kurosawa was way ahead of his time both in storytelling and in his camera.
genuinely its so good to see this in clear hd, it looks so good.
kurosawa writes his characters complex and their situation even more complex. due to the nature of capitalistic nations both our protagonist and antagonist suffer, they two sides of the same coin.
gondo isn't mallicious but he'll lose everything if he pays up but should he? i mean after all, he's rich. not as rich as others, i mean he is on the brink of losing every penny he has, he directly supports the system that squanders the others...but thats the thing, no one here is a villain because they are all hung on a rope, ready to be sacrificed when needed to. you could say the rich are evil and the poor are innocent but whats really the truth is that nobody inherently is either but we lose our moral compass or have it all over the place because of money.
nobody seems to get a grasp on it and so we attack eachother instead.most rich people are evil but its not ALWAYS that simple(most of the time it is)
like parasite, the film asks you who you exactly should be rooting for and the only answer is: almost everyone in one way or another.
kurosawa thrusts us into reality, what makes us tick, what brings us down eachothers level, how money controls our actions and how since 1963, nothing has changed.(also watch my new 79 min film https://boxd.it/cQ1mBp )
High and Low
Stark, intense drama almost beyond belief!
Rating
Release Date
3/1/1963Runtime
142 minsOverview
In the midst of an attempt to take over his company, a powerhouse executive is hit with a huge ransom demand when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake.
Status
ReleasedOriginal Language
JapaneseBudget
$250,000Revenue
-Homepage
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How It Feels
Read from this film's synopsis, keywords and credits, and used to work out what it sits beside.
A meticulously crafted thriller that pivots from intimate domestic crisis to sprawling urban investigation, examining how wealth and status determine human worth. Kurosawa's sharp eye transforms a kidnapping premise into a piercing critique of Japanese society's moral fault lines.
Mood
Themes
Tone
Pacing
Look
Structure
Heads up
Toshirō Mifune
Kingo Gondo
Tatsuya Nakadai
Chief Detective Tokura
Kyōko Kagawa
Reiko Gondo
Tatsuya Mihashi
Kawanishi, Gondo's secretary
Isao Kimura
Detective Arai
Kenjirō Ishiyama
Chief Detective 'Bos'n' Taguchi
Takeshi Katō
Detective Nakao
Takashi Shimura
Chief of Investigation Section
Jun Tazaki
Kamiya, National Shoes Publicity Director
Nobuo Nakamura
Ishimaru, National Shoes Design Department Director
Yūnosuke Itō
Baba - National Shoes Executive
Tsutomu Yamazaki
Ginjirô Takeuchi - Medical Intern
Reviews
This second watch definitly cements high and low as my favorite kurosawa film.
Engaging.
Morally complex.
And amazing.
The first half of the film takes a majority of the runtime place in gondo's apartment.
He's not evil but has to make a difficult choice, save a boy but come out in such a way that he might be almost to the point of broke.
Like if he doesn't pay up, that makes sense because nobody wants to go broke but then he doesn't save an innocent life in the moment he could.
Will he Sacrifice or not?
Me and the gang if we we're dectectives
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