High and Low

Original title: Tengoku to jigoku

IMDb RATING

8.4/10

58K

YOUR RATING

Toshirô Mifune, Kenjirô Ishiyama, Kyôko Kagawa, Tatsuya Mihashi, and Tatsuya Nakadai in High and Low (1963)

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Police Procedural Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

An executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.An executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.An executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.4/10

58K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Top rated movie #84

Awards
- 3 wins & 3 nominations total

Trivia
After the film was released, kidnappings were on the rise in Japan. Akira Kurosawa himself had received threats for the kidnapping of his own daughter, Kazuko Kurosawa. She quoted him as once saying to her "With High and Low, I wanted to inspire tougher sentences on kidnappers. Instead, I was criticized for their increase."

Goofs
The story occurs in midsummer. This implies that Mt. Fuji has no snow. Since the location filming was carried out in winter season, the top of Mt. Fuji is very white. Some film critics mention that this is almost the only mistake they can find in the film.

Quotes
Kingo Gondo: Why should you and I hate each other?
Ginjirô Takeuchi, medical intern: I don't know. I'm not interested in self-analysis. I do know my room was so cold in winter and so hot in summer I couldn't sleep. Your house looked like heaven, high up there. That's how I began to hate you.

Connections
Featured in Tsukuru to iu koto wa subarashii! Kurosawa Akira: Korega Kuroswa sasupensu da (2003)

Soundtracks
The Magic Begins
(uncredited)
Performed by Yumi Shirakawa

User reviews178

Review

Featured review

10/10

The masterpiece of the "police procedural" genre

This is one of the outstanding detective films. For me, the most remarkable feature of this film is its architecture - the beginning is a long, static set piece taking place in one room. however, about a third of the way through the movie, it erupts into action, showing the resourcefulness of a largely blue collar police force tracking a lone sociopathic criminal.

The film is a fascinating portrait of '60's Japan, but at the same time reveals its roots in Ed McBain's _King's Ransom_, from which it was taken.

This is one of those films which doesn't seem to age after several viewings. Especially affecting are the police detectives, whose proletarian roots contrast sharply with the cold insensitivity of the powerful corporate executives. But the police find a hero in Gondo, the rebellious general manager who stakes his entire fortune to rescue his chauffeur's son. The admiration that the police detectives feel for him is one of the key emotions in the film.