Shizukanaru ketto (1949)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Kazuo Kikuta (play)
Akira Kurosawa (writer)

Release Date:

30 November 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In 1944, in WWII, Dr. Kyoji Fujisaki cuts his finger with the scalpel during a surgery in a field hospital...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Syphilis | Nurse | Based On Play

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Dr. Kyoji Fujisaki
Takashi Shimura	...	Dr. Konosuke Fujisaki
Miki Sanjo	...	Misao Matsumoto
Kenjiro Uemura	...	Susumu Nakada
Chieko Nakakita	...	Takiko Nakada
Noriko Sengoku	...	Apprentice Nurse Rui Minegishi
Jyonosuke Miyazaki	...	Cpl. Horiguchi
Isamu Yamaguchi	...	Patrolman Nosaka
Shigeru Matsumoto	...	Boy with appendicitis
Hiroko Machida	...	Nurse Imai
Kan Takami	...	Laborer
Kisao Tobita	...	Boy with typhoid
Shigeyuki Miyajima	...	Officer
Tadashi Date	...	Father of boy with appendicitis
Etsuko Sudo	...	Mother of boy with appendicitis

Also Known As:

A Silent Duel
The Quiet Duel

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:12 (2007)

Company:

Daiei Motion Picture Company

Trivia:

Censors for the American Occupation Forces ordered changes to the script by Akira Kurosawa and Senkichi Taniguchi, especially the bleak ending in which Kyoji goes mad. They were concerned that people with syphilis would be too horrified to seek treatment.

Heartbreaking Inner Duel between Conscience and Desire

In 1944, in WWII, Dr. Kyoji Fujisaki (Toshirô Mifune) cuts his finger with the scalpel during a surgery in a field hospital and is infected by spirochete from his patient Susumu Nakada (Kenjiro Uemura). After the blood test, he realizes that he has contracted syphilis, but he does not have the necessary medicine to treat the disease. He advises Nakada to seek medical treatment for his disease. In 1946, after the war, he breaks off his six years engagement with his beloved fiancée Misao Matsumoto (Miki Sanjo) but he does not tell the truth to her to let her go and find another man to get married. The hopeless apprentice nurse Rui Minegishi (Noriko Sengoku) witnesses Kioji injecting Salvarsan to treat his syphilis, and first she misunderstands why the doctor is sick. Later, after discovering the truth about his disease, she changes her behavior and becomes the confident listener of the doctor's inner feelings. When Kyoji accidentally meets Nakada in the police station of his town and finds that his wife is pregnant, he warns the reckless man about the risk of his lack of responsibility to his wife and baby.

"Shizukanaru Ketto" is a little and quite unknown gem from Master Akira Kurosawa, with a heartbreaking tale about the inner duel between conscience and desire of a pure and good doctor contaminated by a corrupt and dirty patient. Like in "Yoidore Tenshi" ("Drunken Angel") from the previous year, the story may be also interpreted in a metaphoric sense that reflects the moment of after-war society in Japan, where "a pure man is contaminated by the dirtiness and only three, five or ten years later he will be healed after a long treatment". The strong code of honor of Japanese people in the 40's explains the shame that would be for Dr. Fyoji to disclose that he had the dishonored syphilis. His sacrifice, hiding the truth from Misao, to give a chance to his twenty-seven year-old fiancée to find another husband is awesome. But the emotional scene when Kyoji discloses his feelings to Minegishi made my eyes wet, and is one of the most heartbreaking dialogs I have seen in a classic movie. Last but not the least; the story never becomes a melodramatic soap-opera due to the superb direction of Mr. Kurosawa. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Duelo Silencioso" ("Silent Duel")