The Quiet Duel (1949)

[Drunk Monk]

Every once in a while, I get these comp DVDs like Ultraman. Most really suck. Here's one that was an absolute delight. The Quiet Duel was an early work by my fav director Akira Kurosawa, featuring both Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura in very early roles. It's about a doctor who gets syphillus during the war by operating on a patient. Of course, syph flicks are pretty dated today, but this one's a diamond in the rough, a fascinating study on the early workings of three of my fav artists in very different roles. Mifune is almost unrecognizable, so young, mostly stoic, but turns in an awesome scene about the frustrations of being a virgin with the clap. Shimura is as authentic as ever, wise, humane, troubled. Kurosawa brings more color to B&W then most directors can bring to color today. Brilliant use of textures and lighting. And he works the rain motif, which would be consistant in Seven Samurai and Rashomon. The film is full of some grand Kurosawa moments.

Am I fawning too much? Hey, it's Kurosawa. He's never failed me with a single film.