Stray Dog
Dir: Akira Kurosawa
1949
*****
Film noir arrives on the sweltering streets of Tokyo in Akira Kurosawa's ninth feature, one of the last of his to have a contemporary setting. Driven by guilt, a young policeman hunts down the criminal that stole his issued pistol, helped by an older more experienced detective who acts as mentor in what is an engaging thriller. It's a completely different narrative to what was usual in the genre and it is the blue print to the 'Buddy' cop film and a very stylish and engrossing suspense film although it has to be said that is based heavily on Jules Dassin's 1948 The Naked City. Stray Dog is more existential then The Naked City's documentary style and even though Kurosawa himself thought the film was too technical and without real thought, he actually opened up a new sub-genre to filmmakers and cinema lovers. I believe it was working with the American distributors that maybe tainted Kurosawa's opinion of the production, after a misunderstanding regarding an animal featured in the film the great director remarked that it was the only time in his life that he'd wished Japan had won World War II. It's far from his best film but then even his lesser films are nothing short of masterpieces.