Red Beard is a Kurasawa film. It is the tale of a new, young doctor who is relegated to a back country clinic. Since he thought he would be the Shogun’s doctor, he is a bit miffed. Toshiro Mifune plays the head doctor at the clinic and, by example, shows the young whippersnapper what it means to be a doctor. (In 18th Century Japan, it isn’t very nice.)
The young doctor learns many lessons and takes them to heart. When it comes time for him to move on to the Shogun, he decides that he will stay at the clinc and continue to learn from Red Beard.
Kurasawa makes several political statements in this movie. I think his strongest one was to have Red Beard comment that half the patients wouldn’t be sick if they weren’t so poor. The overwhelming poverty of the clinic’s patients is one of the main themes of the movie, and another reason the young doctor doesn’t care to be there.
This was Mifune’s last movie with Kurasawa, and he gives his usual strong performance as a (what’s the word for someone who doesn’t conform to the conventional social mores but, rather, does as he believes is right, even if society will look down upon him) doctor. Even though the story is of the young doctor’s growth and blooming awareness, Mifune’s presence is always there.
Overall, this is a very well-made film. I like Kurasawa’s style and the way he handles the camera, frames the actors, transitions between scenes, etc. I thought the story line was a bit predictable and some of the individual vignettes were also straight from central casting. And the commentary on the DVD was very good as well, giving some background on Kurasawa what made him tick.
So, I am quibbling over whether this is an 8 out of 10 or a 7 out of 10 movie. Will I demand to see it again? No. So it is a 7/10 rating.