Stray Dog Blu-ray - Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Nora Inu" or "Stray Dog")

Japan 1949

A masterful mix of film noir and police thriller set on the sweltering mean streets of occupied Tokyo.

When rookie detective Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) has his pistol stolen from his pocket while on a bus, his frantic attempts to track down the thief lead him to an illegal weapons market in the Tokyo underworld. But the gun has already passed from the pickpocket to a young gangster, and Murakami’s gun is identified as the weapon in the shooting of a woman.

Murakami, overwhelmed with remorse, turns for help to his older and more experienced senior, Sato (a superb performance by Takashi Shimura). The race is on to find the shooter before he can strike again...

***

A bad day gets worse for young detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the stray dog whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, cop and criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side. Starring Toshiro Mifune, as the rookie cop, and Takeshi Shimura, as the seasoned detective who keeps him on the right side of the law, Stray Dog (Nora Inu) goes beyond a crime thriller, probing the squalid world of postwar Japan and the nature of the criminal mind through the great Akira Kurosawa.

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 17th, 1949

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Review: BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures:
Distribution	BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:02:22.293
Video	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 49,858,816,029 bytes Feature: 35,391,357,504 Video Bitrate: 34.82 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio Japanese 1536 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 256 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 256 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: BFI 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 49,858,816,029 bytes Feature: 35,391,357,504 Video Bitrate: 34.82 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Newly recorded audio commentary by Kenta McGrath • Newly recorded interview with Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp (30:27) • Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create – Stray Dog (2002, 32:39) FIRST PRESSING ONLY Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Barry Forshaw, archive essay by Philip Kemp and original review Blu-ray Release Date: January 27th, 2025 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: BFI Blu-ray (January 2025): BFI have transferred Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog to Blu-ray. It is quite a welcome bump over the out-of-print Criterion DVD that we reviewed back in 2004 (1000 spines ago), HERE which had visible damage marks and lines throughout. This new 1080P presentation is clean, has better layered contrast (darker in some spots - brghter in others) and shows more information in the frame - notably the top and two side edges. This is a remarkable upgrade of a film that deserved it a decade ago.

NOTE: We have added 84 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, BFI use a linear PCM mono track (16-bit) in the original Japanese language. Stray Dog has gunfire, exuberant baseball fans (shot at Korakuen Stadium - home to the Yomiuri Giants,) a nightclub performance plus more. There is a supportive score by Fumio Hayasaka (Ugetsu Monogatori, Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ikiru) who served as a musical mentor to Masaru Satō (Kurosawa's High and Low) and Tōru Takemitsu (Shinoda's Pale Flower, Teshigahara's Pitfall.) Plus in Stray Dog there is Iosif Ivanovici's The Waves of the Danube played on a harmonica outside the bar when Murakami follows Ogin - Offenbach's Barcarolle from "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" - Sonatina in C Major, Op.20, No. 1 composed by Friedrich Kuhlau played on the piano when Yusa has Murakami at gunpoint, La Paloma can be heard in the hotel and over the phone after Sato gets shot. also heard is Franz Wiedermann's German folk tune Hänschen klein (Lightly Row.) The audio can show its age but is another step up from the ancient DVD. BFI offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The BFI Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Japanese-Australian filmmaker Kenta McGrath. He is quite thorough and detailed making observations about the unattended children in the film, post-war Japan - especially Tokyo (where Kenta was initially from,) the sequences in which Detective Murakami (Toshiro Mifune) is reenacting his war-time service, and retracing his steps here he once spent time, and much more on Kurosawa, the cast etc. It's well-researched and rewarding. Great job Kenta. Also included is the 33-minute Stray Dog segment of the Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create Toho Masterworks documentary series narrated by Masayuki Yui. There is archive footage of Akira Kurosawa discussing Stray Dog, his opinion of the film and more. This was also on the Criterion DVD. There is also a new 1/2 hour interview with Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp (Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema, The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film) entitled A Japanese Tale where he discusses Stray Dog and its place within the director's cinematic oeuvre. Lastly, for the initial pressing is an illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Barry Forshaw (British Gothic Cinema,) an archival essay by Philip Kemp (Cinema The Whole Story) and the original review.

Akira Kurosawa's Stray Dog was the first time the director collaborated with screenwriter Ryuzo Kikushima - which would be followed by their efforts on such films as Throne of Blood (1957,) The Hidden Fortress (1958), Yojimbo (1961,) and High and Low (1963.) Kikushima also wrote the screenplay for Mikio Naruse's When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. Kurosawa has stated that Stray Dog was inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 noir crime procedural The Naked City. Kurosawa's chief assistant on Stray Dog was sci-fi icon Ishirō Honda (Godzilla, Atragon, Attack of the Mushroom People, The H-Man etc. etc.) and he occasionally doubled for Toshiro Mifune in medium shots. Kurosawa did not appreciate Stray Dog until later in his career where he praised the pacing and cited it as 'enjoyable'. Stray Dog is available in a non-English friendly 4K UHD edition (cover) HERE. I am very happy with the BFI Blu-ray - a much-needed a/v upgrade, new commentary, great cover, booklet etc. I consider this essential territory for its noir-ish atmosphere and riveting police investigation story. Stray Dog is an excellent buddy-cop thriller with a young Toshiro Mifune, and wise partner played by Takashi Shimura (Ikiru.) Strongly recommended.