Details
Movie Description
In his final collaboration with Akira Kurosawa, Toshirô Mifune portrays Dr. Kyojio "Red Beard" Niide, a gruff but caring head doctor at a 19th-century clinic for the poor. Sorely in need of competent assistance, Red Beard takes on a new intern, the ambitious Noboru Yasumoto (Yuzo Kayama). However, Yasumoto isn't made aware of his appointment until after he's visited the facility and seen its grim conditions and impoverished patients. Initially, the brash young physician rebels against the wise elder and declines his duties, but gradually Yasumoto begins to respect Red Beard and his difficult yet essential work. As Yasumoto slowly acclimates to the clinic, the story also follows the lives (and deaths) of various patients.
Truly the end of an era, RED BEARD marks the dissolution of the Kurosawa/Mifune partnership and also Kurosawa's last black-and-white production. Although surprisingly little has been written about the rift between Mifune and Kurosawa, it's likely that tensions were largely due to the film's grueling two-year shoot. Despite the drama behind the camera, RED BEARD remains one of Kurosawa's underrated classics. Although Mifune is best known for his earlier roles as an impetuous youth, here he gives a mature, though no less vital, performance, echoing the mentor character Takashi Shimura played in STRAY DOG, SEVEN SAMURAI, and other Kurosawa movies. (However, Mifune does get one action-packed, YOJIMBO-worthy fight scene.) In turn, Kayama admirably fills the role of the headstrong young intern. A sort of period-piece MASH or ER, RED BEARD is a moving drama that uses doctors and patients to address the timeless notion of trying to be a good person in an often cruel world.
Synopsis
Red Beard is an aging, crusty Japanese physician, who is an enigma to his peers. When an ambitious medical student becomes his assistant, the two form an unlikely bond, as the elder doctor teaches his protege not only medicine, but about human nature, and love.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Single Side - Dual Layer
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary - 1. Stephen Prince - Film Scholar
Trailers - 1. Orginal U.S. Trailer
Text/Galleries:
Notes - 1. Donald Ricie - Japanese Film Historian
Industry Reviews
"...Meticulous and perfectionist as ever, Kurosawa had an entire small town constructed for the film..."
Sight and Sound - Philip Kemp (11/01/2003)
"[B]eguiling..."
Uncut - Andrew Sumner (01/01/2004)
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