Dr. Akagi (1998) User Reviews

Great, philosophical drama from Shohei Imamura

[davidals · 8/10 · 9 December 2003]

*MINOR SPOILERS*

The sneakiest film I've seen in quite a while - at first viewing, I was almost put off by the surface looseness of DR AKAGI, but for several days I kept reflecting back on several key scenes. So I rented it again, and have come to consider this a great film. Imamura's trademark of "showing people as they are, rather than what we would like them to be" is on vivid display here - as with THE EEL and WARM WATER UNDER A RED BRIDGE, the quirks and eccentricities of the characters (in this case, a crusading doctor battling a hepatitis outbreak that may be a mere reflection of an obsessive mind, a morphine-addicted surgeon, a former prostitute, and a lecherous alcoholic monk) aren't just allowed, but are viewed as essential components of identity, and the depiction of such eccentricities is the only way to capture a true community in all of its' ragged glory. Inherent in this kind of depiction is an unshakeable confidence that even the most deeply flawed human beings have (or are capable) of acting on principle and conviction if sufficiently moved to do so. Thus, the story, swings from poetic to tragic to hilarious to disturbing at the drop of a hat, and Imamura's confident mastery in managing all of this (perhaps rivaling even Fellini) makes him one of the greats.

It should also be noted that - though his style and worldview are both extremely different - Imamura, like his one-time mentor Yasujiro Ozu, makes films that look like no one else's, with an unhurried, careful eye that somehow manages to make even the debris of the stories he relates take on a quality of human necessity.

An excellent and very rewarding film.

worthwhile and moving

[lukang72 · 8/10 · 15 April 2006]

Vengeance of Mine was my first exposure to Shohei Imamura, a tautly amazing movie full of dark humor, fearful violence, sexual tension and deep questions about life (note: this movie, among any other, absolutely deserves to be released on DVD). Dr. Akagi explores many of the same themes from the angle of a more dignified and admirable protagonist, a widower physician in a small fishing village whose life work is to tend to the many locals who are falling ill with hepatitis, a disease whose pathology and means of transmission are not yet understood. It also presents an interesting view of wartime Japan in a village removed from the immediate devastation of the war, how life goes on as it typically does but with the war slowly intruding more and more into the people's daily lives until it literally explodes above their heads. The director's great talent, in my opinion, is how he never judges his subjects, whether because the person is a whore, a morphine addict, an embezzler, a dissolute drunkard or pervert. He depicts them as they are. The characters and situations depicted in this movie seem to me very authentic representations of the Japanese character, in its multiplicity, and that's part of what makes it a delight to watch. Dr. Akagi is the most intriguing one of all the characters, as he goes through not one but two personal transformations in the movie that are so subtle at first that you fail to notice them until the movie comes together neatly at the end yet leaves the question, what motivates us to do the things that we do in life, what's our purpose in life and what keeps us alive. Of course, the answer is never clear, and the movie does not shy from that reality. The cinematography is also very nice, especially the scenes with the whale at the end which are simply beautiful and imbued with mythos in a scene in which director wonderfully transforms the village whore and daughter of a fisherman into the mythical woman that reawakens Dr. Akagi to his life. Beautifully done. Only complaint: the jazz soundtrack is a bit overly intrusive and excessive. That should have been toned down a bit, but otherwise, a very moving and poignant film.

DR. AKAGI (Shohei Imamura, 1998) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 1 April 2006]

Interesting if typically overlong multi-character drama with a wartime setting, about the exploits of an ageing and old-fashioned doctor (whose diagnosis for all his patients is always the same: hepatitis!) in a fishing community. Several enjoyable vignettes along the way: the young prostitute who becomes the doctor's aide but continues in her clandestine profession against his better judgment; the doctor's appearance at a Tokyo medical conference, in which he is moved to tears by the reception given him by the more illustrious colleagues present; the girl hiding an injured soldier who has escaped from a P.O.W. camp, involving the doctor and several other people from the village (who are later tortured by the authorities); the girl hunting a blue whale, in emulation of her legendary fisherman father, at the film's surprising and strangely beautiful climax - after which she and the doctor witness the historic blast of the atom bomb (which, to the latter appears in the form of an enlarged liver, a common trait of the dreaded hepatitis!).

