Rating: 
Summary: All highs -- no lows.
Review: It seems absurd at first that Akira Kurosawa's masterpiece *High and Low* is based on an Ed McBain potboiler. But it's actually typical of Kurosawa, who, perhaps believing that an Occidental-invented art-form like cinema probably benefits from Occidental-type stories, endlessly drew inspiration from popular, even shoddy American tales. His genius was to take our Westerns and detective novels and put them in a specifically Japanese milieu, while at the same time transforming them into universal works of art with his wisdom. All that being said, *High and Low* also happens to be an expertly constructed police procedural / suspense picture. Some of the best scenes in the movie are on the bullet-train with Toshiro Mifune throwing the ransom money out the window, as well as inside the cavernous police station with the masterfully choreographed revelations, one by one, of the details of the kidnapping case by the indefatigable cops. But what makes those scenes fly is the moral urgency behind them . . . something you almost never get from movies of this type. The pacing is brilliant: the aforementioned bullet-train scene breaks the mounting tension from the first hour, but Kurosawa immediately introduces us to the psychopathic kidnapper, setting up some more excruciating tension as the madman tries to lose the scent of the very clever cops on the case. The plot is devilishly complex: we no longer know what to expect when, early on, it's revealed that the kidnapper has taken the wrong child, the son of the industrialist's chauffeur instead of the actual son of the industrialist. We give up trying to figure things out and simply let the director give us the info on a need-to-know basis. The performances are all good: Toshiro Mifune gives a nuanced performance as the anguished shoe manufacturer on the verge of losing his humanity . . . but Tatsuya Nakadai (*Yojimbo* fans will recognize him as the pistol-wielding villain in that movie) as the top cop perhaps impresses more with his absolute refusal to showboat, even though he's given ample opportunity to do so. It's a thoroughly real portrayal. -- Some of my fellow American reviewers here have adopted a "tsk-tsk" stance with regards to the rampant capitalism presented in the movie. Phrases like "a fascinating study of post-War industrial Japan" are slightly redolent of patriarchal superiority, to my ears. Well, yes, the brutal obsession with making money in *High and Low* has a uniquely Japanese flavor, perhaps; but ask yourself this: Who provided the model? Has American capitalism ever been more "humane"? The scene in the Yokohama bar with its drunken, leering Americans (who were unwittingly filmed, btw) reveals Kurosawa's concerns about the capitalist mindset as whole, not just the Japanese version of it. As I said earlier, this director, like all the great ones, transcended his milieu. -- Basically, if someone had a gun to my head or whatever and said, "You can have only ONE Kurosawa in your collection," *High and Low* would probably be the one.
Rating:
Summary: One of Kurosawa & Mifune's Greatest films!!!
Review: Kurosawa and Mifune did many great films together, but High and Low is one of my personal favorites. When a director who is mostly known for samurai films takes a u-turn and does a noir film, and does it extremely well, that's the sign of a true genious. Next to Hitchcock, Kurosawa is one of my favorite film makers. And to top it off, the uncanny Toshiro Mifune is at his stellar best in the film. he has been compaired witht the likes of Brando and DeNiro, but who cares. Mifune doesn't need to be compaired to them, they should be compaired to him. High and Low is an incredible film about morality and justice, much like Orson Wells' classic, Touch of Evil. But if you don't care about that, then it's worth it just to see two masters at work. Do yourself a favor and chech out Kurosawa's masterpiece, High and Low.
Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately underrated
Review: Kurosawa is best known for his samurai films, so unfortunately some of his modern dramas get brushed aside. I have taken a course dedicated completely to Kurosawa's films and have seen about sixteen of them. This one remains one of my favorites. It's an exciting detective story, and the scenes with the drug addicts are absolutely chilling. Don't miss out on this one!
Rating: 
Summary: More Cross-Cultural Influences.
