PM Review

  I suppose Akira had written the screenplay of The Quiet Duel [1948] keeping two things mind. Seemingly, as for the sequel of Drunken Angel [1948]. On the basis of narrative structure and character psychology it is a good rendition and alter narrative of Drunken Angel.   As Akira commented in his Something Like Autobiography [1982]:   A sad truth in the film business is that when an actor succeeds in a particular role there is a tendency to keep casting him in similar roles. This stems, of course, from the convenience and advantage of those who use him, but for the actor himself there is no greater misfortune. Repeating the same role over and over, like a machine-stamped image, is unbearable. An actor who is not constantly given new roles and new subjects to tackle dries out and withers like a tree you plant in the garden and then fail to water.   Akira might have realized the above statement by giving Toshiro one of the most optimistic and angel-li...

  When I was reading Kurosawa’s autobiography [1982], I was so enthusiastic to know what he wrote about Mifune. When I came to know that how Akira along with Yama-san selected Toshiro for Toho studio, I was totally amazed that he opined:   “Mifune had a kind of talent I had never encountered before in the Japanese film world. It was, above all, the speed with which he expressed himself that was astounding. “   In 1948 he made Drunken Angel with Mifune as a gangster and when I started watching the movie, I was surprised to notice Takashi Shimura’a acting skills which had been lacking when I watched Rashomon & Seven Samurai. They acted like a magnificent duo in Japanese cinema.   The recurrent projections of damp swamp with Matsunaga ’s TB conditions and their link up with the destitution of women status in the movie reflected well the post-war dilapidations of social structure.   The dedication and sacrifice of Doctor Sanada [Takashi] for gan...