The Doctor's Orders; Common Sense for an ILL Society

[academic3000 · 1 March 2005]

Imamura Sohei's Kanzo Sensei (Dr Akagi) is reminiscent of Kurosawa Akira's Drunken Angel (Yoidore tenshi). In Kanzo Sensei, Dr. Akagi struggles with the disease that exacts heavy tolls on the Japanese during wartime. There is the sense that the onset of the disease is almost karmatic; people should know to eat well and sleep well, but—because of the country's involvement in the war—are only allowed to do so when they are diagnosed with hepatitis. The patients make the "best of it," getting their basic human psychological and physical needs met. Relaxation and rest brings people back to their human essence and reclaims their health. The sickness is likened to a psychological sickness—"hepatitis of the mind." We see this in Masumura Yasuzo's Kyojin to gangu (Giants and Toys) where the Japanese have been taken over by the Western principles of capitalism and consumerism. In Yoidore tenshi, the benevolent doctor is somewhat over concerned for his patient, who suffers dually from hepatitis and also—as a yakuza—from the cesspool that Japan has become after the occupation. In both Kanzo Sensei and Yoidore tenshi, the doctor is more of a symbol of the medicinal power of compassion; deeply concerned for their patients, the doctors provide not surgery but the common-sense advice to sleep well and maintain a good diet—to understand how society is plagued.

a little uneven but fascinating film

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 24 March 2006]

This film gives a fascinating look at life in Japan in the last months of WWII. Dr. Akagi brings a sense of humanity and compassion in an otherwise tired and spiritually bankrupt country. So, while the people are either giving up or shouting jingoistic sayings and insisting the war is NOT lost, he just goes about his job saving lives and crusading within the government for more attention and funding for the Hepatitis outbreak. Throughout the film he is tireless and decent. However, along the way, there are a lot of detours and other characters--some that work and some that tend to distract (such as the scene involving the prostitute and the whale)--taking this movie from a score of 8 or 9 and dropping it to 7. Nevertheless, it's still an excellent film and well worth your time--giving unusual historical insights.

PS--an excellent companion film to this would be FIRES ON THE PLAIN (1959). This film shows Japanese soldiers in the Phillipines just before the country falls to the Americans. It shows the end of the war through the viewpoint of very tired, hungry and broken soldiers.

The search for truth vindicated

[Stracke · 10/10 · 11 February 1999]

This movie is outstanding both as art and as philosophy. Artistically, Imamura has great range and is able to make quick switches of tone and style without losing the thread, or the audience. There is a similar yoking of divergent feelings in the relationship that develops between the two main characters. They are wildly incompatible to the end, yet together they form something that we know is right. Philosophically, Imamura does what no one in Hollywood would dare attempt. In the atmosphere of moral relativism that American films have promoted since the 60s, nothing is more preposterous than to hunger and thirst after justice. But Imamura's final film vindicates that hunger and makes us want to share it. The story's surprises are so intricately prepared that I can't say much more without ruining it, but I left the theater profoundly exhilarated.

One giant bore

[dexter10meg · 2/10 · 10 December 2001]

Alas! I was hoping for more, actually thought there was something in store///Especially in troubled Japan, near the end of the Second World War./// Will the enemy avoid us or fight us/// If we contract typhoid or hepatitis?/// This movie is worst than just sore, this movie is one giant bore.

one of the best films of the '90s

[wbr204-2 · 17 February 2001]

Imamura Shohei has come in to his prime at a point when most directors of his age begin their downward spiral. Along with his completely different although equally impressive film, "Unagi (the eel)" (1997) Imamura has made two of the greatest films of the 1990s. This particular entry into the Imamura canon deals with a Kyushu doctor during WWII. Of course, the film goes way beyond just that; it's a film that cannot be summed up in words, it's the kind of movie that you sit back and enjoy and you come out of smiling, for you've been entertained in a way most films cannot. "Kanzo Sensei" affects like a truly satisfying book does, something most films cannot come close to copying. If you dig it, rent "the eel" and look out for his next work coming soon to a theatre far from you and me--Japan. Let's hope his next one is as good as his last two, and that it is released in theatrically in the US. Highly recommended.