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Although best known for his samurai classics, Japanese master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa proved himself equally adept at contemporary dramas and thrillers, and 1962's High and Low offers a powerful showcase for Kurosawa's versatile skill. The great Toshiro Mifune stars as a wealthy industrialist who has just raised a large sum of money to execute his planned take-over of a successful shoe manufacturer. Fate intervenes when he receives a phone call informing him that his son has been kidnapped, and by unfortunate coincidence the ransom demand is nearly equivalent to the amount Mifune has raised for his corporate coup. A philosophical dilemma emerges when it is revealed that the executive's son is safe, and that it is actually his chauffeur's son who has been taken. What follows is both a tense detective thriller, as the police attempt to track down the kidnapper, and a compelling illustration of class division in Japan--the "high and low" of the title. Far be it from Kurosawa to make a mere thriller, however; this loose adaptation of the Ed McBain novel King's Ransom provides the director with ample opportunity to develop a visual strategy that perfectly enhances the story's sociological themes. --Jeff Shannon
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By Sordel
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
Kurosawa's modern dress movies are generally less well-known than his samurai masterpieces, but critically "Ikiru" (aka "Living") has long been regarded as one of his finest films, and the same is sometimes said of this intricate police thriller.
"High and Low" is really two films in one. The first an enclosed, philosophical drama in which Toshiru Mifune gives a restrained but powerful performance as the wealthy man being blackmailed. Stagey, slightly Bergmanesque, it will not suit all contemporary viewers but it sets up the second movie: a gripping police thriller that follows the dragnet tightening on the blackmailer.
Taken as a whole the film is epic in two senses: not only is it long, at 143 minutes, but also it has a grand vision. Japanese society from the top to the bottom is the subject, and although the source material (an American thriller) remains visible, it is the director's observations of his own country that work best and stick in the mind.
This film is not ultimately as humane as "Seven Samurai" or "Hidden Fortress", but fans, for example, of the morally serious thrillers of Sidney Lumet will want to add this DVD to their collection.
"High and Low" is really two films in one. The first an enclosed, philosophical drama in which Toshiru Mifune gives a restrained but powerful performance as the wealthy man being blackmailed. Stagey, slightly Bergmanesque, it will not suit all contemporary viewers but it sets up the second movie: a gripping police thriller that follows the dragnet tightening on the blackmailer.
Taken as a whole the film is epic in two senses: not only is it long, at 143 minutes, but also it has a grand vision. Japanese society from the top to the bottom is the subject, and although the source material (an American thriller) remains visible, it is the director's observations of his own country that work best and stick in the mind.
This film is not ultimately as humane as "Seven Samurai" or "Hidden Fortress", but fans, for example, of the morally serious thrillers of Sidney Lumet will want to add this DVD to their collection.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I watched this a few days ago for about the fifth time and have been thinking about it ever since. I think it probably is my favorite Kurosawa film.
Toshiro Mifune plays a top executive in a shoe company who is secretly planning to take over the company. He wants to keep making quality shoes and gradually expand the market. The other executives want to make cheaper shoes and take advantage of the company's reputation. Mifune has raised every yen he can, including using his house, for the buyout, but his son is kidnapped. For the ransome he'll need all the money he's raised. He's prepared to do this for the sake of his son.
Then he finds out that the kidnappers made a mistake. They kidnapped his driver's son, who is the same age as his own. What a terrible moral dilemma. Would you or I give up every bit of money we had to save a neighbor's or an employee's son? Mifune does, and this act has a great effect on the police and the public.
The first half of the movie takes place in his house on a hill while all this unfolds. The second half is the chase to find the boy before he's killed and to capture the kidnapper. We move from the intensity of the dilemma unfolding in Mifune's home to the gritty business of the search which takes us into some of the lowest parts of the Japanese underworld.
Mifune is powerful in the role of the father, at first torn by the decision he has to make, then commited to finding his driver's son. Tatsuya Nakadai plays the detective, handsome, smooth, professional, and ultimately deeply touched by Mifune's integrity. Years later Nakadai played the leads in Kurosawa's Kagemusha and Ran. And it was good to see Mifune out of samurai costume.
High and Low is the work of a master.
Toshiro Mifune plays a top executive in a shoe company who is secretly planning to take over the company. He wants to keep making quality shoes and gradually expand the market. The other executives want to make cheaper shoes and take advantage of the company's reputation. Mifune has raised every yen he can, including using his house, for the buyout, but his son is kidnapped. For the ransome he'll need all the money he's raised. He's prepared to do this for the sake of his son.
Then he finds out that the kidnappers made a mistake. They kidnapped his driver's son, who is the same age as his own. What a terrible moral dilemma. Would you or I give up every bit of money we had to save a neighbor's or an employee's son? Mifune does, and this act has a great effect on the police and the public.
