Nora Inu (U.S. Title: Stray Dog) Police suspense drama and
mystery. Warning there will be some general plot spoilers.
Plot
Nora Inu tells the story of detective Murakami "Toshiro
Mifune." Tired and exhausted from a stakeout the previous night, he loses
his pistol to a pickpocket on a hot crowded bus in post war Tokyo. He sets off
trying to track it down, when his pistol is suspected to have been involved in
a crime. 1 of 7 bullets is used. Now the frantic detective Murakami has to find
the assailant and get back his gun before the remaining 6 bullets are used.
This suspense filled story is driven along by the looming
threat of the remaining bullets in the gun. 6
bullets left.. Detective Murakami creates the feelings of urgency and anxiety
that help to sell this plot mechanism. Murakami is teamed up with an
older Detective by the name of Sato "Takashi Shimura." Sato brings a
sense of experience and objectivity keeping at bay the frustrations, anxiety,
and tension; all while holding together the clues and the emotionally torn
Murakami. As the movie progresses events occur to challenge that bond until
finally they become unglued and everything crashes together in the end.
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| Criterion has yet to release a blu-ray version |
History and impact (more vague spoilers)
Nora Inu started a generation of suspense and police drama
in Japan. It set a number of trends and introduced a number of methods and
tricks to the film industry. It's definitely worth watching if you're
interested in seeing the origin of such genres that shape the face of movies
today. There is some solid and creative cinematography and great contrasting
use of music in scenes of tension. The lighthearted carefree sound of La Paloma
is strongly contrasted in a scene depicting the apex of suspense and drama; as
a man and women dance to the playful tune, the antagonist gun in hand, spots
the unaware older detective Sato, who is on the phone with Murakami. This scene
is a benchmark of suspense in film and is one of my all time favorite scenes.
The use of contrasting music is once again used in the climax of action and
drama with the sounds of children singing during a dark and frustrated action
scene staring Murakami and antagonist Yusa "Isao Kimura". Though 60
years old, these scenes of suspense and emotion are still very effective in producing
the anxiety they were originally meant to convey. Sometimes these attempts are
lost on modern viewers that are accustomed to different acting techniques and modern
standards, but I think that Nora Inu is an exception to this.
Modern viewers vs fans of classic movies
Classic movie fans will dig right into this movie. It's
solid, but I can't candy coat it. The movie is from 1949 and it is in Japanese.
People that despise black and white movies or subtitles wont magically warm to
it. That said, this movie is really very good and folks that want to begin to
explore classics could definitively start their journey here.
Note about the pace and my conclusions
This is a fantastic standard setting movie. You don't need
to be some sort of film connoisseur to enjoy the movie or even see Nora Inu's
importance and impact on film. As usual, Akira kurasawa and crew do not
disappoint. The actors really do show depth of character and emotion at what
seems to be higher level than in typical movies of the era. Any student of
film, or fan of film history should really get a great deal of enjoyment from
Nora Inu. the early pacing of the movie is a bit tricky but once your knee
deep, the story elements will carry you away like a strong undertow. Give it
a shot, or seven, it's well worth it.
Highly Recommended.
This is interesting. I never knew much about Japanese films, so this gives me a brief introduction. Good work!
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