Before they become rabid!

Stray Dog (野良犬 Nora Inu, Japanese; 1949)
Story & Director: Akira Kurosawa

Unlike some police forces which take their loss of weapons lightly, like writing them off as lost in the toilet bowl or lost at sea, Murakami, a rookie homicide detective, gets all uptight when he got his police gun pickpocketed whilst travelling on a crowded train. He feels so guilty and is determined to get back his gun before it goes into a bad use.

It is postwar Japan with modernisation showing its appearance in every walk of life. It looks like even though the Japanese were severely wounded by the Americans, instead of sulking and harakiri themselves or going ballistic against their aggressors, they decide to embrace the culture of the victors. Throughout the movie, most men are dressed in suit and hat. Ladies have shed their kimonos for modern dresses. Even the children are singing nursery rhymes to the tune of English ones. And their attraction of the week is a baseball game.

In a way, this film subtly tells the metamorphic change in post-war Japan. It also shows disgruntled veterans going wayward, feeling frustrated after the war.

The high strung Murakami is paired with an old-timer, Sato, in his investigations. Sato, in his own calm way, extracts information from a suspected accomplice. From there, the search eventually led to the actual pickpocket, but he had already sold it off at the black market.

Here, the story shows the other side of post-war of Japan where poverty and evil ruled.
Meanwhile, it comes to attention from ballistic reports that Murakami's gun had been used for robbery and murder. Murakami is further depressed and frustrated for his carelessness in the first place. The pacifying factor seems to be Sato who calms him down with life experiences. Together, they (especially Murakami) learns about life.

They tracked down the gun to be in possession of a certain Yaso. To track him, they had to track down his girlfriend, Harumi, a showgirl. Here, we are exposed to the other side of the criminal Yaso. He is an ex-Army man just like Murakami who served in the war. He is capable of showing affection to Harumi. Just like Murakami who had lost his luggage on the train on his return to a chaotic Japan after the mayhem of war. Unlike Murakami, Yaso put the blame of his stresses of life and disappointment on the society and decide to tread the side of crime.

In a suspenseful finale, Yaso is apprehended.
Why stray dog, you may wonder? Well, that is precisely the duty of a policeman. They are supposed to catch the stray dogs before they become rabid and pose a menace to society—highly recommendable 4.5/5.