Drunken Angel (Yoidore tenshi)

1948, 98 min., 35mm, b&w. In Japanese with English subtitles.

Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Written by Keinosuke Uekusa. Cinematography by Takeo Ito. Music by Fumio Hayasaka. With Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune, Michiyo Kogure, Reizaburo Yamamoto, Chieko Nakakita, Noriko Sengoku. Distributed by Janus Films and Home Vision Entertainment.  

Toshiro Mifune plays an irresistibly alluring young gangster whose power over the streets and a beautiful woman is gradually undermined by tuberculosis. Confusion and corruption in the black markets, dance halls and back alleys fill this early Akira Kurosawa film with the unruly energy of the period following the Japanese defeat in WW II.

Tickets: $10; Japan Society members, seniors & students $5.