The Quiet Duel (1949)
Directed by Akira
Kurosawa this film stars Toshiro Mifune, Miki Sanjo, Takashi Shimura
and Noriko Sengoku. A tired army doctor makes a mistake and catches
syphilis while treating a soldier during WW2 and breaks off his
engagement without explanation when he returns to civilian life.
This film works as
both an exploration of the stigma behind having an STD as well as
using syphilis as a metaphor for how Japanese war crimes in WW2
tainted even those who behaved “honourably” during the war. What
I like is that there are no easy resolutions to the plot here and the
characters have to suffer through their problems as Japan has to face
the realities of it's actions in WW2. Compared to some Kurosawa films
this film may lack the directorial flair you may expect but it is
still a very competently made film.
4/5
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