MovieChat Forums > Akahige (1968) Discussion > For who didn't like it or couldn't even ...

For who didn't like it or couldn't even finish it!

posted 19 years ago by Broken_Guitar
34 replies | jump to latest

I wrote this as reply but I think it is good to be a New Topic as a message for every movie lover who didn't like this movie or hate it

Some movies you shouldn't see it now! you should wait for three or five years to understand it or just enjoy it .. Don't get me wrong I don't now how old are you maybe you are 40 but you didn't like it and this is your opinion that i must respect

Let me give you an example to clear my point :

I've seen Office Space when I was in High School and I didn't like it ,, okay it was funny but it is about working and workers!
Now I'm an employee .. and I've seen it two months ago it is brilliant comedy! .. I loved so much! one of my favorits! one of the most underrated movies! its importance in its subject! all workers should see this movie!

mmm befor I lost the point let's back to it

I don't mean you should be a doctor or nurse to like Red Beard .. but you should be more patient .. and you should melt with the characters lives! and feel thier souls! feel thier pains! thinking about many people who suffers from the same things that the movie showed us! .. It is not for fun or to spend funny and injoyable time with freinds or girlfriends! It is humantic movie with several noble messages not every one will receive!

Every doctor should see it!!

Every Human Being should respect it even if he disliked it

Sorry for bad grammer and spelling because I'm not a native speaker

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Zorba_85 19 years ago

I agree. Most masterpieces require more than one viewing. The first time I watched GoodFellas I thought it was overated. It's now one of my favourite movies. The first time I watched La Dolce Vita I didn't even finish it.

"I'm not sleeping... I'm inspecting the inside of my eyelids"

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] chameleonguy33 17 years ago

i agree that this film is very different from most of kurosawa's works in that it focuses on more sentimental or hollywood-oriented themes, and i do think it is one of kurosawa's weaker films, not for that reason but that sentimentality doesn't really fit his style. but dude, seriously, leave Ikiru out of it!

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] ssd18960 19 years ago

i found 8 1/2 hard to get through, but i really admired the movie as time has passed.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] PTA-fan 19 years ago

You seem to keep contradicting yourself, saying you hate his films even though they are masterpieces. Come on man! If you "hate" it so much (seems like waaaaaaay to much of an overexaggeration) get some balls and say it's a bad movie. Don't beat aroung the bush so much worrying about offending someone.

Respect the cock, and tame the *beep*

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain 19 years ago

Interesting. I'm like you and prefer films with little dialogue (after all it is visiual), such as in one of Ozu's films where we just see a man eating an orange. However Kurosawa is my favourite director ever and I have liked all of his films that I have seen. I also don't think he has too much dialogue.

http://www.ymdb.com/user_top20_view.asp?usersid=8136

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] kkawachi 18 years ago

Wow, I am the exact opposite of you.
I prefer movies with not too much silence, unless it is necessary.
Movies seem real when there is dialogue to me at least.

But getting to Red Beard, I love this movie for three scenes.
1. When Yasumoto hears the bell after Sahachi's story, and decides to put on his uniform, the beginning of a new ideal.
2.When the girl he and Red Beard saved nurses him back to health (lots of dialogue in this sequence! j/k)
3. The very end, where a reserved but obviously proud Mifune has the protege he has been looking for, and Yasumoto has decided to live the kind of life that we all wish we could, but can't realistically, devoting oneself to an ideal...

[–] n_x 18 years ago

i agree with your opinion on watching classics, it's like when i tried to watch The Godfather when i was eleven, i hated it!!! (i was kind of stupid back then when it comes to movies, i have to admit)
But actually this movie, Red Beard was my first Kurosawa, it's the movie that got me into Kurosawa, believe it or not. I turned on TV one night and there was the famous shot of the man meeting his long lost wife in front of the wind chimes, it almost brought tears to my eyes. i sat there watching it for 20 minutes (or so), and the movie had only French subtitles!!

