High and Low - Criterion Collection

High and Low - Criterion Collection
by Akira Kurosawa

High and Low - Criterion Collection
List Price: $39.95
Our Price: $23.49
You Save: $16.46 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $19.99 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases


(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD Cover Information

Actor: Kyoko Kagawa, Takashi Shimura, Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshiro Mifune, Tsutomu Yamazaki
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Brand: Image Entertainment
Cinematographer: Takao Saito
Cinematographer: Choichi Nakai
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Japanese (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 143 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-07-22
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion

Movie Reviews of High and Low - Criterion Collection

Movie Review: High and Low
Summary: 5 Stars



While I generally view Kurosawa's original Stray Dog as another in long line of his genre setting triumphs, High And Low is his masterpiece of the crime genre. High and Low was made in the middle of his career before Kurosawa's decline when his failure with Dodeskaden and getting kicked off of Tora, Tora, Tora caused him to go on hiatus for nearly ten years and drove him to attempt suicide. Thankfully Russia came along with a chance to adapt Dersu Uzala a film I wish was given the respectable double dip that Criterion is doing with their earlier releases.

I discovered High and Low early in my exploration of Kurosawa mainly overlooking it because it wasn't a samurai period film something I thought He had excelled in and only that. It happened by chance that I borrowed the orginal Criterion disc from a friend at work and quickly became engorged in any film made by the master. This film has the earmarks of Kurosawa film with social commentary, great characters, amazing black and white photography (the liner for the dvd makes mentions of lighting on the killers mirrored sunglasses during the finale), and scenes that are almost acted without any dialogue. Plus its just a great damn thriller.

High and Low was adapted from a 87th precinct novel from the late Ed McBain (Evan Hunter). It transplants the story from America to Yokohama in the middle of the summer. As the film begins shoe maker executive Gondo is having a meeting with subordinates where he outlines his plans to take over the company. The others are flummoxed as they want to create flimmsier shoes at cheaper prices and plan ..ping Gondo. Things come to a head when Gondo gets a phone call from a man who says He's kidnapped his son who was recently playing with the chauffers son around the house. Unfortunately his son comes in and as it turns out the chauffers son has been the one kidnapped. The Kidnapper discovers this also but won't budge on the ransom demand so Gondo is set up with a moral choice. He calls the cops despite the danger it poses but trys whatever He can to figure out a way not to pay the ransom.The cops arrive and then begins the first half of the film as a plan is devised to get back both the boy and the money. The second half of the film involves the police investigation trying to find out who the kidnapper is ending with a chase through the city in the night through back alleys and bars filled with foreigners all with as little dialogue as possible depending mainly on the emotions of the actors to sell the intensity. While the first half is more character driven the last half of the film is more procedural which of course is what appealed to me more.

Being the fan that I am the only way to describe High and Low would be to use the word impeccable. Its not the most loved Kurosawa film (something I'd disagree with) but it has the hallmarks of greatness in my opinion. While I love the procedural half of the film, the first set only in the Gondo house is intense thanks to the acting and directing talent. One of the great things that I've always loved about Kurosawa is his use of long takes and this helps build the intensity of the scenes as the camera flows around the living room watching the characters. On the acting side you have the two of Kurosawa's main group. Toshiro Mifune is always able to play intensity with bravado and flair but as the film progresses you can see him begining to falter in his plans not to pay the ransom demand. At the end He's given up everything He gained, all his riches gone until He's back to mowing his own lawn in one of the famous images of the film like He's trying to hold back the inevitable. The second actor is Tatsuya Nakadai as Chief Detective Tokoda. Nakadai worked on the last of Kurosawa's masterpieces (being Kagemusha and Ran) and this was a great almost simple performance. Tokoda heading up the investigation isn't a renegade cop character mostly simply dressed and handsome. But Nakadai has a commanding presence that demands you to watch him. I can't really describe what makes Nakadai Mifune's perfect accomplice in the film.

In the end its a perfect film in my mind, one of the few I wouldn't hesitate to brand it as such.


I was speaking on my original experience with the film which was Criterions orignal release. Around the time Criterion double dipped Seven Samurai and gave it the treatment it deserved I hoped they'd do the same for High and Low as the picture on the original disc was slightly cropped at the sides. On this set they've thankfully corrected that issue while adding some great features like a commentary from Stephen Prince and more of the It Is Wonderful to Create series that they've included on almost all of their Kurosawa releases. Its strange that original Criterion is still listed for sale as this is the only set worth buying in my opinion.

