Stray Dog (film)

For the 1991 film by Mamoru Oshii, see Stray Dog: Kerberos Panzer Cops.

Stray Dog
Directed by	Akira Kurosawa
Written by	Akira Kurosawa Ryūzō Kikushima
Produced by	Sōjirō Motoki
Starring	Toshiro Mifune Takashi Shimura
Cinematography	Asakazu Nakai
Edited by	Toshio Gotō Yoshi Sugihara
Music by	Fumio Hayasaka
Production company	Shintoho / Eiga Geijutsu Kyōkai
Distributed by	Toho
Release date	October 17, 1949 (1949-10-17)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Stray Dog (野良犬, Nora Inu) is a 1949 Japanese police procedural film noir directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. The film is considered a precursor to the contemporary police procedural and buddy cop film genres.

Plot

Action takes place during a heatwave in a bombed-out, post-war Tokyo. Rookie homicide detective Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) has his Colt pistol stolen during a trolley ride and gives chase to the pickpocket. When he fails to capture him he reports back to headquarters filled with guilt and shame. He goes on to prowl the city backstreets undercover, looking for suspects and picking up leads. He eventually picks up the trail of a gun racket. When the stolen gun is used in a crime, Murakami partners up with the veteran detective Satō (Takashi Shimura).

After questioning a suspect, Satō and Murakami end up at a baseball game looking for a gun dealer named Honda. They locate him and he points to Yusa, a disenchanted war veteran who's fallen to crime. They investigate Yusa's sister's house and his sweetheart, showgirl Harumi Namiki (Keiko Awaji), to no avail.

Murakami's gun is used in another crime, this time as the murder weapon. They question Namiki at her mother's house. She is still reticent to talk, so Satō leaves off to investigate Yusa's trail while Murakami remains behind. Satō comes across Yusa's last hideout. He places a call for Murakami but, just as he is about to reveal Yusa's location, the criminal makes a run for it. Satō attempts to give chase but is shot in the rain and left for dead. A desperate Murakami arrives soon enough to donate blood to his friend at the hospital.

File:Stray Dog 1-30-27.jpg

The questioning of Namika: Keiko Awaji (right), Eiko Miyoshi, Toshiro Mifune (standing), Takashi Shimura (sitting)

The following morning, Namiki has a change of heart and informs Murakami at the hospital that she had an appointment with Yusa at a train station nearby. Murakami races to the meeting and deduces who Yusa is from his mud spattered clothing. He gives chase into a forest and is wounded in the arm. Murakami manages to cuff Yusa, taking him into custody. Back at the hospital, Satō has recovered and congratulates Murakami on his first citation. Murakami reflects on Yusa's plight, reflecting on the parallels between him and the criminal. Satō tells him to forget about Yusa and get ready for the cases he will solve in the future.

Cast

• Toshiro Mifune as Detective Murakami
• Takashi Shimura as Detective Satō
• Keiko Awaji as Harumi Namiki: showgirl
• Eiko Miyoshi as Harumi's mother
• Noriko Honma as Wooden Tub Shop woman
• Isao Kimura as Yusa
• Minoru Chiaki as Girlie Show director
• Ichiro Sugai as Yayoi Hotel owner
• Gen Shimizu as Police Inspector Nakajima
• Noriko Sengoku as Girl

Production Notes

Stray Dog contains elements associated with film noir and was a precursor to the buddy cop film genre.

Kurosawa mentioned in several interviews that his script was inspired by Jules Dassin’s The Naked City and the works of Georges Simenon. Kurosawa wrote the script with Ryūzō Kikushima, a writer who had never written a script before.

During the opening credits, there is footage of a panting dog. However, when American censors saw the footage, they assumed that the dog had been harmed. This run-in with American censors caused Kurosawa to remark that this was the only time he wished Japan had not lost WWII. The film released in the U.S in 1963.

Despite being one of Akira Kurosawa's most critically renowned postwar films, Nora Inu was once not held in such high regard by the director himself. Kurosawa has been quoted as saying that he thinks little of the film, calling it “too technical” while also remarking that it contains “all that technique and not one real thought in it.” His attitude had changed by 1982, when he wrote in his autobiography that “no shooting ever went as smoothly,” and that “the excellent pace of the shooting and the good feeling of the crew can be sensed in the finished film.”

Remake

The film was remade in 1973 as Nora Inu, starring Tetsuya Watari as Murakami and Shinsuke Ashida as Satō. The location was changed from Tokyo to Okinawa.　It was remade for television in 2013.

Awards

At the 1950 Mainichi Film Concours it won awards for Best Actor (Takashi Shimura), Best Film Score (Fumio Hayasaka), Best Cinematography (Asakazu Nakai) and Best Art Direction (Sō Matsuyama).

File:Keiko Awaji in Stray Dog.jpg

Keiko Awaji as Harumi Namiki the showgirl

External links

• Stray Dog at IMDb
• Stray Dog at AllMovie
• Criterion Collection essay by Chris Fujiwara
• Stray Dog Template:Ja icon at the Japanese Movie Database