Drunken Angel
1948 · Movie · NR · 98 min · ★ 7.6 · 89% critics
In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor treats a swaggering young gangster he suspects has tuberculosis, and an uneasy bond forms between them. Their fragile trust is tested when the gangster’s former boss returns, pulling him back toward the grim underworld they can’t seem to outrun.
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Watch free on Plex and Fawesome — also streaming on Kanopy, TCM and The Criterion Channel.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Original title
- 酔いどれ天使
- Years
- 1948
- Release date
- 1948-04-27
- Language
- Japanese
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 98 min
- Critic score
- 89/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.6/10 (310 votes)
About
If you like gritty postwar crime dramas with a hard-edged doctor and a turbulent gangster bond, you’ll likely enjoy Drunken Angel; Not for you if you want light entertainment or fast plot momentum, as it may feel heavy like High and Low.
Pros: tough doctor dynamic; grim postwar atmosphere; charged performances | Cons: rough, slow stretches; bleak subject matter; sporadic dialogue/clarity
Themes
- japan
- gangster
- yakuza
- doctor
- alcoholic
- tuberculosis
Cast & crew
Takashi Shimura
as Sanada
Toshirō Mifune
as Matsunaga
- RY
Reizaburo Yamamoto
as Okada
Michiyo Kogure
as Nanae
Chieko Nakakita
as Miyo
Noriko Sengoku
as Gin
Shizuko Kasagi
as Singer
Eitarō Shindō
as Takahama
Masao Shimizu
as Oyabun
Taiji Tonoyama
as Shop Proprietor
Directed by Akira Kurosawa