- The end of an era for Kurosawa- his last film in black and white, his last film (sixteen total I believe) with Mifune, and last film of the 1960’s (it is my understanding there were a number of projects that never came to fruition for whatever reason in the back half of the decade)
- Since 1958’s The Hidden Fortress and every film since (a fertile artistic period, even for Kurosawa)- each has the superwide 2.35 : 1 Tohoschop aspect ratio and Kurosawa knows exactly how to design the entire frame
- Starts with the worst tour of all time- haha. A doctor, who hates it at Mifune’s clinic/hospital gives a tour of it to the new young arrogant Yûzô Kayama character. These are the slums from 1957’s The Lower Depths but in hospital form. Poverty. And in line with Kurosawa’s worldview- the tour guide says several times “this place is awful” and “these people are better off dead”. The subsequent story is the transformation of Kayama’s characters, the stories of those in the hospital, and the wisdom and tutelage of Mifune’s titular character. Again, it is a testament to Mifune’s range (though he’s almost always a stubborn character) and transformation over the decades that he’s now the teacher or mentor in the relationship—here just 11 years before in Seven Samurai this is Shimura’s role. And he’s the young naïve detective in Stray Dog.
- At 24 minutes- a gorgeous frame- a crooked tree dividing the frame of the young doctor and girl

At 24 minutes- a gorgeous frame- a crooked tree dividing the frame of the young doctor and girl
- At 26 minutes- a trademark shot- Kurosawa has the back of four heads in the foreground—while the background, in deep focus clarity, is an old man building/mending a wheel- very strong composition. There are many of these- but I found the same amount if not less than the amount in say Sanjuro– which is a film of 96 minutes. Red Beard is 185 minutes
- A stunner of a composition of the dueling heads of the mentor and mentee in a stark minimalist room. Mifune is front in parallel/profile.

A stunner of a composition of the dueling heads of the mentor and mentee in a stark minimalist room. Mifune is front in parallel/profile
- Another great shot in the Kurosawa arsenal- the one at 75 minutes —all the heads to the left, huddled in the frame, listening to the story of a dying man

Another great shot in the Kurosawa arsenal- the one at 75 minutes —all the heads to the left, huddled in the frame, listening to the story of a dying man
- There are some formal issues with the film— Kurosawa breaks from Kayama’s story arch to get a long flashback of a secondary character—the flashback of the tragic death of his wife (where we get the inner monologue from her at some point).
- If it was just that- that’s one thing- but before the intermission- we get this terrible action sequence. Ebert, who adores the film, 4/4 stars- says “in a scene that stands amusingly outside the film’s mood”— that’s one way of putting it. Mifune chops about 10 thugs in half like he’s Sanjuro again. It has nothing to do with this movie- nails on a chalkboard.
- I have less of a problem with this one but we also get a vignette of Kayama’s character taking care of a young girl keeping a journal and getting his inner monologue (both as he’s writing the journal and later without the journal just as a storytelling crutch). Just three examples of poor film form

Kurosawa constantly chops up the wide frame, with deep focus, into quadrants and meticulously designs every level of it— foreground, center background… left, right and center
- There is a reoccurring great shot of the Kayama character laying down on the ground, the camera is there with him, and his faced is perfectly blocked by the stool
- Highly Recommend – top 10 of the year quality film
Okay, okay, I get it. It’s my fault. I pulled a disappearing act and not even your tremendously great Bad Sleep Well and High and Low reviews pulled me out of it. So you decided to take the opposite tack and troll me really hard on Red Beard. Mission Accomplished! 😉
@Matt Harris… you have been missed, sir. Haha. Well- believe it or not this certainly wasn’t meant as bait to get you out of hibernation. I am thoroughly enjoying the Kurosawa study. I saw HIgh and Low and Red Beard within days of each other— and they aren’t close. I should say though, that having Red Beard as the fifth best film of Kurosawa’s during the 1960’s is no insult.
I too saw High and Low and Red Beard within days of each other (a couple months ago) and if my assessment of the latter was the same as yours, I would be in complete agreement that it isn’t close to the former. However, while I was delighted by your High and Low review (and hopefully I’ll find the time to comment there and stir up a conversation), we part company sharply on Red Beard. I’m not entirely certain how best to broach this disagreement. I suppose I can start with something that strikes me as objectively wrong, and that is your comment on the ratio of immaculate images in Red Beard as compared to something like Sanjuro. Now don’t get me wrong, I was delighted to find in Sanjuro one of a few cases where you rate a Kurosawa film more highly than I do, but compositionally there is no comparison whatsoever. Your review of Sanjuro makes me eager to revisit it, however, in Red Beard it is practically the case that every single frame in the entirety of the film is compositional bliss. I called it, a couple months back, perhaps “the most compositionally perfect film I have ever seen” and that perspective has not shifted. If you saw roughly the same number of great framings in Sanjuro in half the time… then we simply were not watching the same film.
I also disagree with your “formal” complaints about the film, but I don’t know how deep to get into it as I’m not interested in a protracted war of words. I suppose I’ll just mention that your take on the flashback sequence strikes me as deeply misguided. If you think it is a break from Kayama’s arc rather than an essential catalyzing element of it, then I think you’re reading it wrong. Also, how a sequence containing some of the most staggeringly beautiful filmmaking ever captured on celluloid could be mentioned only to be derided, simply baffles me.
Also, not even a mention of the extraordinary black widow seduction sequence?
Also, the Mifune fight scene was great. And if it stood out, it’s because it was supposed to. It’s no accident that it happened right at the intermission break.
I’ll just leave it at that.
@Matt Harris- as always, I love hearing from you- so thanks for the comment.
That’s interesting about how the prolonged flashback is not a break from Kayama’s arc but part of it— and certainly, there’s the possibility that coming off of High and Low my expectations were too high (though I try to divorce myself from those as much as possible and have experience doing such over the years).
I’m not interested in a big fight either. I’m not sure why you think I’d find so much to praise in his other works but not this one. As for as being objectively wrong on the sheer volume of beautiful images— I’ll just say I was not surprised, when putting this page together after writing my notes, to have a harder time finding his compositions for Red Beard than I had been for any film since A Hidden Fortress. That’s not evidence of anything– but it is not, not evidence. haha.
You should have written a page on Samurai Rebellion (1967).Certainly the next film I will be watching after Red Beard is Samurai Rebellion.I know it is not a Kurosawa film but every film Kurosawa did after Ikiru had Mifune.
@Janith- it is there- you can just search by the title or filmmaker http://thecinemaarchives.com/2017/12/29/samurai-rebellion-1967-kobayashi/