Stray Dog (Nora inu) (1949)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Chris W

  
  Probably the most amazing thing about this film is that the plot is so simple and basic, yet the film is so much more than that. It's another one of Akira Kurosawa's contemporary films, this time being set in (then) contemporary post-war Japan. It's a nice film noir… More
  Probably the most amazing thing about this film is that the plot is so simple and basic, yet the film is so much more than that. It's another one of Akira Kurosawa's contemporary films, this time being set in (then) contemporary post-war Japan. It's a nice film noir story about a rookie police detective who gets his gun stolen by a pickpocket. He decides to save face by going out and getting it back on his own instead of reporting it missing. That's pretty well it. What makes the movie so much more than that is how the film is executed. There's all kinds of heavy philosophical themes and great character development going on, and that's awesome. This is an example of what a typical American cop drama/police procedural show might be like if it was treated like an arthouse project and directed by someone like Kurosawa if not the man himself. Parts of it also have a strong documentary style feel, particularly the lengthy montage scene wherein the lead roams througout the seedy underbelly of the city and discovers a hidden criminal underworld. The performances are great. Toshiro Mifune is wonderful and reliable as always, and the guy playing his mentor is also quite spectacular. Those two are the standouts, but the other players are pretty decent as well. I also loved the mood, tone, and atmosphere of things, and the great sense of continually building suspense and tension. I really wish more cop dramas could or would be made with this much care and intelligence, because this is just some top notch storytelling and filmmaking. It feels a little longer than it is, and kinda loses a bit of steam here and there, but those are really my only gripes. Definitely give this one a shot.

• Reid V

  
  While someone could make the argument that all cinema is poetic in certain ways, no set of films personify cinematic poetry more than the films of Akira Kurosawa. Even in his earlier films such as Stray Dog, he gives the viewer a generous bounty to chew on. Not only is this a noir… More
  While someone could make the argument that all cinema is poetic in certain ways, no set of films personify cinematic poetry more than the films of Akira Kurosawa. Even in his earlier films such as Stray Dog, he gives the viewer a generous bounty to chew on. Not only is this a noir influence crime drama, but a priceless time capsule of the Japanese experience in the aftermath of a devastating World War. In the vein of Italian Neorealism, Kurosawa captures the essence of everyday life in a land ravaged by war. While the film focuses on Detective Murakami's (Toshiro Mifune) pursuit to find his missing Colt from the criminal Yusa, Kurosawa doesn't give us a cut and dry story of good versus evil. In fact, the story is rather messy. Like the characters in this story, all of Japan is in the grasps of what appears to be bedlam. Filmed in 1949, Japan's black market was still running rampant during this time and the film features a lengthy montage of actual footage of the black market. In a time with such rampant poverty, class disparity, and widespread vice, the film begs the question what constitutes crime when the entire land is beset by turmoil? Kurosawa is constantly blurring the lines between good and bad and in one particularly compelling scene has both the "hero" and "villan" wrestling in some mud and coming out looking nearly identical. The film also oscillates between rapidly paced scenes with quick edits and long static takes in which Kurosawa really takes his time in telling the story. This can be rather laborious to watch for someone who has grown up on a steady diet of Transformers and Fast and Furious. In many scenes where the action seems to be near a climax, Kurosawa lets his characters light a cigarette in the middle of a pivotal exchange. Tedious as it may seem for some to get through, Kurosawa let's you really revel in the moment. If you take the director up on his invitation rather than throw your hands up in vexation, there is much on screen to reward you. There are some skillfully choreographed shots that put many modern films to shame. Also, much like his other films Rashomon and Ikiru, he focuses heavily on the weather to symbolize either the beauty or the turbulence that the characters are experiencing internally. These are just a few examples of the many motifs that Kurosawa employs. Although it is one of his earlier pieces, it certainly illuminates Kurosawa's exceptional proficiency in terms of filmmaking.

