Red Beard

Some Kurosawa authorities, Donald Richie prominent among them, cite Red Beard as the final film of Kurosawa’s greatest period, and argue that he never again reached such artistic heights (although we’d certainly make a case for 1985’s magnificent Ran). Red Beard is, in any event, a watershed work for the master: his final film in black-and-white, and his last collaboration with leading man Toshiro Mifune — thus ending what has been called “the greatest actor-director team in film history” (David Shipman). A towering humanist epic set in the early 19th century, the film has Mifune as a gruff but caring doctor committed to fighting poverty as well as illness in the slums of Edo. When intern Yasumoto (Yuzo Kayama), arrogant, socially ambitious, and puffed up with a European medical degree, is posted to his clinic, Red Beard must teach the young man a lesson or two in humility and compassion. Mifune was named Best Actor at Venice for his role. The film is tour de force of meticulous period design, and a virtual summation of the themes that dominate the director’s oeuvre; Kurosawa described Red Beard as “a monument to goodness in man.” “A remarkable Education sentimentale, Dostoevskian in overtones . . . Kurosawa’s style is simple, yet every scene is full of revealing details and images of extraordinary beauty. Mifune gives a superb performance in an extremely difficult role” (Sadoul, Dictionary of Films). B&W, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles. 185 mins.