All Things Kurosawa

[Paul MacLean]

Sorry I have been late in commenting, but I've been really enjoying your rundown of Kurosawa's films.

Keep 'em coming!

[mkaroly]

Thanks for the encouragement Paul!

[mkaroly]

Red Beard (19635). An arrogant young doctor named Noboru Yasumoto (Yuzo Kayama), having been trained in a medical school in Nagasaki, aspires to follow in his relative’s footsteps and become the personal physician of the Shogunate. He is sent to a small rural clinic that caters to the poor; it is run by the enigmatic Dr. Kyojo Niide (Toshiro Mifune) who is called “Red Beard”. Yasumoto discovers he is to stay at the clinic and learn under Niide which deeply angers him, for he does not feel the environment or Dr. Niide can teach him anything. Gradually though, under the wise mentoring of Dr. Niide, Yasumoto discovers he has much to learn. From watching a man breathe his last breaths, to hearing the deathbed confession of a poor man who is respected in the community, and in his helping to rehabilitate an abused 12-year-old girl named Otoyo (among other experiences), Yasumoto comes discover his true humanity and purpose in life.

There is so much I like about this film. For one, although Red Beard’s running time is around 185 minutes, the film never drags. The story is so absorbing from start to finish that one hardly even realizes three hours has passed. The different character vignettes which provide Yasumoto with the “real life” experiences he needs in order to mature are each so well-placed and compelling within the narrative framework of the whole story. Additionally, the characters are well-written and well-acted out regardless of whether or not they are a main character or a supporting character - each is compelling in his or her own right. In particular, Yasumoto’s character arc is very reminiscent of Yuki’s character arc in No Regrets for Our Youth – both are privileged, immature, and selfish people who, after coming into contact with the real world and with people who truly make a difference, help them to mature and become more human in finding their true meaning/purpose in life. Kurosawa makes the viewer share in his journey. Mifune gives a stellar performance as the wise yet mysterious Dr. Niide; it is funny that the title of the film refers to a character who has such a profound impact on those around him (including the viewer), yet the narrative gives us very little information about his past, leaving us to speculate. I like the mystery surrounding Red Beard; to me it adds to the appeal of the film as a whole.

Aside from the theme already discussed above, the theme of class inequality is also prevalent throughout the film. The poor suffer and the system is rigged against them, keeping them poor with few resources (in that sense the film is also quite prophetic). Yet the film is infused with so much hope and positivity despite its sadder moments; I never felt that the film was purposefully trying to pull the heart strings in its sadder moments – rather, they gave characters the opportunity to show their dignity and value as human beings in a way that, to me, reflects Kurosawa’s humanistic sincerity. As someone who has worked in health care for over 30 years and who has volunteered at medical clinics in rural/poor areas, Red Beard just really hits home in a lot of ways. Of course, this film brought an end to the Kurosawa-Mifune team that made so many memorable films together (which in itself is sad), and that too affects how I think about this film. For me then, Red Beard is an outstanding accomplishment – moving, compelling, and a great example of mature filmmaking. It is a journey well worth taking - it may be something of a guilty pleasure for me, but I honestly do not feel all that guilty about it. (Legendary)

[mkaroly]

Dodes'ka-den (1970) – The story of this film is about a group of people living in a slum area on the outskirts of Tokyo. Some of the inhabitants of the slum include a homeless beggar and his little boy who dream of owning their own home (their actual home is the frame of a car), a couple of day laborers who are both married to wives who have had enough of their drunken benders, an uncle who abuses his niece in more than one way, a man who has a very noticeable tic who is married to a woman everyone thinks is rude, a hairbrush maker whose wife has had children by several different men (yet he accepts them all as his children), a mysteriously quiet man who lives in a shack and who looks like the walking dead, and a younger boy named Roku-chan (Yoshitaka Zushi) who drives an imaginary trolley through the slum several times daily and is made fun of by the local kids. The story follows them through their ups and downs; some continue to hope, while others have given up hope, while still yet others find a way to survive and live their lives under the circumstances.

On a technical level I enjoyed this film. Dodes'ka-den is notable for being Kurosawa’s first color film, and on that level alone I was entranced. Kurosawa uses color to great dramatic effect in this film: for example, when the beggar and his son eat undercooked fish and get food poisoning, their green colored faces give them haunting and ghostly appearances. Additionally, the bright colors associated with their dream home are alive and stand in stark contrast to the drab yellow color of the car frame they live out of. The mysteriously quiet man’s shack is drably colored, signifying what he has become considering his life circumstances; and the colorful environment of the uncle’s home is deceptive. Seeing color in a Kurosawa film is revelatory. The film is beautifully framed as well – it opens with Roku-chan operating his imaginary trolley on its morning run, and the film closes with the trolley returning home at night, signifying the journey we as the viewer get to take along the “routes” and “stops” in the film. Toru Takemitsu’s score is pleasant and reminded me of Goldsmith’s A Patch of Blue for some reason.

The issue I have with Dodes'ka-den is in its story – it reminded me of The Lower Depths but just not as good. I came away from the film with a sense of heaviness, and maybe that was Kurosawa’s intent (especially considering all the drama going on in his personal life between the end of his working relationship with Toshiro Mifune to his bad experiences with Hollywood working on Tora! Tora! Tora!). There are sweet moments, a few humorous moments, some moving moments, dark and haunting moments, and sad moments, but they don’t quite come together in a satisfying way to me (which is kind of how I feel about Robert Altman films like Short Cuts). I suppose I should cut Kurosawa some slack here since it was the first film he directed in Japan after a five-year hiatus, and real-life stuff does not always work out for the best. It was also made quickly and some have said that this film was his response to his experience with Hollywood, which made it a deeply personal film to him. Whatever the case, Dodes'ka-den was not successful when it was released, and in 1971 Kurosawa attempted suicide. Ultimately, I do not feel this is one of his better efforts – it is not a film I feel compelled to watch repeatedly. From a technical standpoint I really enjoyed it (and it is worth watching at least once for this reason alone), but not so much from a story perspective. (Mid-Tier)