, he handled his postwar films by merely implying Japan’s poor social conditions rather than highlighting them with bold colors. As Angel progresses, it becomes somewhat of a challenge to catch many of Kurosawa’s social references because they aren’t centerpieces or focal points, but sly implications amidst the sordid backdrop.
The plot, which actually has little to do with Japan’s contempt toward American occupation, addresses a topic I’m quite familiar with. Alcoholism. The story details the trials of alcoholic gangster Matsunaga (Mifune) who's recently been diagnosed with tuberculosis by Doctor Sanada (Takashi Shimura) who coincidentally happens to be an alcoholic himself. Realizing Matsunaga’s condition could be potentially fatal, and considering the gangster’s flagrant drinking habits, the doctor convinces Matsunaga to lay off the sauce for a while and commence rehabilitation. Despite the gangster’s volatile disposition, the doctor’s plan goes swimmingly. This, however, is until Matsunaga’s mob boss reappears and drags the newly formed criminal back into the district’s seedy gangland.
I suppose I have an unhealthy penchant for films that zero in on afflicted alcoholics. It’s almost instinctive of me to connect with these fellow barflies on emotional levels that most would disregard, so naturally I assumed Angel would coincide with my expectations. Alas, I wasn’t able to perceive any likeness between Matsunaga and myself because while our habits may parallel, our conditions differ. I couldn’t possibly place myself in the depraved social state Matsunaga lived under, nor the precarious criminal life he led. This isn’t to say there was an emotional disconnect. Don Birnam he’s not, but Matsunaga nevertheless represents one of Kurosawa’s most shrewdly developed protagonists, and it would be dishonest to say that Mifune’s powerful performance had little effect on me.
8/10
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