[–] ssd18960 18 years ago

i can certainly see how some people say "i didn't like it, but i understand why it is a classic."

i certainly see how casablanca and citizen cane are classics, but i absolutely hate those movies w/ a passion. i thought it was wonderful when family guy made separate parodies of those two films.

again someone will probably post that i am an idiot for not liking them or something, but i watched them twice and i cannot force myself to like them though i certainly see from the artistic perspective why they's be considered masterpieces.

i agree w/ one poster on the board that said 8 1/2 was hard to get through their first time around. i had that feeling completely, but i really liked the film. it had a lot to say and get across about being stuck in a rut and finding your artistic voice again.

red beard . . . i instantly loved. no question about it. the moral of the tale is something that i admired, and yeah, you can say that it might be sappy . . . well i guess i am a sappy person because i liked it for the message it tried to convey.

but i can see both sides of the argument from the various posters on the board. all are extremely relevant, because it is a matter of taste.

[–] Stein-e 18 years ago

yes i tought it was great but it was so boring I fell a sleep after 2 hours and didn't care to watch the rest

No, worse! Human! Human!

[–] Meanstoend 18 years ago

I've watched all Kurosawa movies from Stray Dog to Rhapsody in August minus I Live in Fear and The Idiot. I put off Red Beard because of all the bad reviews, too talky, too long, too cheesy. I finally put it on and loved it. I put in my top 5 by far. One mans trash is another treasure I guess.

[–] vsanborn 18 years ago

I fell asleep too, but only because I was tired. As soon as I awoke, I replayed the scenes I missed, and replayed those that struck me as being especially good. I think that the conversion of the young doctor from arrogant, society M.D. to one who wants to serve others, rings true. In life and in art, there is room for a sappy ending. Not all great stories need to have an unhappy or enigmatic ending. The journey we share with the young doctor in this movie, the stories we encounter through his eyes, are mesmerizing. They are also memorable. I count this movie experience as one of my "top" viewing experiences. Perhaps I have a bent towards this kind of plot, since I work for a nonprofit organization. I firmly believe that we are here on this earth to help others. Amidst all the ugliness that man can inflict on his brothers and on the animal kingdom, this movie holds up a ray of hope: we ARE inately a good and compassionate species.

[–] Razzbar 18 years ago

I tried at least twice to get thru Rashomon without success. I got thru this movie first try, and it blew me away. This is the one that made a believer out of me. Incredibly complex storytelling in a language I don't understand, flashbacks inside of flashbacks in sub-sub plots, and yet I was never confused. The scene with the slowly dying patient was cinematography at its highest level of refinement.

Kurosawa's best work.

[–] flemmingB 18 years ago

I also really loved the flashbacks inside flashbacks and so on, but I don't understand how you found it easier to sit through Red Beard than Rashomon!? Not that I find anything wrong with your point of view. I just found it extremely interesting to see how Kurosawa portrayed peoples subjective perceptions of the same reality, as he did in Rashomon. It is to me one of Kurosawas most insightful films. Although I'm not going to pretend that I've seen all of them.

[–] Fear_and_Loathing_62 18 years ago

I really enjoyed the film, but i felt at times it went to far from the main story. To me it was almost like watching three different stories, all involving the Doctor's take on things. ( i hope i stated that correctly).

I am not an animal! I am a human being! I...am...a man!

[–] Razzbar 18 years ago

I've never seen a movie go so deep into plot. And yet, even without reading subtitles, I could follow the story. Even when it went into flashbacks within flashbacks in sub-sub-sub plots. I don't know of any English language movies that took me so deep into a story.

This is absolutely the movie that made a believer out of me in regards to Kurosawa. One of the few movies I'd call "great".

[–] Razzbar 18 years ago

Well, Redbeard might be harder to "sit" thru. I mean, it's pretty long.. :)

Can't say why. Rashomon just never did do it for me. There are parts of it I like, and I really, really like the -idea- of it. Hard to say why...

Dersu Uzala is the Kurosawa movie that "moves my heart" the most. Interesting to consider that it was made under Soviet censorship...