Review: Kurosawa seems to have been interested, if not fascinated, by American mystery/detective fiction. This film is officially adapted from Ed mcBain's "King's Ransome", and "Yojimbo" is an uncredited but admitted adaptation of Hammett's "Red Harvest"."King's Ransome" is a natural for adaptation to a Japanese setting, as it revolves around questions as to what is proper and what is owed; what is owed to the master by the servant and what is owed by the master to the servant, and, beyond that, and possibly more importantly, as it dictates how one will act on such interactions, what is owed to one's own honour and self-respect. By naming his character "Kingo", Kurosawa both follows the original (McBain's character's name, to accord with the title pun, is "King"), and emphasises the almost feudal questions of honour involved in the story. Other reviews have summarised the plot -- i'll just touch on a few points: King/Kingo is CEO of an established family-run shoe manufacturing company; in response to falling products, somef his Board want to import shoddy shoes and put the company's respected name on them, in order to make a quick profit. He sees this as wrong, both in that it is not fair to the customers who rely on their brand-name to mean a quality shoe, and because, in the long run, it will damage the honour (and commercial viability) of that name. One element of the essential conflict: What does the company owe its loyal customers? And can the company tolerate the loss of "face" inherent in such a bait-and-switch scheme? And then the ransome note arrives -- pay, or his twelve-year-old son dies. If he pays the ransome, he will lose the fight on the Board of Directors, and his company name will be damaged; but there's no choice -- this is his only son, more important to him than anything else in the world. But, *because* of the fight with the Directors, he already has the money needed for the ransome on hand; of course he will pay. Another element: Blood is more important than money. And then McBain and Kurosawa's twist -- the son is fine; it is his long-time playmate and age-mate, the chauffeur's son, who has been kidnapped. The chauffeur is a long-time employee and friend. His son and Kingo's son are devoted playmates. The chauffeur is a widower and his son is his only family. He has given Kingo his loyalty for many years. And now he is suffering for his proximity to the great man -- if not for that loyal service and his son's closeness to Kingo's son, his son would not be in danger. The final element: How much does Kingo owe this good man -- and in what manner; as employer? As friend? As (however unintentionally and passively) the cause of his trouble? If he pays the debt he acknowledges that he owes his chauffeur and ransomes his son, than he will lose his shoe company; his name will be publically dishonoured by the shoddy prodcut that the company will market if he loses. But, if he saves his company, he will save his name's honour in that regard, and will publically not lose "face"... but he, and the chauffeur and his own son will know that he sacrificed an innocent whom he could have saved. Kingo is not an evil man nor a hard man; he must choose, and he must make the correct choice aganst a constantly-shortening time limit. An excellent adaptation of a classic police procedural novel, and a cogent and pointed essay on honour and responsibility, subjects common in Kurosawa's work. ((For another of his films dealing with similar questions of honour and loyalty, try "Kagemusha".))
Rating:
Summary: Irresistible
Review: Kurosawa took a pulp story and made it into a modern existentialist masterpiece. Tengoku to Jigoku (Heaven and Hell) is much less mannered than The Bad Sleep Well. It is closer to the tradition Kurosawa established fourteen years earlier in Stray Dog. A seemingly decent businessman is exposed in his decency by the kidnapping of the son of his chauffeur. The underworld of modern Japan is rather patronizingly portrayed - with its American GIs and drug sub-culture. Kurosawa wasn't very adept at understanding the changes in modern Japanese society. Yet the confrontation of the Mifune character with the kidnapper in the last scene is quite harrowing - the oppressed at last confronting their oppressors. To his credit, Kurosawa doesn't avert his eyes for one moment.
Rating:
Summary: A masterpiece
Review: Kurosawa's study of a crime is like nothing I've ever seen. It begins wrenchingly with the kidnap of a rich industrialist's child, but the kidnapper has snatched the wrong child and the industrialist must confront his own financial ruin to save his chauffeur's child. The movie shifts its focus in the second third of the movie to the detectives who try to catch the kidnapper. They are dogged, heroic, determined to catch the kidnapper. They succeed, and the last third of the movie shifts to the kidnapper who is portrayed with the greatest empathy so that the viewer is left wondering who after all is the villain (or is it all of us?). A movie that can be seen and re-seen without ever giving up all its meanings. Toshiro Mifune heads the superb cast. This movies has it all, deep compassion, enormous suspense, dramatic situations, wonderful characters. It was Kurosawa's interpretation of Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment."
Rating: 
Summary: 45min too long
Review: Kurosawa's visual style is, as always, brilliant here, but it's his writing--good, at best even in his greatest efforts--that fails him.
The film is a very lopsided affair, with a riveting first half keeping you glued to the screen, while the sleep-enducing second half leads to a let-down of an ending.
The problem comes from the main dramatic intrigue of the kidnapping resolved WAY too early into the film. The cops then go on the hunt for the criminal who committed the act, only to find that he's a petty crook with NO character development to him. You sit there and feel like you've wasted 45min of your time while these cops go after someone, and it's just "some guy." And the film ends.
Another reviewer mentioned the quote "It's like that house is looking down at the rest of us." Duh. Thanks for the obvious.
