biblical dimension of the movie

What, you mean only Christians can be good, generous and inspirational people?
Lucky for Japan that the Black Ships arrived with their big guns, then, wasn't it?

The themes of compassion for the meek, sense of honour and duty to the less fortunate, etc. while clearly expounded by the teachings of Jesus, are hardly strictly the domain of Christianity.

While Kurosawa certainly must have a decent understanding of the gospels and Jesus' teachings (his knowledge of Shakespeare gives us some window with which to view his understanding of "western" themes), I think it is a narrow view that claims it could not have been written if not for the gospels.

I don't think I need to make a list of great, compassionate people who have gathered so-called disciples in the name of humanity. While among them, Jesus was most certainly not the first, or last.

What was it? The beard?

I think happinessonline has a valid point. It also struck me when watching this amazing film and made me wonder if Kurosawa was christian. Of course this could be because I am catholic myself and I lack a thorough knowledge about other religions/ideologies views on charity. However, I believe charity is more stressed in christianism than in other ideologies lets say for example marxism (which would focus on social justice),or stoicism or buddhism (on peace of mind and self-knowledge). I say this with the utmost respect and admitting both my ignorance (which in a topic so large as this is inevitable) and my bias.
On a purely filmic comment the only think that I didn´t like in this movie was the fight in the brothel,I felt it didn´t belong here. The rest is nearly perfect and the scene where they are shouting at the well is just incredible. One of my all-time favourites.

I certainly hope Kurosawa was not Christian.

my ymdb site

http://www.ymdb.com/mehsuggeth/l35858_ukuk.html

The Bible is not the only fictional story about a man trying to help and teach others...

I think that may be a stretch, I mean the same parallels could be drawn up to make Red Beard look like a parallel between any world religion. Mohamed had disciples, as did Jesus as did Buddha (and hundreds more spiritual leaders), I think, like all films it comes down to how you interpret it. To you Red Beard may be a Christ like figure, to others a man who represents the goodness we are all capable of. Like all great films, it can bend to accommodate different viewers and different viewpoints.

Personally, as a Christian, I still didn't see any parallel beyond some vague similarities. Like the criterion case says, Red Beard is a testament to the goodness of humankind. I view it as something that shows us how good we can be, and the triumph and change that all human beings are capable of. Like Ikiru, it is a beautiful film on all levels.

Last film seen: Triumph of the Will 8/10

This person may have made the comparison to Jesus simply because he/she is not familiar with similar persons in other cultures. I know I'm not, but as someone pointed out, there are similar types of persons in the Japanese culture and I am sure there are similar people in other cultures. It is impossible to know everything about every culture, so we do tend to look at things from our worldview. As long as we acknowledge that there are other world views, we should be okay.

Whilst watching the film I saw his character as philosophical and moral more than anything else. He was a local doctor that cared for the well being of others, especially those in his community, and he wanted to give everyone an equal chance in life - best proven when he went to the palace and then he was saving a poor girl from the brothel. Fantastic juxtaposition.

I can understand the comparison to Jesus but it's certainly not what I saw through the film because he would happily charge extortionate rates to the rich and was prepared to fight and hurt others to get his way. Perhaps a bit more Robin Hood in that sense, needing the rich to pay to help the poor.