[–] 03daelia 18 years ago

I liked it and I'm not a medical student in any way. Plus, I usally dona't like Japanese movies either.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] trochesset 17 years ago

8 1/2 and Red Beard are both masterpieces that I love just as much as Ran and Seven Samurai.

[–] tjmaser 17 years ago

I just finished up Red Beard. I watched the first half one day, and then the second half the next. It worked fantastic for me. I was never bored or disinterested.

When time was passing in the movie, I just let it pass.

When it was finished I actually felt like it was too short.

People who are afraid to see it because it's long shouldn't be. Split it up or take a break at intermission is my advice. It really felt more like how a novel was structured than how a film is, so maybe that is why it worked so well for me this way. Anyways, I took it in bit by bit and loved it. Just my perspective to add to the conversation, and possibly give people debating to see this movie some more details.

In reply to above posts, I also loved the man dying and the flashbacks. My favorite part of the film.

[–] cyaneyed-1 17 years ago

I remember getting this from Netflix and letting it sit on top of my TV for a couple weeks. I was a fan of Kurosawa at the time but considering the length and content (i.e. not about samurai) I was hesitant to make time to sit down and watch it.

When I finally decided to watch it, I found myself drawn into the film and its characters more so than any other Kurosawa film I had ever seen. This is not only one of my favorite Kurosawa films, but one of my favorite films of all time.

For anyone who is concerned they won't like it because it doesn't have a lot of action like a lot of Kurosawa's films, I suggest you set your concerns aside and allow yourself to enjoy the film for what it is. I believe that since action was not an area of particular concern, everyone in the production was able to focus on the storytelling and character development. The result is, in my opinion, one of the richest viewing experiences that Kurosawa has ever provided.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] aspalex 8 years ago

Kurosawa had it written in his DERSU UZALA contract with Mosfilm: full artistic control and a final cut. So censorship or not, it was Kurosawa's film 100 per cent.
And as for a horrible Soviet censors, there was nothing in the script and the film that would alert them.
If you've had an opportunity to compare Kurosawa's scripts to the finished films you could see that they were filmed word for word, except in the cases that some scene didn't make it into the final cut.

[–] dave_wlogan 14 years ago

I've never found Red Beard to be "too talky" and what sentimentallity it does have is earned. That's why 'Ikiru' and 'Red Beard' work so well, they earn their sentimentallity. Also they are incredibly cinematic, in that they use many visual techniques to tell the story. I don't remember too much of the dialogue from this movie but I remember so many different images. That's why I love it so much. I think this has better written dialogue than 'Rashomon', but that film also has so many wonderful images which don't leave your head.

"You're going to cross Sinai?"
"Moses did"

[–] Frequency270 13 years ago

This is the first Kurosawa movie I've had trouble sitting through. I'm not sure if it's the pace of the movie, the length of the movie or just my schedule, but I've had it for 3 weeks and haven't been able to sit through an uninterrupted 30 minutes of it. I think I made it shortly past the 1 hour mark and that's about it. I'm going to return it to Netflix just to keep my rotation going.

I've seen several Kurosawa movies--Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Stray Dog, Ran, Kagemusha, Rashoman, Thrones of Blood, Seven Samurai, and High and Low. I probably will try to re-watch this one eventually, but I'm going to have to come back for it.

Damion Crowley
"The Captain doesn't move too far; just far enough until he finds a fish"

[–] Raxivace 9 years ago

I realize this is an old post, but I find myself having a similar issue with sitting through Red Beard. I'm not sure what the issue is.

I'm not some Kurosawa newbie either- I have seen all of the 22 movies he made before this, from Sanshiro Sugata to High & Low.

"[Cinema] is a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris

[–] maxconran 8 years ago

I couldn't finish it. Of course I will try later, I love Kurosawa's works, but I find this film to be one of the most bitterly depressing and pessimistic films I've seen. maybe it ends well but, up to the point I got to, it was just too much. But will re-watch. am Kagemusha right now, its stunning