Rotbart (1965)

Rotbart: Directed by Akira Kurosawa. With Toshirô Mifune, Yûzô Kayama, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Reiko Dan. In 19th-century Japan, a rough-tempered yet charitable town doctor trains a young intern.

“Akahige / Red Beard is 3 hours, 5 minutes long, but I strongly recommend it. It shows a definite maturity of style over Samurai (54), Throne of Blood (57), Yojimbo (61), to which it manages to subtly refer. In between was the slow-but-intense Crime/Class drama High and Low (63). Red Beard takes AKu0026#39;s observed modern style back to the feudal setting. One should set aside 4 hours for it, though, as you may need the break and, if youu0026#39;re like me, youu0026#39;ll want to see certain scenes again. Long composed/blocked shots and a u0026quot;smallu0026quot; story make it seem slow, but Iu0026#39;ve found it fascinating all three times–rich in detail, with AKu0026#39;s familiar ensemble doing their best acting yet.”