Stray Dog and Toshiro Mifune

Watched Stray Dog last night. Really good movie. I wonder, after watching High and Low what kind of a think Akira Kurosawa had for police procedural dramas. This one was much more compelling, I think. The reason I really liked it, however, is because of Toshiro Mifune's incredibly compelling performance. Very restrained, until the climactic moment. After watching a lot of his work, I'm beginning to realize why people admire his acting work so much. His character from Rashomon was so hyperactive, but he almost underacts in Stray Dog. Very well done.



Handsome sumbitch, too, I have to say. It's interesting that his characters always have this undercurrent of sadness; even in the beginning of High and Low, before the kidnapping, he was reserved, almost mournful. A similar sort of thing happens here, though it's obvious about what he is tormented.