The movie "Drunken Angel" tells the story of the gangster brother played by Toshiro Mifune, who failed to comply with the doctor's orders for treatment due to tuberculosis and eventually died.
The plot alone doesn't seem to stand out, but Akira Kurosawa made this mediocre story interesting.
The gangster Matsunaga came to Sanada's clinic played by Joe Shimura because his hand was shot by a bullet. Because Matsunaga is a gangster, Sanada refused to give Matsunaga an anaesthetic when taking bullets, and even wounded people, cursing Matsunaga as a hooligan who deserved it. This is obviously a bad-tempered doctor. He also lost the opportunity to go to a big hospital because of his personality, and can only be a small doctor in a run-down slum.
The gangster's elder brother Matsunaga suddenly coughed and asked the doctor Sanada to show him if he had a cold. Sanada said that he was afraid that it wasn't tuberculosis, and having tuberculosis might not necessarily look like a tuberculosis ghost. Doctor Sanada still showed it to Matsunaga, but it turned out to be tuberculosis. Doctor Sanada mocked and said that you have a big hole in your lungs, and it cannot be cured.
This caused Matsunaga to get angry and beat Sanada to the ground with three strikes, five divisions and two, and rushed out the door.
But this is not the case. The reason why Sanada said that Matsunaga's disease could not be cured is because it is difficult for people like them to pay attention to the disease. Generally, because of the so-called underworld spirit, they believe that courage is not afraid of death, so they taboo the disease and avoid doctors, and eventually become terminally ill. Sanada talked about the disease a little bit, so that Matsunaga could pay more attention to it.
Sanada, a doctor with a knife-like mouth and a tofu heart, went to pester Matsunaga the next day, frankly saying that Matsunaga could still be saved, and asked him to go to the hospital to take an X-ray and come back to him. And Santian to Songyong is like Bian Que to Cai Huanong. Songyong, who was taboo against doctors, went to the hospital to take an X-ray in secret until his condition worsened, and he was drunk before going to doctor Santian's clinic.
Things seem to be going in a good direction. As long as Matsunaga listens to Sanada's words and doesn't drink or touch women, the disease can slowly get better. But the discharge of the former eldest brother Okada shattered that plan. The friendship of the underworld is really "frank", knowing that he is ill, he has to get drunk to congratulate his ex-eldest brother on being discharged from the hospital. Okada knew that Matsunaga was ill and could not drink, but he still asked Matsunaga to accompany him to drink.
Come to the ballroom to sing and dance for entertainment, a lively urban beast sings songs, which makes Song Yong's heart rippling and his heart shakes. Can't drink, can't touch women, Matsunaga did both. The doctor Sanada angrily drove Matsunaga out: "I will not save people who need constant supervision like children."
But the next day I heard the news that Matsunaga was coughing up blood, and went to rescue Sanada again. What is the "Drunken Angel" in the title, Sanada, who is not forgiving but warm-hearted, is the image created by Akira Kurosawa to save Japanese society.
Seeing the story here, it seems to be unremarkable, just a story that is taboo and avoid doctors. But then Akira Kurosawa rose to prominence and suddenly turned this healing behavior into a treatment for post-war Japanese society.
Just like the foul-smelling bay in front of the slum, and the pond filled with rubbish on the water surface as black as a pond close to hell, wasn’t post-war Japan also burned by nuclear radiation, society is full of rubbish, and people’s livelihood is so difficult? Matsunaga leaned against the log in front of the pond, mocked like floating grass by the turbulent society, making people want to jump into the pond and merge with the garbage.
Matsunaga wanted to get a good treatment, but was dragged down by the morality of the underworld and could not really recover from his illness. Even since his former elder brother Okada was released from prison, everything he had was slowly handed over to others. In the casino, he and Okada lost all their money in gambling. His lover, Nana, turned around and threw himself into the arms of his eldest brother, Okada. The soft fragrance and warm jade on the bed seemed to be bullshit. The gang eldest brother named the best piece of land to Matsunaga in name, but he just wanted to take advantage of Matsunaga's status as a patient, expecting that he would die desperately with others one day, so it was logical to assign the site to Okada.
Matsunaga rushed into the eldest brother's apartment in anger, no matter how angry he saw the eldest brother softened, he nodded and bowed respectfully to the eldest brother. The eldest brother took out a wad of money from his pocket and smashed it on the floor to let him recuperate. Song Yong didn't pick up the money on the ground, and walked out in a trance.
Seeing the snobbery of the gangster's favor, Matsunaga may be able to wash his hands in a golden pot and heal his illness this time. The people who were respectful to him in the past are now rubbing shoulders with him, and the flowers in the flower shop that can be picked up at hand now have to be bought with money, and only the tavern owner, who was disliked in the past, confided the truth to him. The proprietress asked him to wash his hands in a golden pot and go back to the countryside with him to recuperate, so that he would be able to take good care of him.
In the past, he never listened to the boss lady's rambles, and it was only when he was depressed that he discovered the truth that he had been neglected.
Maybe after this evening, the proprietress and Matsunaga have a long talk, maybe it will really impress Matsunaga to go back to the country with her. But the anger of the departure overwhelmed him, and he wanted Okada to fight to the death and die together.
Akira Kurosawa made this fight scene particularly funny, and it was not as neat and clean as what he saw in "Zi Sanshiro" before. Because the duel between the two is ridiculous in itself, the fierce Okada and the late-stage tuberculosis Matsunaga are indistinguishable. Okada is so weak, how can people on the street run away when they see him? However, he used his bluff to intimidate the commoners, and he made the appearance of brutal legends and romance to make everyone suspect him.
Matsuda finally died, at the moment when he opened the door, he was imprisoned in the dark, and at the moment when he ran towards the light, he died. After all, he was unable to be rescued by the angel, and fell at the door of darkness.
Medical skills can't save him, and doctors can't save the poor people in the slums. It's not that Sanada's medical skills are not good, it's that he can save people, but he can't save the surrounding environment that is dragging and sinking together. The dirty and smelly river ponds have not been cleaned up, and the social environment has not improved. People still look at the dark mud ponds and have the urge to jump down. Medicine cannot save people, only human reason can save people.
Akira Kurosawa seems to tell a story of pure darkness, but at the end it gives hope for life. The girl who also suffered from tuberculosis before was completely cured by Sanada's instructions. The little girl said: "As long as there is reason, it is actually very easy to defeat tuberculosis."
Sanada repeated: "The most important thing in everything is rationality."
Akira Kurosawa gave the cure for the disease - rationality. At the bottom of the society, don't give up the hope of life, and lead yourself out of the darkness with reason. In the end, Sanada and the little girl escaped into the sea of people together. Perhaps the most important thing is not to make people shy away, but the courage to face life truly allows us to escape into the sea of people and still shine.
Finally, it's time to watch the performance of young Toshiro Mifune, who became a world-class star in one play. Since then, his cooperation with Akira Kurosawa has deepened and has become an iconic face in Akira Kurosawa's films. He is the reckless but sincere seventh person in "Seven Samurai", and he is the brave and cowardly robber in "Rashomon", and every move is amorous. You can see that the heart is swaying, King Xiang has a heart, and the goddess has no dreams, and it is destined to attract all attention as soon as he appears on the stage.
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