MovieChat Forums > Nora inu (1963) Discussion > Too Technical? Great message but not gr...

Too Technical? Great message but not great to watch


to anyone who owns the BFI version of Stray Dog, i think i agree with Kurosawa's Sentiment in the sleeve notes that Stray Dog was a bit of a technical failure:

'It's just too technical. All that technique and not one real thought in it'

Of course, i believe Akira was being overly harsh here as i did enjoy the thesis that it is the environment which creates and supports badness in people. The way he utilises the womens' dress to emphasise this idea i thought to be a genuine touch of excellence and subtlety in what is an otherwise very austere -- and indeed overly technical -- genre piece.


Ultimately, i found the first 30 minutes and last 40 minutes to be very good. But then i found the middle 50 minutes to sag like a hamak and weigh the film down to such an extent that i was considering writing this off as a studio genre piece with nothing to say about the human psyche. An empty, albeit well shot trifle.

Fortunately, i turned out to be mistaken as the film really begins to show it's hand when Mifune visits Shimura's family, extending to the points where Mifune begins to emphasise with the killer (nurture not nature) and Shimura begins to display his rugged cynicsim; beautifully underlining the film's message that eventually, society will have its way with us. Over time and circumstance it shall weigh us down...

And it is a case of Whether this manifests up into our actions through tangible criminal activity [as predominantly depicted in the film], or more gravely and intangibly into our personality to where we erect personal defences against it, becoming cold and cynical people just to get by...

'Society is Bad' is what Kurosawa was saying and yet he always magically finds a way to make this feel positive in depicting such things as the innocence and ambivalence of nature [blood dripping onto the flower], the beer and food from the thief, the children who fall asleep like pumpkins, the knowing scream of pain from the culprit or even the benevolent naivety and empathy shown by Mifune towards him.

In all, a great message marred by an adherence to genre and technique.

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