Stray Dog (Akira Kurosawa, 1949)

While I’m far from an expert, a little research as well as my own feelings on the film have led me to believe that Stray Dog is Minor Kurosawa. Regular stars Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura play a couple of cops in post-war Tokyo during one hot summer. When rookie Mifune’s gun is stolen, he’ll do anything to get it back. So begins a drawn-out police procedural with the standard twists and turns. The flick is unfortunately bogged down by its running time (early on, an extended silent sequence of Mifune infiltrating the underworld was all kinds of excessive), and frankly, a pretty silly plot. However, Kurosawa’s eye for location and the way he evoked a summer heat wave (I’m sweating just thinking about it), as well as a great performance from Shimura elevate the film. That said, High and Low is way better. [B-] 122min, 35mm