WHAT IS THE KEY TO LIFE – POWER, PRESTIGE OR PEACE?
Some time in the 1800s, a young doctor (Noboru Kayama) is sent to a rural clinic against his wishes, but a senior physician (Toshiro Mifune) opens his eyes.
The last film Akira Kurosawa ever made with Mifune is not a story about a pirate, but a doctor who shows the younger generation the value of humanism. Celebrated as a masterpiece in Japan, dismissed by many in Europe and the U.S., this drama is certainly no ”hospital soap opera”, but a gorgeous, well-acted film that has a number of moving subplots, one of them lifted from the Dostoyevsky novel ”Humiliated and Insulted”.
Still, the running time is a problem.
1965-Japan. 185 min. B/W. Widescreen. Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Screenplay: Masato Ide, Hideo Oguni, Ryuzo Kikushima, Akira Kurosawa. Short Stories: Shugoru Yamamoto. Cinematography: Asakazu Nakai, Takao Saito. Cast: Toshiro Mifune (Kyojo ”Red Beard” Niide), Yuzo Kayama (Noboru Yasumoto), Tsutomu Yamazaki (Sahachi), Reiko Dan, Miyuki Kuwano, Kyoko Kagawa.
Trivia: Original title: Akahige. Remade in Japan in 2017 as a miniseries.
Venice: Best Actor (Mifune).
Last word: “The author of the book, Shuguro Yamamoto, had always opposed having his novels made into films. He made an exception with Red Beard because I persisted with merciless obstinacy until I succeeded. Yet, when he had finished viewing the film he turned to look at me and said: ‘Well it’s more interesting than my novel.’ […] He had a clear awareness of the inherent characteristics of cinema. The only thing he requested of me was that I be very careful with the protagonist, a complete failure of a woman, as he saw her. But the curious thing is that the idea of a failed woman was not explicit in his novel […] Upon seeing the films based on their books, some writers say: ‘That part of my novel is well portrayed.’ But they are actually referring to something that was added by the director. I understand what they are saying, because they may see clearly expressed on the screen, by sheer intuition on the part of the director, something they had meant to write but had not been able to.” (Kurosawa, The Los Angeles Times)