Viewed: 31 May 2005
Directed by: Akira Kurosawa
Listed in: Movies, Netflix

A very young Toshirô Mifune plays a rookie cop who gets his gun stolen on the bus. It being very hard to get a gun in Japan, it is of up most importance to him to find it, especially after it is involved in a murder. Early in the film Kurosawa creates a panicked, claustrophobic Tokyo. Later Mifune gets the help of the senor Detective Sato, but it doesn’t lessen his anxiety. The Tokyo of Stray Dog reminds me of the stuffy atmosphere of the city in Ikiru, except with an added heat wave. You can see the frustration and anger in Mifune’s eyes, when he finally finds who has his gun he is about to explode.