Drunken Angel

         I saw the film "Drunken Angel" a few nights ago, which was directed by Akira Kurosawa, and I really enjoyed it! The movie was filled with so much raw emotion and inner conflict. The characters felt like real, relatable humans, not simple tools meant to only enterain us for an hour or so. You could tell that Kurosawa really put a lot of effort into developing these people, and I can very much appreciate such hard work. The actors get so much into their characters that I sometimes forgot that it wasn't real. Also, the angles of the camera were beautiful and well-thoughtout. I don't want to spoil the movie too much, so I'll try my best to talk about it without ruining it.

        The story takes place in postwar Japan, where a doctor named Sanada runs a small clinic in the slums of Tokyo.When a thug named Matsunaga, who is a part of the Yuzuka mafia, comes to him with a hurt hand (which he claimed was caused by a nail), the doctor discovers that the man has tuberculosis and tries to convince him to get proper treatment for it. As the story goes on, we see both Doctor Sanada and Matsunaga interact with one another on a regular basis, and most of these interactions end up with them fighting. The love-hate relationship between these two is a very fascinating part of the movie. Sanada is constantly trying to assist Matsunaga with his illness, and Matsunaga is constanty rejecting his advice and causing more pain for himself. The doctor also always claims that he's done trying to help Matsunaga but always comes back to attempt to get him out of bad situation when he needs it. Perhaps Sanada saw a piece of himself in Matsunaga. And by helping him, he is hoping that he will feel some sort of redemption in the end if he heals/changes Matsunaga. The doctor and the thug are actually quite similar when it comes down to it. They both have an alcohol problem, and they are both very stubborn, which is probably why they are always butting heads.

           Though both of the characters are very much alike, they both recieve very different endings. Matsunaga had a chance at happiness and redemption, but he was too caught up in his anger and stubborness that he could never really achieve true satisfaction. The doctor's ending could be classified as optimistic and hopeful. Perhaps, the young girl is Sanada's means of changing his stubborn drunk ways as she is the opposite of him (compliant and open-minded)?

          Overall, it was a great movie! It was beautifully filmed and written. The characters and the plot are engaging and deep. I highly suggest that if you haven't seen it, you should give it a watch. It is a little long (2 hours or so), but it's very much worth your time.