High and Low

While I've seen HIGH AND LOW referred to as a "film noir," a "detective drama," a "riveting game of cat-and-mouse," and so on into infinity, I think those terms tend to underestimate some very great films (such as this and Kubrick's THE KILLING) and attempts to place them within boundaries over which the expanse of a few powerful films such as these spill.

Indeed HIGH AND LOW is a story involving some familiar techniques from film noir; the detective story; and the hunter-and-hunted storyline, but it surpasses so many films that might be included in a list of fine films noires. It, in true Kurosawa style (one which Stanley Kubrick matched blow-for-blow, seeming to complement one another in their stunning gifts to the cinema), stands as a fable showing the differences and tensions which the coexistance of different classes creates.

Gondo, the rich on high, receives torment from those who live below him, being literally perched upon a hill, overlooking the city in a feudalistic way, in which the king's palace gazes down upon the serfs below. As the kidnapper says, "it's hot as hell down here. But you wouldn't know that, you have air conditioning." Thus we see the parallels pile upon each other: it is about class warfare but also shows the differences between heaven and hell; and Gondo makes both a descent and ascent simultaneously.

The plot is simple, but the truth is complicated, and I won't go into it here, but take my word as it stands: this is an amazing piece of film. See it now or regret it! Every Kurosawa film is sublime.

This is one of those rare movies I had to watch twice to catch all the meaning and beauty of its construction, that is how sleek and polished this film is. The storyline is deceptively simple -- a businessman named Gondo is about to take control of the company he's worked in for years when he's told his son's been kidnapped. It turns out the kidnappers got his chauffeur's son by mistake, but they still want him to pay the ransom. If he does, he will be financially ruined. If he doesn't, he will be reviled. Which will he choose? This makes up the first half of the movie, culminating in a breathtaking scene on one of Japan's bullet trains. The second half is the police search for the kidnapper/murderer and how a case is built that will take him to the gallows.

Now this sounds like your typical cop thriller, the type Hollywood churns out with one hand tied behind its back, but Kurosawa makes it into a meditation on honor and decency, and on how one's choices can lead one to Heaven or to Hell in little steps that seem to be taking you nowhere. Gondo is an honorable man who worked hard to built himself a life of wealth and power. This is no small feat, considering Japan is not known as a society where one can easily change one's station in life, so this adds to his dilemma; he will not only lose his fortune, he will also lose his hard-gained power and respect in the business community, all for a child that is not even his. And not only will he lose but his own wife and son will, as well. But to NOT pay the ransom means he will lose everything in him that is human and decent, and his wife and son will suffer from that, too.

This is a big deal -- not just in Japanese society but in the world as a whole. It doesn't matter if you live in Nepal or Kenya or Argentina or New York City, when faced with the choice of losing your position in your society or losing your soul, which would you choose? And would you still make that choice knowing that even if the cops catch the bad guy, it will make no difference in your own circumstances? Just a glance at some of the recent stock scandals gives you a good idea of where most people fall in their choices. And even Ed McBain, upon whose novel this movie is based, knew how hard it would be to give up your world for your spirit; his businessman refuses to pay the ransom.

To me, this movie is Kurosawa at his best and most subtle. Every shot is composed and measured and done just right. Not all films have to have bombs exploding and chase scenes and people going "Boo!" to affect you; sometimes just a man riding on a train en route to what he knows will be a catastrophe to him and his world is enough to make you thank the heavens for a story well told.

Toshiro Mifune is a businessman in a Japan that is on the brink of the Economic Miracle of the Sixties. He is an honest man who loves his job as a shoe factory exec and is in a battle for corporate control against a pack of hyenas. He has mortgaged and borrowed and scraped to raise the money for a surprise coup when his son is kidnapped. But there is a major plot twist: it is not HIS son that was taken but his son's playmate, the chauffeur's kid and the ransom demanded is astronomical. If he pays he will lose everything he has worked so hard for, but can he just sacrifice the chauffeur's child because it is not his? From here on High and Low (perhaps better translated as Heaven and Hell) is a police procedural based on an Ed McBain 87th precinct story.

Watching this film I had a rare, almost unique, experience. I saw it on a fairly screen tv, letterboxed, in a darkened room. All the preceding conditions helped contribute to put me into an objective/subjective middle ground where I had the feeling of looking through a special visor that allowed me to see the world by means of an almost perfect film as if through the eyes of a cinematic genius who is in total command of his artistic means and in total command of his subject matter. I think the key to this experience is that while High and Low is interesting as human drama, it is yet peculiarly uninvolving emotionally but very involving cinematically. These distances are important in Kurosawa's films (he is high on my list of top ten directors but after Welles). In IKIRU you probably could not be more deeply involved emotionally, while in RAN there is nothing but relentless distance.