• Anthony L

  
  Film noir arrives on the sweltering streets of Tokyo. Driven by guilt, a young policeman hunts down the criminal that stole his issued pistol, helped by an older more experienced detective who acts as mentor in this engaging thriller. The blue print to the 'Buddy' cop film… More
  Film noir arrives on the sweltering streets of Tokyo. Driven by guilt, a young policeman hunts down the criminal that stole his issued pistol, helped by an older more experienced detective who acts as mentor in this engaging thriller. The blue print to the 'Buddy' cop film and a very stylish and engrossing suspense film.

• AJ V

  
  A gripping drama about a policeman who looses his gun, and a criminal may have took it. Very thrilling.

• Michael G

  
  Stray Dog, Akira Kurosawa's film noir tale of a rookie cop trudging through post-WWII Tokyo hell to recover his stolen sidearm is definitely a product of its time. An almost unrecognizably young Toshiro Mifune shuffles through what were apparently real black markets and slums… More
  Stray Dog, Akira Kurosawa's film noir tale of a rookie cop trudging through post-WWII Tokyo hell to recover his stolen sidearm is definitely a product of its time. An almost unrecognizably young Toshiro Mifune shuffles through what were apparently real black markets and slums before teaming up with veteran cop Takashi Shumura to recover the weapon. Some scenes went on entirely too long (I understand why, but this still doesn't speed it up) during Mifune's undercover sequence and also during the baseball game. The production was kind of B, but when 2 nukes are dropped on your country less than half a decade before, I understand you're not going to exactly deliver the slickest of films. Complaints aside, for as much as the first half dragged the second half more than made up with it as a fledgling Kurosawa's trademark direction takes shape. Stray Dog definitely isn't his masterpiece but its well worth the ride, especially the chase towards the end.

• First L

  
  Stray Dog is a classic, 1940s film noir involving buddy cops and featuring a giants baseball game. Also, it's a japanese film directed by the great Akira Kurosawa. A green homicide detective (Toshiro Mifune) gets his pistol stolen riding home on the bus one day and goes on a… More
  Stray Dog is a classic, 1940s film noir involving buddy cops and featuring a giants baseball game. Also, it's a japanese film directed by the great Akira Kurosawa. A green homicide detective (Toshiro Mifune) gets his pistol stolen riding home on the bus one day and goes on a frantic search for the thieves. What makes him so frantic? A sense of guilt that his weapon maybe used in crimes? Against a backdrop of post-war, occupied Japan, Mifune's detective chases leads up and down the dusty streets of the blazing summer. The smothering, sweaty heat plays a central role in the film, as does latin music (evidently very popular in Japan at the time). With Detective Sato helping him, Mifune begins to learn how to get answers to his questions from the suspects he tracks down. When told to go down to the street and "look desperate" (to find a gun dealer), Mifune dons a soldier's uniform and makes his way through the black market. The black market scenes are visually interesting and creative, and were shot in a real black market neighborhood street. In fact, the black market scene shows Kurosawa to be just as good behind the camera as Hitchcock. While Stray Dogs was always intended to be a movie, Ryuzo Kikushima and Kurosawa wrote the first draft of the screenplay as a novel. This was apparently so they could get a better feel for the film. This may account for some of the slower scenes. In any event, it's a western-style detective story taking place in war torn Japan, so there's plenty here to take in.

• Randy T

  
  Not that there was ever any doubt, but Kurosawa doesn't necessarily need all the trappings of an epic period piece in order to tell a good story. Here we have a crime drama set in post-war Japan that's as engrossing and entertaining as they come. Compared to films like… More
  Not that there was ever any doubt, but Kurosawa doesn't necessarily need all the trappings of an epic period piece in order to tell a good story. Here we have a crime drama set in post-war Japan that's as engrossing and entertaining as they come. Compared to films like <i>Seven Samurai</i>, <i>Ran</i> or <i>Throne of Blood</i>, <i>Stray Dog</i> is almost 'contemporary' but it's smaller scale doesn't seem to lessen it's impact. American viewers might find the pace a little slower than they're accustomed to but Akira wasn't out to make a fast film, just a really good one.

