Thought to be the first depiction of the post-WWII yakuza, Drunken Angel is Akira Kurosawa’s first critical success and first directorial collaboration with Kurosawa regulars Toshirō Mifune and Takashi Shimura. Set in a snapshot of poverty-stricken post-war Tokyo, an uneasy bond is forged when alcoholic doctor Sanada (Shimura) diagnoses low-level yakuza Matsunaga (Mifune) with tuberculosis, nursing his health whilst reflecting on his own internal demons. Their relationship is thrown into turmoil when Matsunaga’s oath-sworn brother returns from prison, turning both men down a path of self-destruction and adversity. 

Drunken Angel is featured as part of Gangsters Have Feelings Too, a season exploring the sensitive gangster film. The season is presented with the National Film and Television School’s Film Studies, Programming and Curation MA.