Stray Dog (Kurosawa, 1949): Garden Cinema, 5.45pm
This film also screens at the Garden Cinema on June 5th and 20th and is part of the excellent Noir International season. You can find full details here.
Time Out review:
An early encounter between Kurosawa and two of his favourite actors,
Mifune and Shimura, both playing detectives in Japan's uneasy postwar
period under US imperialism. When Mifune's pistol is stolen, he is
overwhelmed by a feeling of dishonour rather than failure, and sets out
on a descent into the lower depths of Tokyo's underworld, which
gradually reveals Dostoievskian parallels between himself and his
quarry. A sweltering summer is at its height, and Kurosawa's strenuous
location shooting transforms the city into a sensuous collage of
fluttering fans and delicate, sweating limbs. A fine blend of US
thriller material with Japanese conventions, it's a small classic.
Chris Peachment
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