• Aaron N

  
  Det. Murakami: Just give me a hint, help me find him. It was nice to see a film by Akira Kurosawa that wasn't a period samurai film. While I love those movies as well, I greatly appreciated the fact that I can now see this director past the films he is most known for. This is a… More
  Det. Murakami: Just give me a hint, help me find him. It was nice to see a film by Akira Kurosawa that wasn't a period samurai film. While I love those movies as well, I greatly appreciated the fact that I can now see this director past the films he is most known for. This is a contemporary story set in Japan during the late 1940s, following Japan's loss in WWII. Kurosawa regular, Toshiro Mifune stars as a rookie police detective, whose pistol has been stolen from him. He soon learns that his missing pistol is being used to kill many people around town. This leads to a team up between Mifune and another older officer, in an attempt to capture this killer, amidst this very hot weathered Japan setting. The story is solid, as are the performances. The movie looks great, with Kurosawa showing a strong sense in dealing with noir type films, just as he does with period pieces. The pace is a bit slow, but the film is certainly an interesting watch. Det. Sato: A stray dog becomes a mad dog.

• Stella D

  
  a very good noir from kurosawa about a rookie homicide detective who has all kinds of trouble recovering his stolen gun. filmed pseudo documentary style in part with interesting views of postwar tokyo including actual black markets and a baseball game and scored with popular music… More
  a very good noir from kurosawa about a rookie homicide detective who has all kinds of trouble recovering his stolen gun. filmed pseudo documentary style in part with interesting views of postwar tokyo including actual black markets and a baseball game and scored with popular music of the day. i really enjoyed seeing young mifune and shimura playing cops. this was the first japanese suspense film, made in 1949

• Tim S

  
  I always liked Kurosawa's film noir stuff and this one has everything. Post war Tokyo reminds me a lot of New Orleans.

• xGary X

  
  A very young looking Toshiro Mifune plays a fresh young police officer who becomes increasingly obsessive when tracking down his stolen gun when it is used in a series of violent crimes. Kurosawa's low key detective thriller borrows heavily from contemporary noir, and uses that… More
  A very young looking Toshiro Mifune plays a fresh young police officer who becomes increasingly obsessive when tracking down his stolen gun when it is used in a series of violent crimes. Kurosawa's low key detective thriller borrows heavily from contemporary noir, and uses that influence to contrast the hardship and poverty of post war Japan with the urban glamour and decadence of it's American counterpart. It's an interesting snapshot of the Japan of the period, often shot in a documentary style although I did feel a lot of the somewhat unnecessary background detail did interfere with the narrative pacing, slowing things down considerably. His usual strong moral message is also in evidence, as he shows the criminal and detective as both sides of the same coin, a theme that has recurred again and again in Asian crime drama ever since. Yet another hugely influential and brilliantly made film that despite it's ponderous pace never fails to fascinate.

• Pierluigi P

  
  Intense japanese post-war drama heavily inspired by the crudeness of american film-noir and, on a smaller degree, by the italian neorealism. Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune are great as the veteran detective and his companion, respectively. There are some excellent moments of… More
  Intense japanese post-war drama heavily inspired by the crudeness of american film-noir and, on a smaller degree, by the italian neorealism. Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune are great as the veteran detective and his companion, respectively. There are some excellent moments of suspense, like the baseball game and the train station climax.

• Ken S

  
  It's Running Scared meets Bicycle Thief

• danny d

  
  really good flick. one of kurosawas earlier films and it is considered to be his coming of age film. it really does show the growing brilliance of kurosawa. mifune and shimura are both great in this movie about a cop hunting down a thief who stole his gun. you see the progress… More
  really good flick. one of kurosawas earlier films and it is considered to be his coming of age film. it really does show the growing brilliance of kurosawa. mifune and shimura are both great in this movie about a cop hunting down a thief who stole his gun. you see the progress that the cops make in finding the criminal one step at a time until the climatic ending, which was the best part of the movie. it was very slow at times and was light on dialogue, but kurosawa made this slow story interesting. as with most kurosawa films the weather was as much a character in the film as the people were. another great one by kurosawa.