Summary of High and Low - Criterion Collection

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 domestic drama and police procedural 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 diabolical treatise on class and contemporary Japanese society. Criterion is proud to present High and Low (Tengoko to jigoku) in this new high-definition digital transfer.SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:New restored high-definition digital transfer with newly restored original four-track surround soundNew audio commentary by Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen PrinceA 37-minute documentary on the making of High and Low created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to CreateRare archival interview with Toshiro MifuneNew video interview with actor Tsutomu Yamazaki who plays the kidnapperTheatrical trailers from Japan and the U.S.New and improved English subtitle translationPLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien and a reprinted essay by Japanese film scholar Donald RichieMore!System Requirements:Running Time: 143 minutes Language: Japanese Subtitles: EnglishFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre:?ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating:?NR UPC:?715515030922 Manufacturer No:?CC1760DDVD
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 takeover 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. The Criterion Collection DVD of this extraordinary film is presented in the original "Tohoscope" aspect ratio of 2.35:1. --Jeff Shannon

Art House & International DVD Video

DVD Video
Movies most talked about in High Definition Criterion (A Long Work In Progress)
Hoop Dreams - Criterion Collection ImageHoop Dreams - Criterion Collection
Team Marketing; Release date: 2005-05-10; DVD
Best price: $17.94
Price in other shops: $29.95
Young Torless - Criterion Collection ImageYoung Torless - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2005-03-15; DVD
Best price: $20.29
Price in other shops: $29.95
Tanner '88 - Criterion Collection ImageTanner '88 - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2004-10-05; DVD
Best price: $20.30
Price in other shops: $29.95
The King of Kings - Criterion Collection ImageThe King of Kings - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2004-12-07; DVD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Tin Drum - Criterion Collection ImageThe Tin Drum - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2004-05-18; DVD
Best price: $27.21
Price in other shops: $39.95
Le Corbeau (The Raven) - Criterion Collection ImageLe Corbeau (The Raven) - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2004-02-17; DVD
Best price: $51.91
Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle) - Criterion Collection ImageLe Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle) - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2003-10-28; DVD
Best price: $27.00
Price in other shops: $39.95
Indiscretion of an American Wife/Terminal Station - Criterion Collection ImageIndiscretion of an American Wife/ Terminal Station - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2003-08-19; DVD
Best price: $25.95
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Honeymoon Killers - Criterion Collection ImageThe Honeymoon Killers - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2003-07-22; DVD
Best price: $15.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Quai des Orfevres - Criterion Collection ImageQuai des Orfevres - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2003-05-27; DVD
Best price: $23.89
Price in other shops: $29.95
Similar DVD Movies
An Autumn Afternoon - Criterion Collection ImageAn Autumn Afternoon - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops: $29.95
Twenty-Four Eyes - Criterion Collection ImageTwenty-Four Eyes - Criterion Collection
Release date: 2008-08-19; DVD
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops: $29.95
The Lovers - Criterion Collection ImageThe Lovers - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2008-05-13; DVD
Best price: $17.17
Price in other shops: $29.95
Drunken Angel - Criterion Collection ImageDrunken Angel - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2007-11-27; DVD
Best price: $25.98
Price in other shops: $39.95
Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom ImageSalo, or the 120 Days of Sodom
Release date: 2008-08-26; DVD
Best price: $27.92
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Furies - Criterion Collection ImageThe Furies - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2008-06-24; DVD
Best price: $20.97
Price in other shops: $39.95
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - Criterion Collection ImageMishima: A Life in Four Chapters - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2008-07-01; DVD
Best price: $23.98
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Thief of Bagdad - Criterion Collection ImageThe Thief of Bagdad - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2008-05-27; DVD
Best price: $22.48
Price in other shops: $39.95
Trafic - Criterion Collection ImageTrafic - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2008-07-15; DVD
Best price: $27.82
Price in other shops: $39.95
Vampyr - Criterion Collection ImageVampyr - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2008-07-22; DVD
Best price: $26.14
Price in other shops: $39.95
Compare prices and read customer reviews for more than one million DVD titles.
Oscar 2005 Winners