Drunken Angel Thesis

The film Drunken Angel, considered to be Akira Kurosawa's breakthrough film that demonstrated his talent. Drunken Angel released in 1948, it is one of the postwar Japanese films. The film stars two actors who were Kurosawa favorite actors, Takashi Shimura and Toshiro Mifune. The synopsis of the film is about a doctor, who is an alcoholic. He struggles to make a difference in a neighborhood that is full of crime. Although some people may consider it is a film noir, it carries a more positive message that other typical noirish films. The main characters of the film are Dr. Sanda (Takashi Shimura), the alcoholic doctor trying to treat tuberculosis in a lower class area. Matsunaga (Toshiro Mifune), a local gangster who dominates the neighborhood. Okada (Reisaburo Yamamoto), a gangster recently released from prison. Nanae (Michiyo Kogure), a woman works in a nightclub. Miyo (Chieko Nakakita), the nurse who assists Dr. Sanada at his clinic. Gin (Noriko …show more content…
Doctor Sanada is an alcoholic and always drinks his own alcohol that is supposed to be used for his practice. This causes him to lose reputation in the local community. However, Sanada's awareness of his weaknesses makes him sympathetic when he sees his own flaws reflected in others, like Matsunaga. So he tries to help them. Sanada recognizes the inherent conflicts in his own career, when he said this to nurse Miyo, "It's silly to be a doctor, anyway. Doctors need people who are ill, and yet they try to cure them." But he still does it nonetheless. For Matsunaga, he shows himself to be sufficiently reflective to be able to recognize rational recommendations from Sanada. But his decotion to his maintaining face in the local community is ruinous, and this is a key theme of the film. Doctor Sanada's assistant, Miyo, used to be the mistress of another gangster, Okada, who is about to be released from