This is precisely the flaw with many Japanese films, including Kurosawa's. It seems that the Japanese MUST give you everything you need to know in dialogue, with characters blurting out key plot points or thematic metaphors in token speeches. This happens in many japanimation films (where I would expect it to happen), and unfortunately, in some of Kurosawa's scripts as well. Here, for instance, when Mifune's character picks up the phone, the first thing he says, RIGHT off the bat, is "WHAT?! YOU'VE KIDNAPPED MY SON??!" Most people who would receive such a phone call--especially when it hasn't been established that your child had been out playing for an unusual amount of time, or something of that nature--would first ask: Who is this? or show some amount of perplexion.
The film just didn't do it for me. Kurosawa's brilliant visuals are here, but, as in Red Beard and some of his later films, he starts to lay on the moralising too thick and delays the end of the film by doing so. A 45-min splice would have made this film brilliant. As it stands, it's only average Kurosawa.
Rating:
Summary: House at the Top of Hill.
Review: Like many of Kurosawas classics this one revolves around a mans dilemna as to whether he should act for selfish reasons or rise above his selfish concerns and act for a higher good. The man in the dilemna is a wealthy shoe manufacturer who is on the verge of buying out the company he works for once and for all when his son is kidnapped. When he believes it to be his own son that was kidnapped there is no doubt in his mind that he must pay but when then learns that it was not his son but one of his sons friends that was taken by mistake he then begins a long deliberation with himself about whether he should pay the sum which would ruin him and save the child or not pay and realize his lifes ambition. That part of the movie is a solid drama but the most interestying aspect to my mind is how well Kurosawa shows all the details the police detectives use in solving the crime. The movie was based on an an Ed McBain novel and so the police detail is precise and is the real point of originality here. Each detective has a task and he takes he must perform and only when all the seperate elements of the police force work together can the crime be solved. So the selfless detectives are presented in contrast to the selfish and wealthy industrialist. Best secenes in the movie are when detectives trail their suspect through the seedy nightclubs. One particular nightclub scene for me steals the show. In that nightclub Kurosawa really captures the wild happenings that were the cultural moment of 1963. Cool jazz plays in this jam packed club which attracts a cultural mix indulging in their favorite night club activities. The excitement of this scene makes for a great few minutes of cinema and it is one of those moments that separate the great directors from the merely adequate. The lurid appeal of the seedy side of life was felt by another director as well, Orson Welles and his Touch of Evil is a film which comes to mind in certain scenes of decadent squalor. Immensely enjoyable in parts. Great and very likeable cast of detectives. The main storyline which traces the millionaires crisis of conscience is resolved in a most interesting ending when the millionaire(the high)confronts the low(the criminal). Film full of great detail and keen insight as always from Kurosawa. Great line spoken by one detective as he looks at the millionaries house on top of the hill. "I can understand the criminals perspective, its like that house is looking down on the rest of us."
Rating:
Summary: Gut-wrenching internal drama
Review: Like most Americans, I am more familiar with Kurosawa's period films (Samurai flicks!) than with his modern dramas. "High and Low" was my first venture into this aspect of Kurosawa, and it is very rewarding indeed. Toshiro Mifune's commanding presence dominates the first half of the film. He is every bit the in-control general, trying to find a strategy that allows him to keep family, fortune and face. His fortress has been breached by the enemy, and he must first defend then counter-attack. The enemy is invisible, hiding in an area of Japan that Mifune knows nothing about. The drama is tangible. Most of Kurosawa's troupe is here, with familiar faces at every turn. Yoshio Tsuchiya (the gun-slinger from "Yojimbo") is one of the good guys this time as a police detective. Takashi Shimura (Kambei from "Seven Samurai") is the police director. "High and Low" opened up whole new Kurosawa worlds for me. "The Bad Sleep Well," "Stray Dog," "Drunken Angel,"...I will never again limit myself to swords and top-nots. Great film!
Rating:
Summary: Gut-wrenching internal drama
Review: Like most Americans, I am more familiar with Kurosawa's period films (Samurai flicks!) than with his modern dramas. "High and Low" was my first venture into this aspect of Kurosawa, and it is very rewarding indeed. Toshiro Mifune's commanding presence dominates the first half of the film. He is every bit the in-control general, trying to find a strategy that allows him to keep family, fortune and face. His fortress has been breached by the enemy, and he must first defend then counter-attack. The enemy is invisible, hiding in an area of Japan that Mifune knows nothing about. The drama is tangible. Most of Kurosawa's troupe is here, with familiar faces at every turn. Yoshio Tsuchiya (the gun-slinger from "Yojimbo") is one of the good guys this time as a police detective. Takashi Shimura (Kambei from "Seven Samurai") is the police director. "High and Low" opened up whole new Kurosawa worlds for me. "The Bad Sleep Well," "Stray Dog," "Drunken Angel,"...I will never again limit myself to swords and top-nots. Great film!
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