Stray Dog

Akira Kurosawa’s classic police procedural starring a luminous Toshiro Mifune screens in honor of what would have been the superstar actor’s 96th birthday. On a sweltering summer day, a rookie detective named Murakami (Mifune) has his pistol stolen on a crowded city bus. Panicked, he scours the bustling streets of downtown Tokyo for clues, aided by a seasoned section chief (Takashi Shimura). As Murakami gets closer to recovering the pistol, however, the distinction between himself and the criminal who stole it starts to become less and less clear. Stray Dog plunges deep into the anxiety and moral ambiguity of immediate postwar Japan with Kurosawa’s masterful visual flair.
 
1949, 122 min., 35mm, b&w, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. With Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Isao Kimura, Keiko Awaji, Reisaburo Yamamoto.

Part of Monthly Classics
Year-round screenings of beloved classics, hidden gems and recent discoveries of Japanese cinema on the first Friday of every month.