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Red Beard - Criterion Collection Director: Akira Kurosawa Number of Items: 1 Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Format: Black & White, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 185 minutes Studio: Criterion Collection Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Region Code: 1 Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2002-07-16 Buy from Amazon |
 "Of Doctors and Samurai""Red Beard" is a difficult film. Kurosawa had always sought to blend entertainment with social impact. Many of his films, such as "Yojimbo" and "The Seven Samurai" are so much fun to watch that the viewer rarely notes the message being told. With "Red Beard," the balance of message and entertainment shifts to a more heavy-handed social commentary. There is no mistaking what Kurosawa is saying. However, "Red Beard" is a great film. Kurosawa's message is important, and worth hearing. The film's story flows like honey down an empty riverbed, and at about the same pace. Patience, the film tells us. Lessons are never learned without effort. Suffer for a while, and then you will understand. At over 3 hours in length, patience is necessary. There is little action to distract from the lesson. Being the last collaboration of Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune, "Red Beard" is a masterpiece of acting and direction. Mifune commands attention. His character Red Beard is a powerful physician, ruling both peasant and lord. The black and white film is powerful, making full use of the director's skill. Those who only know Kurosawa's Samurai films will have a difficult time with "Red Beard," I think. However, patience. The lesson is there. Relax. Enjoy. Learn. "Red Beard"Not only is this Kurosawa's best, but My all time Favorite movie ever made! "Classic Kurosawa"The last collaboration in a long and fruitlful one, Red Beard ushers in the beginning of new chapter for both Mifune and Kurosawa, but marks the ending of one of the most intruiging collaborations in film history. This is Mifune's second best performance behind Yojimbo. Classic Kurosawa, classic movie, classic Red Beard. "More Relevant Today Than Ever"In Japan "Akahige" has come to mean selfless devotion to mankind, something you see very rarely in the medical profession today. This movie, so many people have noted over the years, should be mandatory viewing for every young student aspiring to become a doctor. Yet this is also a movie about selfishness and common petiness. Red Beard's humanity contrasts vividly against a backdrop of poverty and injustice. Yuzo Kayama shines as the vein young doctor who is transformed to a selfless care giver of the poor as he interns under Red Beard played by Toshiro Mifune. Many of the subplots have become cliche over the years and the movie may lag at times, but over all, this is a great masterpiece. "One of the greatest films ever produced"In my opinion, this is one of Akira Kurosawa's best films, which means it is automatically a classic of world cinema. As way of introduction, I would personally say of myself that I am bit of a cynic- I certainly do not expect a movie to 'change my life'. Movies are meant as entertainment, and one shouldn't look for more than that in a flick. In the case of this film, however, I have seen something on the screen which has changed my perspective on things. I was deeply touched by the message of compassion in this film; not compassion as merely ones duty, or the contemptuous compassion of pity, but compassion as way of life. Compassion as a way of confirming the value of life. This is a powerful message- and a message that lingers long after the film is finished. It is inevitable that any story that attempts to convey a moral or an idea be a bit 'preachy' - the story will always find itself somewhat in service of the parable. But, as noted above, this is a Kurosawa film. We are in the hands of a master storyteller here, and it shows in every frame, every scene and in every performance, especially that of Toshiro Mifune. Kurosawa once again uses Mifune as the glue to hold a film together, and he once again delivers. Every performance in here is a gem, many of them given by actors Kurosawa has favored in other films. But these are all but planets to Mifune's sun. By any measure this is a great film. As with Seven Samurai, the length of the film is never felt to be excessive, as each moment of the movie is used to tell a compelling story. I feel fortunate that this film has finally been made available on DVD, where I will have the opportunity to enjoy it in years to come. Highly recommended. |