I think a good companion film to watch with this would be Kurosawa's earlier, looser, but much more individually tense, police film STRAY DOG (this time Mifune is the cop)

"High and Low" could be considered two movies. The first, "High" takes place in Kingo Gondo's (Mifune's) hilltop mansion. The crime occurs and what follows in the next hour is one of the most meticulous and brilliantly constructed film segments I have ever seen! The first half of the film could almost be considered theatre. It is static and deceptively simple but.....so intense! The ensemble acting is superb with Mifune a stand out as usual! Connecting these two movies is the train sequence. After the calculated intensity of the first part this scene comes at you like a sledgehammer! These four or five minutes are magnificent! So very exciting and so very quick it leaves you drained when it ends! "Low" begins with the hunt for the criminal. Only "Stray Dog" comes closer to capturing the cop's decent into hell. This last part of the film is fast and furious. We are no longer an observer. We have become part of the chase. First, we know who the criminal is. The police do not know and what follows is a fascinating puzzle being put together before our eyes! The last scene in the film is unexpected, deeply disturbing and left me numb and staring at the TV screen after the film had ended. Like Gondo we are left with the answers that we did not want to hear.

Kingo Gondo is a wealthy executive at the National Shoes company in Yokohama. He aims to make affordable, sturdy footwear for the masses. His co-workers opt instead for those of the cheap, low-quality variety that will wear easily, meaning they will need to be replaced often. In secret, Gondo organizes a leveraged buyout of the company, mortgaging all he has to afford it. However, just before he makes the deal, the son of his chauffeur is kidnapped and held for ransom. It's clear the kidnappers intended to kidnap Gondo's child, and he feels just as responsible as if they had. Will the police- led by the capable Inspector Tokura- be able to find the child and solve the extortion plot before it's too late?

Loosely based on Ed McBain's novel 'King's Ransom,' Akira Kurosawa's 'High and Low' is a powerful police procedural that will keep viewers' attentions held rapt from start to finish. With a screenplay by Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Ryûzô Kikushima and Eijirô Hisaita, the film examines many themes in an eloquent manner, including those of honor and morality. It also paints a picture of then-contemporary Yokohama as a city built upon an endemic inequality between the classes, and shows how easily the disenfranchised and impecunious can fall into a life of crime.

'High and Low' is a tense thriller that feels most authentic. Kurosawa shows us with precision the minutia that the police engage in, how they build their case and begin scavenging the city for clues to the kidnapping. Slowly, but steadily, headway is made, and Kurosawa doesn't rush the procedural process of the investigation. This is not to say the film is in any way slow-moving or drawn out, because the opposite is the case: 'High and Low' rockets along at a brisk pace, feeling all too short at 143 minutes; if anything.

The film reunites Kurosawa with cinematographers Asakazu Nakai and Takao Saitô, whose camera-work and shot construction is mightily impressive. 'High and Low' has an assured visual style, and the utilization of shadows is most striking. There is one instance of color being used in the film, which is to great effect; while the remainder of the black and white cinematography is rich and textured. Though he made some beautiful looking pictures in his time, the naturalism and style with which 'High and Low' is captured makes it a standout in Kurosawa's filmography.

As do the terrific, power-house performances from his cast. His second-to-last collaboration with the incomparable Toshirô Mifune, here his original muse stars as Gondo, giving a masterful performance of much restraint. Mifune creates in Gondo an initially fastidious character, whose evolution over the course of the film feels both authentic and subtle. Often, when one thinks of Kurosawa and Mifune, the Samurai pictures spring first to mind; though their work together here is just as impactful and entertaining as any of those earlier films.

Co-starring as Inspector Tokura is Kurosawa's second muse, the great Tatsuya Nakadai. Always a commanding presence on screen, he plays Tokura as a charming, determined detective who will do anything to catch his man. Though he has less emotional volubility to exhibit in the role, Nakadai performs just as strongly as Mifune; and neither man overshadows the other. Additionally, in a small but pivotal role stars Tsutomu Yamazaki, who showcases much depth and range, leaving a lasting impression on the viewer.

Thrilling from beginning to end, Akira Kurosawa's 'High and Low' is a brilliant piece of film noir, featuring an interesting examination of class at its center. Boasting stunning cinematography, as well as strong performances from all in the cast, there is little fault one can find with it. If you haven't seen it before, and you're a fan of police procedurals, they look no further: for 'High and Low' is a masterpiece of the genre.