Akahige (1965)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Masato Ide (writer)
Ryuzo Kikushima (writer)

Release Date:

19 December 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In a charity hospital, a hard-bitten but honorable older doctor, Dr. Niide, takes a young intern under...

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Suicide | One Word Title | Landslide | 19th Century

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 9 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Dr. Kyojio Niide, 'Akahige' ['Red Beard']
Yuzo Kayama	...	Dr. Noboru Yasumoto
Tsutomu Yamazaki	...	Sahachi
Reiko Dan	...	Osugi
Miyuki Kuwano	...	Onaka
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Madwoman
Tatsuyoshi Ehara	...	Genzo Tsugawa (as Tatsuya Ebara)
Terumi Niki	...	Otoyo
Akemi Negishi	...	Okuni, the mistress
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Dr. Handayu Mori
Eijirô Tono	...	Goheiji
Chishu Ryu	...	Mr. Yasumoto
Takashi Shimura	...	Tokubei Izumiya
Haruko Sugimura	...	Kin, the madam
Kinuyo Tanaka	...	Madame Yasumoto, Noboru's mother

Also Known As:

Red Beard (International: English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

185 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Perspecta Stereo

Certification:

Sweden:15 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Singapore:PG | UK:15 (re-rating) (2002) | UK:X (original rating)

Company:

Kurosawa Production Co.

Trivia:

Principal photography took two years.

Quotes:

Genzo Tsugawa: We knew you were coming two weeks ago. It seems he likes you. He's unfriendly to people he likes. Not me. He never finds fault with me. He ignores me completely.

The end of an era

Red Beard marked the end of an era for Kurosawa. It was the last of his period costume dramas (excluding Ran and Kagemusha, though these were more of a glorious revisit to his 'old' style anyhow), the last film he shot in black and white, and the last film he ever made with Toshiru Mifune, thus ending what is, to me at least, the finest director-actor pairing in the history of cinema. Perhaps it is for these reasons that I look on this film with so much fondness, and it remains one of my favourite Kurosawa films (alongside Ran and Rashomon). That aside, it is also filled with warmth and sincerity, but then that's to be expected from the man I consider to be the greatest director of all time. Highly recommended.