Hiro Narita, ASC
Stray Dog (1949)
"In 1949, before he made the acclaimed Rashomon, director Akira Kurosawa made Stray Dog, an extraordinary cinematic accomplishment. Shot by cinematographer Asakazu Nakai, Stray Dog, although technically less polished, is in some ways even more ambitious and experimental than Rashomon.
"The film follows novice detective Murakami [Toshiro Mifune] as he searches through the streets of Tokyo's underbelly for a thief who stole his gun. The postwar depression is captured in a documentary-style montage reminiscent of early Russian cinema, using quick cuts of faces, feet, and streets in double exposure, as well as the techniques of fades, dissolves, and long shadows. Clues to the elusive gun are left on the victims it claims. In one mesmerizing and impressionistic scene, Murakami captures the murderous gun thief one morning in a broad field. The two wrestle in the mud, both gasping for air, and it becomes less and less clear who is the captor and who is the captive. In the background high above them, a lady plays Mozart on a piano, while a group of children sing as they pass the men thrashing about in the summer flowers. As is the case in many other scenes, no words are spoken — the emotion of the scene is carried by the visuals and cutting.
"Natural phenomena such as rain, wind, and heat are essential to the storytelling. Perspiration glistens on faces, and both electric and hand fans are ever-present, as are white handkerchiefs. Their use is not solely expressionistic — they provide something to which the actors react and alter their body language. Rain also carries emotion. When a young woman gives Murakami a lead to the murderer's whereabouts, rain pours down the hot, suffocating streets. Meanwhile, another detective encounters the murderer in the rain and is unexpectedly shot. Rain links the two scenes both visually and symbolically.
"Once the documentary style sets up the story, Kurosawa choreographs the actors and camera with increasing precision and economy. Many scenes have three characters, and although such situations would often result in much coverage from different angles, Kurosawa keeps the camera stationary, having the characters move within the confines of the frame. The timing is precise, and the blocking part of the storytelling is sometimes intensified by having the actors speak with their backs to the camera, engaging the viewer's imagination beyond what is actually shown.
"At other times, Kurosawa intensifies the viewer's emotions with moving shots and active cuts, creating a rhythm by having these techniques offset and build on one another. Many individual images are startling and beautifully formal, and they become even more striking when juxtaposed. Most impressive is the way compositions are born of precise dramatic need, and how far they go beyond the act of 'seeing' and into the realm of the psychological — what I call 'imagery.' Although the making of images is based on the formalities of craft, visually expressing and choreographing a psychological whole is art. Kurosawa's early cinematic experiments in Stray Dog already show his ability to create the unique imagery we have come to know from his later films."
—as told to Mark Dillon
Hiro Narita's credits as a director of photography include Never Cry Wolf; Honey, I Shrunk the Kids; The Rocketeer; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, James and the Giant Peach and Conceiving Ada.
© 1999 ASC