The film "Drunken Angel" was born in 1948. Two years later, Akira Kurosawa became famous in the Western world with "Rashomon", and in the following years he shot a series of classic works of film history. Compared with the films after Akira Kurosawa, this film appears green in terms of story and shooting techniques, but this does not prevent it from being an important window to observe Akira Kurosawa's early style.
Dr. Sanada played by Takashi Shimura is sloppy, especially with his iconic "hum", which is impressive. In the film, Dr. Sanada uses medical alcohol to mix water instead of alcohol, which shows that Dr. Sanada is addicted to alcohol. And just like the name "Drunken Angel", hidden under the appearance of Sanada's drunkenness is an angel's kind and sincere heart. Sanada's lines in the film reveal the inner reason for the character's vicious tongue: everything in the world is so absurd and disgusting, and only the venom can cheer him up.
The reason why Kurosawa is still immature in this film is because the story is full of didactics. Kurosawa hopes to use the film to criticize the distortions of postwar Japanese society, but he uses the most superficial way: lines. For example, Dr. Sanada has repeatedly emphasized that rationality is the key to curing tuberculosis, and the most important medicine for human beings is also rationality; Matsunaga still could not resist the temptation of alcohol after leaving the clinic. Sanada used the dirty stinky ditch in front of the clinic as a metaphor. …
However, despite the flaws in the plot, the film has already reflected the prototype of Akira Kurosawa's personal style in the shooting technique. In the film, almost every scene is a small space, and the depth of the picture is shallow. The abundance of low-angle fixed shots makes it easy to think of Yasujiro Ozu’s iconic “tatami lens,” an implicit expression of the Japanese’s cramped, restrained expression. It was not until the last scene, when Dr. Sanada separated from the woman who decided to return to the countryside, that the first truly open scene appeared in the film, implying relief and letting go. In addition, when Matsunaga stayed at the woman's house after coughing up blood, Akira Kurosawa rarely used expressionist techniques, using the scene where Matsunaga split the coffin on the turbulent beach to show the fear and nightmare deep in the character's subconscious, with the sky in the background from the clouds The sunlight through the gap is also quite mysterious. I personally think that the most aura of scheduling is reflected in the scene where Matsunaga and Okada duel for "benevolence and righteousness". The two who were fighting together fell into the paint on the ground, and when they got up, they were covered in white paint. This method is very natural. Amplifies the dramatic tension of the duel scene, admirable.
Although "The Drunken Angel" is dwarfed by Akira Kurosawa's later works, I still think it is a good work that is all-encompassing and small to see the big. The so-called "benevolence and righteousness" of social gangsters.
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