Trailer

 

Synopsis

An executive mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives. He needs the same money, though, to pay the ransom that will possibly save a child's life. His resolution of that dilemma -- the certain loss of the company vs. the probable loss of the child -- makes for one distinct drama, and an ensuing elaborate police procedure makes for a second.

Toshiro Mifune stars as a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a ruthless kidnapper in Akira Kurosawa's exemplary film noir. Based on Ed McBain's detective novel King's Ransom, High and Low is both a riveting thriller and a brilliant commentary on contemporary Japanese society.

Credits

Directed by Written by Produced by Cinematography by Production design by

Akira Kurosawa Akira Kurosawa Eijirô Hisaita Hideo Oguni Ed McBain (novel King's Ransom) Ryuzo Kikushima Tomoyuki Tanaka Asakazu Nakai Takao Saitô Yoshirô Muraki

Cast

Character Kingo Gondo Chief Detective Tokura Reiko Gondo Kawanishi, Gondo's secretary Detective Arai Chief Detective 'Bos'n' Taguchi Detective Nakao Chief of Investigation Section Kamiya Ishimaru Baba, National Shoes executive Ginjirô Takeuchi, medical intern First reporter Detective Shimada Factory worker Prison warden Aoki, the chauffeur Second reporter Chief of First Investigating Section First creditor Junkyard cook Detective Murata Third reporter Chief physician Detective Yamamoto

Actor's name Toshirô Mifune Tatsuya Nakadai Kyôko Tatsuya Mihashi Isao Kimura Kenjiro Ishiyama Takeshi Katô Takashi Shimura Jun Tazaki Nobuo Nakamura Yûnosuke Itô Tsutomu Yamazaki Minoru Chiaki Hiroshi Unayama Eijirô Tono Masao Shimizu Yutaka Sada Koji Mitsui Susumu Fujita Kyu Sazanka Kamatari Fujiwara Yoshio Tsuchiya Kazuo Kitamura Gen Shimizu Akira Nagoya

Influences

A loose adaptation of the Ed McBain novel King's Ransom
References
Bijo to Ekitainingen (1958)
Referenced in
Last Action Hero (1993)
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

Awards

Nominated for the Golden Globe

Nominated for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival

Nominated for Edgar by Edgar Allan Poe Awards

Akira Kurosawa remains to be hailed as one of the greatest and one of the most influential directors of all times.

Akira Kurosawa was given an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 1990.

Comments

"High and Low illuminates its world with a wholeness and complexity you rarely see in film." - Washington Post

"One of the best detective thrillers ever filmed." - New York Times

"One of the greatest cops-and-crooks films ever made, High and Low is a combination of immensely powerful psychodrama and exquisitely detailed police procedural." - Netflix

"Expertly weaves a police tale with social commentary while remaining a character study above all." - ToxicUniverse.com

Trivia

The last section of the movie originally had a great deal of dialogue, but Kurosawa decided to omit all of it.

There is one shot of the movie that is in color - the scene of the colored smoke rising from the incinerator. Some television prints botch this and have the scene in black and white instead, diluting its impact.

Based on the novel, "King's Ransom", by Ed McBain, part of McBain's 87th Precinct series.

High and Low is remarkable, in part, because it very clearly illustrates the divide between the rich and the poor in 1960s-era Japan.

It is filmed entirely in black and white apart from a few seconds when a cloud of pink smoke billows up from the city. As in other Kurosawa films, the director uses an imaginative score to maintain viewer attention, but also makes inventive use of sound to advance the plot and contribute to the mood of a scene.