HIGH & LOW (DVD) DVD

High and Low
Based on King's Ransom, an "87th Precinct" novel by Ed McBain (aka Evan Hunter), High and Low stars Toshiro Mifune as Gondo, a wealthy industrialist. Gondo is contacted by a gang of kidnappers, who inform him that they've kidnapped his son. The crooks demand a huge ransom for the boy's return -- an amount so huge that it will utterly bankrupt Gondo. As the harried businessman prepares to pay the ransom, he discovers that his son is safe at home: the kidnappers have accidentally snatched the son of his chauffeur. Does Gondo drop his payoff plans, or does he do the honorable thing and rescue his employee's son? This dilemma is but one aspect of the multilayered character study from the unbeatable team of star Toshiro Mifune and filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, who directs this superb film with his usual depth and impeccable eye for detail and character. As a man forced to make impossible decisions, Mifune gives a nuanced, perceptive and psychologically convincing performance. While not one of Kurosawa's master works, High and Low, with its grim reality and moral ambiguity stands as a superb example of film noir at its best. High and Low was originally released in Japan as Tengoku To-Jigoku. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Toshiro Mifune as Kingo Gondo Kyoko Kagawa as Reiko, Gondo's Wife Tatsuya Nakadai as Inspector Tokura Yutaka Sada as Aoki Kenjiro Ishiyama as Detective Taguchi

Crew Yoshiro Muraki - Art Director Akira Kurosawa - Director Masaru Sato - Composer (Music Score) Shinobu Muraki - Production Designer Asakazu Nakai - Cinematographer Choichi Nakai - Cinematographer Takao Saito - Cinematographer Ryuzo Kikushima - Producer Tomoyuki Tanaka - Producer Eijiro Hisaita - Screenwriter Ryuzo Kikushima - Screenwriter Hideo Oguni - Screenwriter Akira Kurosawa - Screenwriter Herman G. Weinberg - Translator Ed McBain - Book Author

High and Low
Kurosawa's adaptation of Ed McBain's police procedural is a Dostoyevskian morality play told with dazzlingly choreographed long takes. Toshiro Mifune stars as a business executive who begins to gather a ransom large enough to bankrupt his business after getting a note from kidnappers about a stolen child. When his son turns up, he realizes that it was his chauffeur's son who was abducted, and must decide what course to take. Kurosawa's films with contemporary settings have often dwelt on the corruption of the powerful, in particular on the world of business. But here, as the prerogatives of business clash with personal obligations, it's a businessman who must run the gauntlet of conscience. The film's first act, dealing with Mifune's discovery and tortured decision-making process is a tour-de-force of acting and direction, shot in master scenes whose fluidity is abetted by the mobility and lightness of the shoji screens separating the rooms of the spacious house. The latter part of the film, which tracks the police investigation, points up the collective nature of Japanese law enforcement and features excellent performances by Takashi Shimura and, in an early role, Tatsuya Nakadai. After opening in relative luxury high above the city, Kurosawa then immerses one in the grimy, tightly packed urban nightmare below. As the kidnapper confronts his victim in a shatteringly conclusive scene, he illustrates the gulf between the two. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
 

Golden Globe, Best Foreign Film (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: Japanese Subtitle Options: English Sound Processing: 1: PCM mono Additional Features: none specified DVD Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1: Cinemascope MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 143 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 0. Chapters 1. Logos [:13] 2. Credits/High Heels [9:41] 3. 30 million yen [9:40] 4. Special delivery [14:22] 5. Kawanishi's sale [10:53] 6. Gondo's demand [5:13] 7. Booby traps [5:00] 8. Bullet train [6:31] 9. Media-made hero [3:35] 10. 8mm information [5:34] 11. Puzzle pieces [3:44] 12. Toyopets and trolleys [12:06] 13. Shinichi remembers [9:07] 14. Life after death [9:22] 15. Candy-colored smoke [3:21] 16. "Burn this,pop" [2:31] 17. Taking the bait [4:46] 18. Stakeout [3:38] 19. Love connection [5:12] 20. Dope alley [5:59] 21. "A real prize" [2:46] 22. Now or never [3:34] 23. Heaven and Hell [6:25]