Kurosawa’s final black-and-white film Red Beard on BFI Blu-ray & Digital in May
Kurosawa Akira’s last black and white film, Red Beard [Akahige] (1965) was nominated for a Golden Globe Award after its original release, and lead actor Toshirō Mifune won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. On 11 May, the BFI brings this poignant period drama to Blu-ray for the first time in the UK. Special features include an audio commentary by filmmaker Kenta McGrath.
Kurosawa’s intimate, episodic epic follows a socially ambitious young doctor (Yuzo Kayama) as he arrives at a rural clinic in 19th-century Japan to study alongside the commanding yet caring Dr Kyojio Niide, known as Red Beard (Toshiro Mifune). Kurosawa’s film is a poignant tale of humanity and the meaning of responsibility featuring a powerhouse performance by Mifune in his final collaboration with the director after making 16 films together, marking the end of one of the most remarkable relationships in cinema.
Red Beard will be released on Blu-ray, Apple TV and Amazon Prime on 11 May 2026 by the BFI at the RRP of £19.99..
BLU-RAY CONTENTS:
- Restored in 2K and presented in High Definition
- Audio commentary by filmmaker Kenta McGrath
- Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create – Red Beard (2002, 22 mins): created as part of the Toho Masterworks series and featuring interviews with Kurosawa, actors Yoshio Tsuchiya and Kyoko Kagawa, art director Yoshiro Muraki and others
- Introduction by Alex Cox (2003, 14 mins)
- Mifune Toshirō in Conversation (1986, 61 mins, audio only): the actor discusses his life and career with critic and writer David Shipman, recorded at the NFT
- District Nurse (1952, 27 mins): a public information film by Sarah Erulkar made to promote Britain’s new National Health Service to overseas audiences – and to encourage applications to the nursing profession
- Doctor’s Dilemma (1948, 1 min): this public information trailer hammers home the urgency of citizens playing their part in time for the launch of the NHS
- Mother (1947, 16 mins): a social worker in India is the face of modern childbirth in this United Nations-sponsored educational film by Paul Zils
- Original theatrical trailer
- FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Booklet featuring new writing on the film by Hayley Scanlon, on the music and the film’s composer by Charlie Brigden, an essay on actor Kayama Yūzō by James-Masaki Ryan and writing on the short films by Hamaguchi Yuriko; plus, film credits and notes on the special features