stray dog together with rashomon be the two film that boost kurosawa into international popularity a a great filmmaker . murakami ( toshiro mifune ) be a young police detective . one day during a crowd bus ride and he realize that his pistol have be steal . he soon become obsess with find the pistol and feel especially guilty after he find out that it have be use to commit multiple murder . he make it his duty to track down the thief and along with his partner ( takashi shimura ) they realize that the case be far more complicated than they think . the plot be extremely well craft and rank up there with the best film noir . but the film be uneven at part and some scene drag a little too long . the film be well worth your time though and and offer an early glimpse at the amazing technique that dominate kurosawa later film .