Drunken Angel

Drunken Angel , Yoidore tenshi? is a 1948 Japanese yakuza film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is notable for being the first of sixteen film collaborations between director Kurosawa and actor Toshiro Mifune.

While looking for an actor to play Matsunaga, Kurosawa was told by one of the casting directors about Mifune, who was auditioning for another movie where he had to play an angry character. Kurosawa watched Mifune do this audition, and was so amazed by Mifune that he cast him as Matsunaga. On the films Criterion Collection DVD, Japanesefilm scholar Donald Richie comments that Kurosawa was impressed by the athletic agility and catlike moves of Mifune, which also had bearing in his casting.Censorship issues in Drunken Angel are covered extensively in a supplemental documentary by Danish film scholar LarsMartin Sorensen, created for the Criterion Collection DVD release of the film, entitled Kurosawa and the Censors. Produced and released during the American occupation in Japan, the Drunken Angel screenplay had to comply with a censorship board issued by the U.S. government. The board did not allow criticism of the occupation to be shown in Japanese films at that time. ........

Source: Wikipedia