Drunken Angel
"Yoidore Tenshi" (1949)
| Title: | Drunken Angel |
| Descriptor: | Shimura Takashi (I guess he's another one of Kurosawa's favorites (Ikiru, Seven Samurai, I Live in Fear, Stray Dog....) does a wonderful job in portraying a good hearted doctor that works hard to bring health and happiness to a run down city in Japan.� There is one glitch to this doctor - he loves his liquor.� He is a small practice doctor due to this younger and wilder college days.� His more studious classmates own large clinics and hospitals, but still hold him in high regard.� This doctor tried to cure more than just the body, but also tries to give hope to the soul.� It is in the path of such a doctor that a young yakuza stumbles in for a quick operation to extract a bullet from his hand.� The doctor realizes that this young man is suffering from advanced TB.� Desperate to rescue the body and spirit of a young man who reminds him so much of himself, the doctor hounds the Mifune character to get treated. |
| Date Watched: | July 1, 2001 (or somewhere around then) |
| Comments: | Kurosawa has a thing about doctors - and healing not just the post war diseases, but also the post war broken spirit.� Furthermore, these "angels," the mender's of Japan, must be motivated by a force beyond money and power (if they were - they would fit into the yakuza category).� Watching this, I realized how much I admire the Ikiru guy (Shimura Takashi's) acting.� He's really good.� Oh, one other thing - Kurosawa always makes sure that his hero's have a noticeable vice - he makes sure that his characters are human - but superhuman because of their hearts.� (ps:� Mifune is so cool =)) |
