High and Low - Criterion Collection
by Akira Kurosawa
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Kyoko Kagawa, Takashi Shimura, Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshiro Mifune, Tsutomu YamazakiDirector: 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: Not a single low here; this one ranks very high with me...
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't say that I am familiar with the work of famed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa because, quite frankly, I'm not. In fact, this is the very first film I've seen from his hand, and while I have made the statement before that I am not the usual samurai fan, I must admit that I am intrigued with what this man can do and am quite interested in seeking out some of his other material. No, this is not a samurai film (far from it) but judging from his control over his source material regardless of genre, I'd love to see what he can do with the genre for which he became so widely adored.
So this film is really right up my ally.
I love those dark, morally conflicting films that play heavy on the audience to evaluate their own actions. `Tengoku to Jigoku' is just that type of film. There are no easy answers here; even if one may want to draw theirs immediately. It is a true morale play between classes of people, but more importantly between our inner struggle for survival.
How would you react?
The film tells of a wealthy industrialist, Kingo Gondo, who has just set plans in motion to take over a successful shoe manufacturing company. Before he can play his cards though, he receives some devastating news. His son has just been kidnapped. The man on the other end asks for a sum of money that would wipe out Kingo financially, but it's his son and so there is no hesitation. Then in walks Kingo's boy and things change. It is brought to his attention that not his son, but the son of his chauffer has been kidnapped.
The kidnapper still wants the money.
What follows next is a rather in-depth study of our own conflicting emotions. Are we willing to lend a helping hand to others when it means our own ruin? Sure, when our own children or loved ones are at stake then the answer is easy. I would gladly give my life for my daughter or even for the children of my close friends and I know it goes both ways; but would I risk my future for a business partner if he really needed me too? Sure, this man has worked for Kingo for some time, but that's all it is; work.
Sometimes doing the right thing is not the first thing we want to do.
Sometimes the right things are very conditional.
Kurosawa develops this film gloriously with the right amount of edge and ambiguity. The audience is kept on edge as the whole story unfolds, and the way he has mounted the kidnapping brilliantly keeps us guessing as to who is actually behind it. The clues are everywhere, even if we keep picking up on the wrong ones, so the audience is left constantly double guessing themselves. The acting is all stellar, especially from Toshiro Mifune. I can't think of a single fault here, except that maybe the film ended and I really wanted it to keep going. This is a nice look at the downside to wealth; how it can corrupt and essentially make us a target.
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.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
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