The first half of the movie takes place in his house on a hill while all this unfolds. The second half is the chase to find the boy before he's killed and to capture the kidnapper. We move from the intensity of the dilemma unfolding in Mifune's home to the gritty business of the search which takes us into some of the lowest parts of the Japanese underworld.
Mifune is powerful in the role of the father, at first torn by the decision he has to make, then commited to finding his driver's son. Tatsuya Nakadai plays the detective, handsome, smooth, professional, and ultimately deeply touched by Mifune's integrity. Years later Nakadai played the leads in Kurosawa's Kagemusha and Ran. And it was good to see Mifune out of samurai costume.
High and Low is the work of a master.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape
This film is so huge and is executed with such depth and precision that you just cannot fault kurosawa.
His direction of this film is split, the first half of the film is shot looking up at the characters to suggest their power and life-style.
The second half looks down on the city and slums, as they seek the kidnapper and his or her associates. Mifune is flawless as is the whole film, its just brilliant, dynamic, tense, thrilling. This is the detective film by which all detective thrillers should be measured.
A real treat, enjoy.
His direction of this film is split, the first half of the film is shot looking up at the characters to suggest their power and life-style.
The second half looks down on the city and slums, as they seek the kidnapper and his or her associates. Mifune is flawless as is the whole film, its just brilliant, dynamic, tense, thrilling. This is the detective film by which all detective thrillers should be measured.
A real treat, enjoy.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Nothing quite prepares you for this carefully researched, tightly scripted, superbly acted and very unusual Japanese crime thriller. It shows all of the stage managed filming for which Kurasawa and other Japanese directors were so famous and which so many Western films lack and I feel this is the films strength. Mifune plays out of type as a hard ambitious businessman who sees all of his dreams collapsing before him. The cops are simply brilliant and the strict social stereotyping of Japanese society is laid bare. A must for Mifune fans.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Paul Morris
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I liked this movie and the way it was constructed.The idea of looking at all the protagonists perspectives was well executed.
The film was certainly ahead of its time and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The film was certainly ahead of its time and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By R. Palmer
TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
Kurosawa's body of work is, to my mind, pretty much flawless.
High and Low is one of my favourites directed by him. It's one of his contemporary films (well, to when it was made anyway - modern is probably a better word) and though he's probably better known for his period dramas, this is as deserving of praise as anything else made by him (or anyone else, for that matter).
The film follows a wealthy shoe manufacturer, who is in the process of a risky take-over attempt of the company he is a major shareholder in, through his dilemma as a kidnapping takes place. The kidnapper mistakenly kidnaps his driver's son, instead of his, in attempt to blackmail him for a huge sum of money.
Initially, he believes that it was his son that was kidnapped, when the mistake is revealed, he then has to decide whether he wants to risk the boy's life or pay the ransom and ruin himself and his son financially.
This sets up the film for a good while (it's a long film, clocking in at over 140 minutes) before we move into the more thrilling sections of the film - which is a taut police-chase thriller.
As with everything that Kurosawa directed, this looks superb (in fact, I think it may have been the first film that he did in Tohoscope?) and, as ever, Toshirô Mifune gives a superb performance as the businessman.
Highly recommended.
High and Low is one of my favourites directed by him. It's one of his contemporary films (well, to when it was made anyway - modern is probably a better word) and though he's probably better known for his period dramas, this is as deserving of praise as anything else made by him (or anyone else, for that matter).
The film follows a wealthy shoe manufacturer, who is in the process of a risky take-over attempt of the company he is a major shareholder in, through his dilemma as a kidnapping takes place. The kidnapper mistakenly kidnaps his driver's son, instead of his, in attempt to blackmail him for a huge sum of money.
Initially, he believes that it was his son that was kidnapped, when the mistake is revealed, he then has to decide whether he wants to risk the boy's life or pay the ransom and ruin himself and his son financially.
This sets up the film for a good while (it's a long film, clocking in at over 140 minutes) before we move into the more thrilling sections of the film - which is a taut police-chase thriller.
As with everything that Kurosawa directed, this looks superb (in fact, I think it may have been the first film that he did in Tohoscope?) and, as ever, Toshirô Mifune gives a superb performance as the businessman.
Highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Favourite Director
I love Akira Kurosawa. As the "Lost in Translation" commercial director might say, this is "more intensity" You'll love it!
Published 3 months ago by Lorraine Zipser
3.0 out of 5 stars
Video quality
5 start movie, just a shame that the quality isn't there.
5 start movie, just a shame that the quality isn't there.
5 start movie, just a shame that the quality isn't there.
Published 11 months ago by Sagacity
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dazzling, multi-faceted Tokyo crime thriller.
I watched this as part of the excellent BFI Kurosawa Crime Collection and is the newest disc in that set, from 1963. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Tim Kidner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stylishly presents a gritty dilemma...
Psychologically thrilling. Persona of kidnapper mysterious and fascinating. Beautifully shot. Deep in an subtly and seemingly casual way. A detective story with a soul.
Published on 9 Mar 2006 by TwirlySue
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