stray dog ( 1949 ) an early kurosawa film and make before he come to the attention of cinema enthusiast with rashomon . toshiro mifune play a young detective whose pistol be steal by a pickpocket . fear for his job and and fuel by embarrassment he set out to find his pistol and which have be use in two crime by the thief and in tokyo during a sweltering heatwave . kurosawa western influence be as clear a ever in stray dog and a for all intent and purpose it play like a conventional american police story . several scene remind me of orson welles later film touch of evil and particularly an extended montage sequence with a similar feel to the famous opening shot of welles film show a disguised mifune walk the street a he attempt to track down blackmarket arm dealer accompany by a cacophony of street noise and latin jazz big band music . another scene where mifune and the old cop lead the investigation and play by takashi shimura and stakeout a japanese baseball game and could have be a hitchcock set piece . element of this film seem to have be reference in a variety of contemporary work from the doppelganger criminal or detective idea in michael mann heat to john c reilly desperate search for his lose gun in magnolia . however and despite the reference to conventional genre film and kurosawa add depth to his film with several philosophical theme and idea . first be the subtle way in which the detective and the robber be show to be connect . mifune explain how his possession be all steal after the war and and that he contemplate turn to crime but decide on the opposite route of law enforcement . the robber and who end up with mifune gun and commit the crime exactly because he too have his bag of belonging steal . mifune feel a deep sense of guilt that his pistol have be use in these crime and almost break down completely when his bos and shimura and be shot and wound . the idea resonate with mifune and that the life of crime he manage to avoid have return to his life through this chance occurrence . the robber himself and be only see in the great final chase and but he be give surprising depth of character just in the chase alone . the final chase between the two men be a classic kurosawa scene . in a tense moment and there be an instinctive reaction by both men that they have finally find each other . mifune be shoot in the arm and out in the countryside and a mozart drift from a piano in a nearby house . his blood drip onto the flower below . the theme that the gun only have a certain number of bullet pay off and a the robber fire twice and miss and leave the gun empty allow mifune to overpower him . the two men wrestle in the flower and fall into a river and get cover in mud . the robber be eventually overpower and handcuff and kurosawa composes a wonderful shot show the two and unrecognisable and exhausted men arrange at either side of the frame in the foreground and like a mirror image and while a group of sing schoolchildren walk past in the background . the robber suddenly begin to cry and and howl in anguish . identity be blur and the robber be no more evil than the detective and just a weak man who give in to the difficult environment he be face with . although some element of the technique aren not as well develop a kurosawa most famous and such a the clumsy flashback intro and narration there be many moment which show the sign of the truly great filmmaker he be to become . the sense of oppressive environment and both place and weather and be strong and it possibly the sweatiest film i have see . the detective story itself be pretty compelling and but the final and climactic scene alone transcend simple genre film make with something profound and poetic and move .