Red Beard (Akahige)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Written by Masato Ide, Hideo Oguni, Ryuzo Kikushima, and Akira Kurosawa
1965/Japan
Kurosawa Production Co./Toho Company
First viewing/FilmStruck
[box] Dr. Noboru Yasumoto: It smells like rotten fruit.
Genzo Tsugawa: It’s the smell of the poor.[/box]
Three hours was at least an hour too many for this underwhelming tale.
Dr. Noboru Yashimoto has dreams of becoming head physician to the shogun. He is assigned for post-medical training to the non-profit clinic of Dr. Kyojio Niide (Toshiro Mifune) known by all as “Red Beard”. Red Beard is gruff and demanding to his students but kind to his many poor patients. Yashimoto is appalled by the rules and conditions of the clinic and is determined to leave.
Gradually, Yashimoto learns the value of a life of service.
Akira tells a quietly philosophical story without much action. He certainly did not need 3 hours and 5 minutes to do it. This is high-quality filmmaking and the acting is good but I never did get invested in it.
This was Kurosawa’s last black-and-white film and last collaboration with Mifune.
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