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The Quiet Duel (1949)

The Quiet Duel (1949)
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A dedicated army surgeon finds his once-bright future suddenly obscured when he contracts syphilis while performing a life-saving operation in this early collaboration between director Akira Kurosawa and Toshirô Mifune. Contaminated with a disease that was virtually incurable in 1940s Japan, Fujisaki returns home from the war to work presided over by his obstetrician father (Takashi Shimura). As Fujisaki furtively agonizes over the havoc that the disease will wreck on his upcoming marriage, his noble attempts to save the lives of his many patients masks a silent desperation that will likely remain with him to his final hour. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Starring:
Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura, (more)
Director(s):
Akira Kurosawa
Format(s):
DVD
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Synopsis of The Quiet Duel

A dedicated army surgeon finds his once-bright future suddenly obscured when he contracts syphilis while performing a life-saving operation in this early collaboration between director Akira Kurosawa and Toshirô Mifune. Contaminated with a disease that was virtually incurable in 1940s Japan, Fujisaki returns home from the war to work presided over by his obstetrician father (Takashi Shimura). As Fujisaki furtively agonizes over the havoc that the disease will wreck on his upcoming marriage, his noble attempts to save the lives of his many patients masks a silent desperation that will likely remain with him to his final hour. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:
95 mins

Complete Cast of The Quiet Duel


Director(s):
Akira Kurosawa
Writer(s):
Senkichi Taniguchi, Akira Kurosawa
Producer(s):
Hisao Ichikawa, Shojiro Motoki
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    SANDHYA P.

    This is a very well made B/W movie with subtitles in english. All fans of Toshiro Mifune are in for a treat again. Though it was made such a long time ago, it still holds significance in this age of AIDS , I highly recommend watching this movie.

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    Barbara J.

    Well, this was quite a change from the physically active, emotionally explosive roles Mifune plays in many Kurosawa films I've seen! (for example, in "Seven Samurai") His character's conflicts are all internalized (hence the title) and he expresses little of his feelings to anyone until the end of the story. A good subtitle for this movie would be "Do the Honorable Thing" or "Self-Sacrifice" since that's the course of action he chooses to pursue: both ending his engagement without giving his fiancee a reason and practicing medicine in a humble cllnic with his father (the consistently excellent Kurosawa regular, Takashi Shimura). The film's treatment of syphilis is dated but, as with Kurosawa's other films set in this period, I enjoy the glimpses of life and culture in postwar Japan. This isn't one of Kurosawa's best, but it's still well worthwhile to watch as he evolves as a filmmaker.

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    Lori C.

    Much as I am a fan of Toshiro Mifune and Akira Kurosawa, this film is too dated for me. The subject matter, syphillis, does bear a relation to modern concerns with HIV and AIDS, but the pedantic dialogue, melodramatic acting and lack of action in this film reduces this movie to a school's health class instructional video on avoiding syphillis. Yes, Mifune does a credible job of enacting surgical scenes, but his role in this film has been relegated to moodily staring at the floor, a far difference from his typical 'action' hero performances. What little action exists in the film is evocative, but too little to be relevant. Claustrophobically filmed with little artistry, jarring music and a preachy moral, I was sorely disappointed.

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