A small-time mob boss runs into an ill-tempered doctor who pressures him to change his ways in this crime thriller. Doctor Sanada (Takashi Shimura) works as a doctor in a small town, helped by his asssistant Miyo (Chieko Nakakita), his heavy drinking and misanthropic manner masking a serious desire to help those in need. When a local gansgter, Matsunaga (Toshiro Mifune), arrives at his surgery the two immediately clash, neither willing to back down. When Matsunaga is later referred to Sanada for tuberculosis, the doctor attempts to help him, all the while scolding him for his ongoing criminal affiliations. Matsunaga’s troubles deepen with the reappearance of Okada (Reisaburo Yamamoto), an old mob boss recently released from prison, whose presence threatens Matsunaga’s own position.
Directed by Akira Kurosawa, with a script by Kurosawa and Keinousuke Uekusa, “Drunken Angel” is a small town crime film with a strong moral core. The initial confrontation between Sanada and Matsunaga perfectly sets up these two strong-willed characters, both dedicated to their own particular code of honour. Despite Sanada’s disgust at the actions of gangsters, he’s motivated by a desire to improve the lives of others, both physically and through advising them against the evils of criminality. This surrogate father-son relationship is at the heart of the drama and the performances of Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune are delightfully characterful, entertaining in every scene they share. The narrative is straightforward, but with plenty of flavour provided by side-characters and subplots, such as Miyo and Okada’s past; and the plot to use Matsunaga in an ongoing gang war. The direction is simple yet effective, with dialogues between key players drawing us into their inner worlds, and some standout set pieces such as the club scene and a fight late in the film which sees character writhing in white paint. It is a film that doesn’t shy away from visual metaphor with a dirty pond in the town symbolising the ever-present danger of the gangs; and a nightmare sequence in which a feverish Matsunaga witnersses his own death. Early on we see Sanada warn children from drinking the water to prevent them catching diseases; in the same way that his repeated unheeded warnings to Matsunaga intend to steer him away from danger.
“Drunken Angel” is a simple character-driven narrative with incredible central performances that gets to the heart of the choice between good and evil and ambiguous morality of humans. Sanada is far from a perfect individual, but his core belief in curing people stands in stark contrast to the selfish nature of the gangsters. For Matsunaga’s part, his story plays out as a tragedy, with his fate pre-destined through his actions or inability to repent.
