Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Drunken Angel returns Toho to their bleak, dark roots and on this occasion it certainly worked no end.It tells the story of the tremulous relationship between an alcoholic doctor and his violent mafia member patient. The doctor see's his younger self in the Yakuza and set's about going the extra mile to help him despite being fought every stage along the way.After a series of mediocre Toho films I was already losing faith in the Kurosawa hype, therefore this came as a really pleasant surprise to me.Powerful, hard hitting and wonderfully constructed Drunken Angel is by far the best Toho movie I've seen thus far.The Good:Well writtenSome poignant momentsThe Bad:Things I Learnt From This Movie:Bullets come out of a persons body in the same condition they went inI'd have let them get typhus......and that's reason no.57579853789 why I should never have kids

Dr Takashi Shimura (Sanada) is a local doctor in Japan shortly after the war has ended. The district he works in is in decay and is ruled by gangsters. The scary gang leader in this particular locale is Toshiro Mifune (Matsunaga). He gets the girls and he doesn't pay for things on market stalls - he's the main man. One problem, though, he's ill with TB and visits the Dr. Here begins an unlikely friendship. It's tempestuous. And you can say that again! One day, the previous gang leader Reizaburo Yamamoto (Okada) is released from prison and returns to town.....The film mainly concentrates on the relationship between Dr and patient and we get a lot of humour out of this interaction. They are both nuts! And they both like a drink. If you're going to boss the town, don't get yourself into a drunken, paralytic stupour. You need to be in control. You don't find the drug dealers at the top of their game actually taking the drugs they distribute. They run things as a sobering business. Just a top tip for anyone interested in pursuing this avenue. The film develops at a slow pace but it is more of a character study of the 2 main actors. The "drunken angel" refers to the Dr as he can't help his passion for putting people right but he's also a bit of a lush. I had a doctor like that until recently. He retired early to spend more time drinking in the local pubs. He also didn't mince his words just like our drunken angel of the film.

This is an early gem from Kurosawa who was working with actor Toshiro Mifune for the second time. However the standout performance for me in this film is Takashi Shimura as the Drunken Angel (Shimura plays the titular character who is a Doctor), this is one of his great performances, whereas I find Mifune's acting too "big" in this film. I still believe however, that Mifune was arguably the greatest of all screen actors. The scenes between Mifune and Shimura are powerful , something Kurosawa would continue to use in many future films. Reizaburô Yamamoto is also excellent as the gangster Okada.There are certainly some hidden sentiments about the then American Occupation of Japan in this film and I find the swamp in the middle of the set very interesting as if it represents the underlying darkness of the situation in Japan at the time seeping out onto the surface. We also see this in a more mundane form of the Gangsters and Japan taking on aspects of the American lifestyle that Kurosawa does not appear to approve of. As can be seen in other films of Kurosawa's such as Yojimbo, Kurosawa displays his complete contempt for Gangsters in Drunken Angel. There is nothing glamorous about the gangsters in this picture, they are shown for what Kurosawa believes them to be, venal and depraved human beings who create a lot of human misery. Having said that, the strong humanist streak that is ever present in Kurosawa's films is also found in the character of the Drunken Angel, his long suffering helpers at his Medical Clinic and his student patient who is eventually completely cured of TB.Kurosawa said about Drunken Angel that this was the first time he felt he had found his own style. This film is undoubtedly that of a master film maker.

Drunken Angel (1948) *** (out of 4) Straight-forward and simple drama about the troubled relationship between a low level gangster (Toshiro Mifune) dying of tuberculosis and the drunken doctor (Takashi Shimura) trying to save him during post-war Japan. There are a lot of different genres on display in this early Kurosawa film including noir, gangster and an odd couple drama. The three don't always mix too well together but Kurosawa's great direction mixed with the great lead performances make this a must see even if the gang would go onto much better films. What works the best here are the performances by Shimura and Mifune. The two men work extremely well together because they make their characters so well rounded to the point where you feel as if you know everything about the men. Mifune really digs deep into the gangster and this leads to many well acted scenes including the drunken one where the gangster must finally realize how serious his disease is. Shimura clearly steals the film as the angry and often times bitter, if still caring, drunken doctor. The amount of anger he displays with his character while still making us understand why he cares so much is perfectly done by the actor. Cheiko Nakakita and Reizaburo Yamamoto are also very good in their supporting roles of the nurse and gang boss. The cinematography is also top-notch especially a dream like sequence where the dying gangster invisions himself as a zombie-like creature. This scene is very effective as is another where spitting blood is involved. I think at times the film is way too over dramatic and this includes many scenes dealing with the "swampness" of Japan. Even with that said, this is still a very impressive drama that fans of Kurosawa will want to check out.