High and Low

“The masterpiece of Kurosawa’s modern-day movies” (Elliott Stein, Village Voice), the extraordinary High and Low is a morally complex thriller adapted from a novel by American crime writer Ed McBain. Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), a self-made tycoon risking financial ruin as he battles for control of his company, receives word that his young son has been kidnapped. Paying the ransom demand will clearly sink him — but when it is learned that the kidnapper has actually grabbed the chauffeur’s son by mistake, yet is still demanding the huge ransom, Gondo faces a terrible dilemma. The first half unfolds mostly within the suspensefully static confines of a single room; the second half explodes into a frenetic police procedural. High and Low is one of Kurosawa’s most impressively formal works, with taut CinemaScope framing, marvellous deep-focus compositions, gripping set pieces, great use of mirrors and reflections, and ironic point-of-view interplay between high and low (or, as the Japanese title has it, heaven and hell). “Undoubtedly the most complex detective film of all . . . It contains so many nuances of narrative, photographic technique, and acting, that it demands seeing far more than once” (William K. Everson). B&W, 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles. 143 mins.