Shockingly (or perhaps not), Toshirô Mifune delivers one of his best performances in his first Akira Kurosawa-directed film. Takashi Shimura is his equal here and seeing the two Kurosawa legends interact so closely at the top of their games is a real treat, not to mention their narrative relationship as the elder doctor Shimura bluntly scolds the young yakuza Mifune like a spoiled son. Drunken Angel is one of the easiest Kurosawa stories to digest, which makes up for its lack of major spark or payoff.