Akahige (1965)

In 19th century Japan, a rough tempered yet charitable town doctor trains a young intern.

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Masato Ide (screenplay), Hideo Oguni (screenplay),

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Yûzô Kayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 9 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toshirô Mifune	...	Dr. Kyojô Niide
Yûzô Kayama	...	Dr. Noboru Yasumoto
Tsutomu Yamazaki	...	Sahachi
Reiko Dan	...	Osugi
Miyuki Kuwano	...	Onaka
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Madwoman
Tatsuyoshi Ehara	...	Genzô Tsugawa
Terumi Niki	...	Otoyo
Akemi Negishi	...	Okuni, the mistress
Yoshitaka Zushi	...	Chôji
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Dr. Handayû Mori
Eijirô Tôno	...	Goheiji
Takashi Shimura	...	Tokubei Izumiya
Chishû Ryû	...	Mr. Yasumoto
Haruko Sugimura	...	Kin, the madam

Storyline

In a charity hospital, a hard-bitten but honorable older doctor, Dr. Niide, takes a young intern under his guidance through the course of a number of difficult cases.

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Plot Keywords:

clinic | doctor | intern | japanese | japan | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

19 December 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Barbarroja

Filming Locations:

Toho Studios, Tokyo, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kurosawa Production Co., Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

185 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Toshiro Mifune usually appeared in several films a year for Toho, doing many cameos and guest roles. However, he chose not to do any that year as he filmed Red Beard, allowing himself to be fully immersed in what would be his last film for Kurosawa.

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Goofs

Niide's uniform is drenched when he arrives at Sahachi's house, but is completely dry when he goes to leave a short time later.

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Quotes

Genzo Tsugawa: [Showing the newly-arrived Yasumoto around the clinic] It's terrible here. You'll have to stay and see for yourself. The patients are slum people, full of fleas and lice. They even smell bad. We don't get much money. And Red Beard is after us night and day.
Dr. Noboru Yasumoto: "Red Beard"?
Genzo Tsugawa: The head doctor. His beard is sort of reddish.

User Reviews

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.