The Quiet Duel

The Quiet Duel (1949) is the last of Akira Kurosawa's films for me to see. It came out the same year as Stray Dog. It is a less satisfying film overall than Stray Dog since it is a melodramatic and seemingly simple story.  It is based on a play, it is about a selfless young doctor dedicated to improving society in light of personal tragedy. Toshiro Mifune plays the sacrificial young doctor, Koyji Fujisaki, who has contracted syphilis through surgery in the war and refuses to marry his fiance (Miki Sanjo) or tell her why for fear that she will sacrifice her chance for marriage and a happy life by waiting to see if he recovers. He works in his father's clinic, his father is played by Kurosawa regular Takashi Shimura. There is an engaging performance from Noriko Sengoku as a cynical, outspoken  patient and apprentice nurse who cannot afford an abortion who finds inspiration in Fujisaki's selflessness to strive onto become a nurse and competent mother despite her circumstances. The man from whom he contracted the syphilis, Nakada (Kenjiro Uemura), arrives on the scene and has selfishly ignored his condition, married and impregnated his wife, which leads to a tragic premature birth and with Nakada succumbing to madness. Apparently, according to Donald Richie in the original script Fujisaki also succumbs to madness, but the American censors would not approve of that ending so Kurosawa changed it its current ending with Fujisaki living out his days attending to the poor and sick. It is yet another example of Kurosawa's humanism where the lead character acts out for the greater good of society rather than falling back on selfish individual pursuits. This films exhibits the torrential rains that always punctuate Kurosawa films, that I thought started with Rashomon. There are several artfully framed and orchestrated scenes throughout. But overall, the film is considered a minor achievement in the dierctor's overall oeuvre.