Drunken Angel

El Biffo

Much more than a B-movie style, gangster melodrama, this eloquent film tells a story of how people from from the fringes of society, literally from the sewage, somehow find a way to try and help each other, even when the situation is hopeless.

Michael H. CLAES

Like in other films, Kurosawa delivers a caring and moralistic view to the post-war Japanese people. A little too demonstrative, as in LIVING IN FEAR. A very European cinema (fashion, music). ------------Comme dans d'autres films, KUROSAWA porte un regard affectueux et moralisateur sur le peuple japonais d'après guerre. Parfois trop démonstratif, comme dans VIVRE DANS LA PEUR. Un cinéma très européen (mode, musique).

Lorna Singh

Special for being the film that started it all---the greatest collaboration in film history.The setting,where children play in dirty swamps and streets,is perfect to showcase the ugliness and corruption of gangsters and others. The amazing Toshiro Mifune conveys so much,even with small gestures.

mjgildea

Drunken Angel was pretty good but it didn't blow me away. Not my most memorable Kurosawa viewing but it had some great moments and the swamp imagery was fantastic. Kurosawa's lesser works are still better than most directors' masterpieces. Like getting a flat and getting lucky in the same day...

Christopher R. Smith

Early film from Akira Kurosawa is a noirish drama that makes excellent use of its gritty post-War Japan locations - with great inky black and white cinematography and authentic performances from Takashi Shimura and Toshirô Mifune. The story meanders in places and can be slow at times - but at its strongest moments, it's a true classic. The first major step toward the masterpieces Kurosawa would go on to make.

Wee Hunk

This crime melodrama from the 40's belongs in the silent era. That's the acting style. At several times I thought I was watching 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'. It's a bit too preachy to qualify for film noir.

Franklinton Underground Cinema

the central symbol of the film - "pestilential sump, filled with toxic garbage" - is something I have been unable to erase from my mind. I see it everywhere now...in people, in places, in media, and in myself too.

Francisco R.

I liked this one. Kurosawa saw certain shades of hostility in Mifune's acting that proved to be the key in the success he had working with darker themes.