High and Low
1963 ‘Tengoku to Jigoku’ Directed by Akira Kurosawa
Synopsis
Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in Akira Kurosawa's highly influential High and Low. Adapting Ed McBain's detective Novel King's Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a penetrating portrait of contempory Japanese society.
Cast
Studio
Popular reviews
More-
Leave it to Kurosawa to make an hour of listing evidence and clues exciting.
High and Low is tight, tense, and engaging, but what makes it so great for me is that Kurosawa (based on the book King's Ransom by Ed McBain) uses an almost Dante-like structuring of the three points of view by which this story is told. Each act is a discrete and self-contained plot with its own beginning, middle, and end, which make High and Low more of a crime anthology than an epic. Still, all the main characters appear (physically or vocally) in all three stories, tying them together and leaving room for an epilogue which unites the circuitous narrative. In addition, the class-warfare analogies really…
-
I bought this movie not even really knowing what it was about. All I knew for sure was that it was directed by Akira Kurosawa and it starred Toshirô Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai. That is all I needed to know to want to own this movie even though it was apparent it had nothing to do with samurai.
The film itself amazed me. The way each scene is structured, framed and acted out I found incredible. There is no actor wasted at any given moment in this film. You can tell what each one is thinking, feeling or even what their social class is with no words spoken. It's not always by facial expression either, just by the way their sitting, standing or who they won't look directly at.
Simply put it's one of those great films everyone needs to see at least once. A film you just sit there and appreciate how each moment was put together.
-
I did a philosophy paper in college on the exact same dilemma of High and Low.
This excerpt is taken directly from the original assignment given to us in my class:
You are a millionaire, living in a nice neighborhood with your spouse and four-year-old son. You also have a tenant, named George, who lives with his four-year-old son in an apartment over your garage. Though George is a nice guy, he is neither very bright nor skilled in any other way. For that reason, he has always had trouble finding work, and remains a poor man; this is why, as a favor, you rent him the apartment for an absurdly small fee.
One fateful day, you receive a sinister… -
I was quite excited to see this film, given the love for it from trusted friends, but when I realized that it was a crime film, and very much a police procedural, my heart sank a little. I love those types of films, but there are so many of them and I am so used to them that I couldn't imagine being blown away by one, even if it was from Kurosawa.
Remind me never to underestimate the Master again.
He tells the very simple story of a kidnapping.If that's all you want, you are going to get one of the best police procedurals including one of the best scenes ever filmed where detectives provide their updates on the…
-
Finally... Finally saw it. The grandmaster of police procedurals. Here, you watch the very blueprint techniques of every "detectives vs. criminals" movies to follow. It's so deliberately paced and every actor so methodically mapped out for every sweeping camera spin, it just envelopes you with claustrophobia. Praised to the heavens, I'll had in my two cents: It's a must see.
-
This is probably the best thriller I've ever seen in my whole living experience. I wasn't expecting this kind of film. Kurosawa? In a crime movie? Yeah, that's right, buddy. And he shows how criminal movies can be deep and artistic. I couldn't hold myself thinking about how this movie can be seen like Sophocles' "Oedipus King", a real dialectic experience between the "best" someone could expect from life, and the "worst". We can indeed say it's about madness and rationality, good and evil, materialism and love, and the human value surrounding it all.
In the very beginning of this film Kurosawa gives you a tip about what is coming. When the credits are on the screen you can see…
Recent reviews
More-
A very mellow crime thriller by today's standards, but an engrossing one. The story moves along at what feels like a realistic pace. I thought it was fascinating that the most gripping scene (for me, anyway) was a scene where everyone working in this case just simply reports on what they've found. I felt like I was truly following the ins and outs of what it was like to work on this case. Along with the mystery/crime/thriller aspect, it's also a very human story, especially the opening and closing scenes. I didn't *love* it, but I was impressed by it and would certainly recommend it.
How it entered my Flickchart:
High and Low > Minority Report
High and Low < Zoolander
High… -
Something of a lesser Kurosawa (in comparison with his Shakespearian adaptations, epics, or otherwise) but still worth watching. Would be a good pairing with Lee Chang-dong's SECRET SUNSHINE (2007).
-
I always know when I pop in a Kurosawa film that I've never seen that I'll be in for a treat and High and Low is no different. I have quickly grown such an appreciation for how he paces and lays out a story - it's never over cooked and never boring, it always feels just right.
What a phenomenal movie, I was blown away. First off by the performances, Mifune is a powerhouse here and has such unbelievable screen presence; every movie I've seen him in he just dominates the scene and forces you to pay attention. Opposite him is Tatsuya Nakadai who plays the Chief Detective and he puts in a very charismatic and strong display as well.…
-
A phenomenal piece of work. It is so perfectly constructed. Every little detail matters and plays its part.
Mifune is better than I have ever seen him before. It's a much more subdued performance and it suits him. He carries the entire first hour set within his house.
I loved the deliberate pace as well. Kurosawa lets a little layer upon layer unfold slowly until at last everything comes together in an exciting conclusion.
-
The first opening of the film was fabulously paced - however the second half was your typical police procedural. Overall, High and Low is a little less focused on the class comparison and it intends to (the title is High and Low).
-
This film has so many twists and turns, you think it’s going to be ending soon like 5 times and it just keeps going. And I mean that in the best way possible. Kurosawa doesn’t leave any loose ends here. He makes sure that his characters and subject are thoroughly plumbed before he lets you go. It’s very intense.
-
Leave it to Kurosawa to make an hour of listing evidence and clues exciting.
High and Low is tight, tense, and engaging, but what makes it so great for me is that Kurosawa (based on the book King's Ransom by Ed McBain) uses an almost Dante-like structuring of the three points of view by which this story is told. Each act is a discrete and self-contained plot with its own beginning, middle, and end, which make High and Low more of a crime anthology than an epic. Still, all the main characters appear (physically or vocally) in all three stories, tying them together and leaving room for an epilogue which unites the circuitous narrative. In addition, the class-warfare analogies really…
-
The first half is an intense domestic drama about the choices a man has to make in his life but it lost me some when it transitions to being a fairly standard procedural plot, albeit a fantastically made one. I feel like I'll grow to like this movie more over time as it percolates in my brain and I can think on it and some of it's themes about classism and the difference between the haves and have-nots. The final scene by the way is just hands down fantastic, the cinematography blew me away combined with great performances.
-
First samurai-less Kurosawa film I've seen, and I am utterly blown away. While it had moments that were vaguely Hitchcockian, 'High and Low' still had all the elements of a classic Kurosawa film, Toshiro Mifune included. I love the multiple interpretations one can make of the film's title, too. Truly brilliant.