Red Beard

For other uses, see Red Beard (disambiguation).
Red Beard
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAkira Kurosawa
Screenplay by
Based onAkahige Shinryōtan
by Shūgorō Yamamoto[1]
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography
Edited byAkira Kurosawa[2]
Music byMasaru Sato[1]
Production
companies
Distributed byToho[1]
Release dates
  • April 3, 1965 (1965-04-03) (roadshow)
  • April 24, 1965 (1965-04-24) (Japan)
Running time
185 minutes[1]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Budget¥200–300 million[3][4][5]
Box office¥400 million[6]
(Japan)

Red Beard (Japanese: 赤ひげ, Hepburn: Akahige) is a 1965 Japanese jidaigeki film co-written, edited, and directed by Akira Kurosawa, in his last collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune.[7] Based on Shūgorō Yamamoto's 1959 short story collection, Akahige Shinryōtan,[1] the film takes place in Koishikawa, a district of Edo, towards the end of the Tokugawa period (i.e. early or mid-19th century), and is about the relationship between a town doctor and his new trainee. Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Humiliated and Insulted provided the source for a subplot about a young girl, Otoyo (Terumi Niki), who is rescued from a brothel.[8]

The film looks at the problem of social injustice and explores two of Kurosawa's favorite topics: humanism and existentialism. A few critics have noted the film to be reminiscent in some ways of Ikiru. It is Kurosawa's last black-and-white film. The film was a major box office success in Japan but is known for having caused a rift between Mifune and Kurosawa, with this being the final collaboration between them after working on 16 films together. The film was screened in competition at the 26th Venice International Film Festival. Toshiro Mifune won a Volpi Cup for Best Actor for his performance in the film.[9] It was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.[10]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Galbraith IV 2008, p. 219.
  2. ^ Nollen 2019, p. 238.
  3. ^ Tsuzuki 1980, p. 291.
  4. ^ Kinema Junpo 1986, p. 51.
  5. ^ Kawade Shobō Shinsha 1998, p. 71.
  6. ^ Ryfle & Godziszewski 2017, p. 218.
  7. ^ Sragow, Michael. "Red Beard". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on March 2, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  8. ^ Prince, Stephen (2002). Red Beard Audio Commentary (DVD). The Criterion Collection.
  9. ^ "Redbeard". fiff.ch. Fribourg International Film Festival. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
  10. ^ "Red Beard". Golden Globes. Golden Globe Awards. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 24, 2022.