Red Beard — despite its three-hour-plus runtime, massive 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio, and a production history lasting approximately two years — is a rather humble motion picture. It’s certainly one of the most modest statements Akira Kurosawa ever made in his career, only realized on a rather lavish scale — and one of the last he would be allowed to make of this size. After an unprecedented run of internationally and domestically acclaimed creative endeavors that were also financially fruitful,…
