There’s just so much to say about Stray Dog that I don’t know where to start. An older, grittier Kurosawa film that deals with questions of re-adjustment and morals in Japanese post-war society; great visual style that fits the mood of the film perfectly; top notch acting from a younger Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura; all centered around a cop drama narrative.

This film makes for an interesting parallel with classical American film noirs from the same time period as they deal with a lot of the same themes despite being opposite sides in World War II and being of completely different cultures (ex. the sweltering heat v. a continuous rain). Great if you’re taking a class on international cinema because there’s just so much here to think about.

I never knew much about Kurosawa’s non-samurai films, but I was pleasantly surprised with Stray Dog, and I’m interested to see if the other noir films (The Lower Depths, The Bad Sleep Well) are just as good.