• Matthew Y

  
  And so it begins...this is the film that was the prelude to one of the greatest runs of quality cinema any actor or director had ever experienced. This is when Kurosawa discovered the camera was a tool closer to that of a paintbrush than a hammer. Excellent cinematography and really… More
  And so it begins...this is the film that was the prelude to one of the greatest runs of quality cinema any actor or director had ever experienced. This is when Kurosawa discovered the camera was a tool closer to that of a paintbrush than a hammer. Excellent cinematography and really advantageous settings and set-up shots, particularly a tracking sequence at a ballgame. Mifune is learning on the job and picking up the acting talents that would later make him a worldwide film star. This film, unfortunately, is not as good as the sum of its parts and it wasn't until Mifune and Kurosawa's next feature Rashomon when it would all come together and they'd strike cinematic gold. Stray Dog is still a very underrated and under-appreciated film in the Kurosawa/Mifune film cannon and for my money a top 10 Kurosawa film of all-time.

• Gevvy S

  
  Kurosawa makes a deep and enjoyable film about a young cop on his first case. A great example of a whodunit and howcatchem, Kurosawa's third collaboration with Mifune is a hardboiled detective story, however, it is far from the usual C.S.I. garbage. For one, the violence is… More
  Kurosawa makes a deep and enjoyable film about a young cop on his first case. A great example of a whodunit and howcatchem, Kurosawa's third collaboration with Mifune is a hardboiled detective story, however, it is far from the usual C.S.I. garbage. For one, the violence is restrained till the very end and even then it is portrayed with such restraint that it serves to shock all the more because it heightens the tension. Mifune's performance is a great one as a troubled, 'green', cop who has reservations about his own abilities after he loses his police issued weapon--a Colt. The pacing of the film is fantastic and a good supporting cast make this noir a treat to watch.

• Curt C

  
  A fantastic postwar Japanese crime drama. The parallels between the cop and the criminal add a lot, and I can honestly say I didn't know how it would end. Toshirô Mifune was better here than he was in Seven Samurai.

• MJS M

  
  If Drunken Angel was the beginning of Akira Kurosawa?s proper career, this one was his first as a world class filmmaker. This seems (perhaps unconsciously) to be a companion to Drunken Angel. Both are set on the streets of Occupation-era Tokyo and both deal with its criminal… More
  If Drunken Angel was the beginning of Akira Kurosawa?s proper career, this one was his first as a world class filmmaker. This seems (perhaps unconsciously) to be a companion to Drunken Angel. Both are set on the streets of Occupation-era Tokyo and both deal with its criminal underbelly. Both feature Toshiro Mifune in his prime, and both feature fight scenes in which the two combatants find themselves covered in a substance (white paint in DA, mud here). This one is even more enjoyable because it?s a real thriller rather than a melodrama and it addresses social issues in a much subtler way. It?s almost like a film noir, except that most of it is set in broad daylight. In fact this movie seems to be a blueprint for every cop movie made since its release to feature a dichotomy between a rookie cop and a veteran officer. I say ?seems? rather than ?is? simply because this didn?t really see the light of day outside of Japan until decades after its release. I think the reason isn?t so much direct influence so much as Kurosawa having read the same crime novels that set up the other movies also copied. This is still a great flick, it could have used a little trimming, but its still a tense thriller worth anyone?s time.

• Christopher B

  
  Great Kurosawa film which perfectly combines drama, suspense, atmosphere and morality tale. Wonder if this inspired Johnnie To's PTU?

• Anthony V

  
  One of my favorite Kurosawa films.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings