Stray Dog — Stray Dog( Blu Ray)
Stray Dog is a pacy, engaging, and wonderfully shot example of where Japanese noir meets police thriller. The 1940s film is set in sweltering heat heat-bound Tokyo- following the plight of a rookie cop who tries to track down his stolen service gun. Taking him on a real adventure, from going uncover trailing the city streets, into a baseball stadium, through dances collapsed chorus line dressing rooms, into mist morning countryside. Here from the BFI is a new Blu-Ray release of the film- taking in a new crisp ‘n’ clean 4k scan, a new commentary track, and a few other extras.
Stray Dog (Nora Inu) is from 1949- it was directed/ co-written by Tokyo-born Akira Kurosawa. His work is known for its bold and dramatic style/ look, which is often influenced by Western cinema- yet still informed by Eastern culture. Between the early 40s and early 90s, he has thirty features to his name- these move from period drama/ adventure The Men Who Tread On The Tigers Tail (1945). Onto epic romantic drama The Idiot (1951), though to police procural thriller High And Low (1963), onto adventure-come-moving drama Dersu Uzala (1975).
The film is centred around rookie homicide Detective Murakami (Toshirô Mifune) who while on a crowned bus gets his service pistol stolen. Initially, he is deeply embarrassed and upset, but this soon hardens to focus on the tiring/draining police work.
It’s set around a boiling hot summer in Tokyo- with Murakami being joined on his investigation by his superior Chief Detective Sato( Takashi Shimura) who takes the young man under his wing.
The film runs at two hours and two minutes, and with a fairly slim premise/ plot of locating a stolen gun- you may imagine that the film drags/ is overstretched. But it’s far from either, as we get a selection of great/well-filmed locations, as well as a generally intriguing mystery of trying to track down the gun- which is seemingly been hired out for different crimes.
Mifune is a perfect choice as the lead- shifting between naïve and embarrassed, though enraged and emotional, to focused and determined. Shimura is good as his fatherly-like like character-showing him the ropes, relating his long experience in the force, and sharpening the younger man's policing talents.
Along the pair's investigation/ adventure we meet a whole load of memorable characters from a street-wise female crook, to a vain-want-to-be gangster hotel porter, through to a sweat-drenched and tearful chorus line girl, to a distraught tomato-squashing husband. Both Kurosawa's storytelling and eye for interesting short use are spot on- and you really feel the director's passion for great and wholly engaging cinema.
The newly released region B features a new 4k scan- this sees a wonderfully defined black-and-white print- full of depth and clarity. On the extras side, we get a few things. First, on the new side, we have a commentary track from Japanese-Australian filmmaker Kenta McGrath. He begins by discussing the opening credits of the panting dog, the way it was filmed, and the possible meaning behind these choices. He talks about how the film is full of fascinating lags and detours, and talks about the leads character arc. He points out interesting motifs in the film- both the obvious and less obvious, examples of the former being screens and measures, and the latter being children- often without parents. He discusses the use of multiple different plains within shots, and the recently rebuilt city of Tokyo as a backdrop to the action. He comments on moments of creative use of music in the film. Later on, he discusses the differences between the two lead characters, and much more. A most informative/interesting track- which I can see playing again.
The other new on-disc extra here is A Japanese Tale (30.27) which is an interview with Kurosawa scholar Jasper Sharp. He goes from talking about how Kurosawa was one of the most known Japanese directors outside of the country due to worldwide releases of films such as Rashomon and Seven Samurai in the 1950s. We find out Stray Dog was the director's ninth feature length, and was very much an under-occupation film. We find out the film was influenced by a true case where a cop had his gun stolen, which was reported nationwide in Japan when it happened. Kurosawa first took six weeks to write a novel of the story- which he then adapted into script form, though this took longer than expected. We find out that when making the film the director was inspired by 1948’s The Naked City- but he didn't like the end result- as he found it took technical. He finishes off by discussing where the film sits in Kurosawa filmography, and how each of his films is very different. An excellent/ informative featurette.
Lastly, we have archived extra Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create – Stray Dog (32.39) a 2002 Toho documentary regarding the film. The finished release features an Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Barry Forshaw, an archival essay by Philip Kemp, Akira Kurosawa writing on the film, notes on the special features and film credits.
Stray Dog is an engaging and eventful mix of noir and police thriller- with wonderful performances and filmmaking throughout. This new Blu-Ray features a wonderful scan, and some excellent extras. So, a must-buy release!