High And Low on DVD (1963)

Sublime and Masterful

Merlin from London , 15/02/2006

My parents awoke me when I was seven to watch the Seven Samurai on TV. I didn't make school the next day but I could think of nothing else for weeks. To this day it remains my favorite film for many reasons. I made a point of trying to see every film that Kurosawa has made and High and Low is no exception as to it's brilliance.

The film starts slowly but with wonderful set pieces and enigmatic charcters grips you. Gondo is a major shareholder in a shoe company but his colleagues want to oust him. He decides to put everything on the line and mortgage his house to retain the majority shareholding and oust his fiesty colleagues. Just when things are going to plan his son is kidnapped and held for ransom. Although it isn't his son, it's his chauffeurs son. A dilemma ensues. What will he do.

High and Low is an intelligent and beautiful film and one of Kurosawa's most clever. Kurosawa ultimately understood his art far more than almost any other filmmaker living or dead. He was truly the master. Wonderful sixties sets and great acting lead to a fantastic night in front of the tele.

Watch this wearing your finest loafers.

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Moral dilemmas and police work in a top thriller

Saty from Reading , 07/04/2005

Really good setup, a millionaires chauffers son is kidnapped instead of his own son but the kidnapper still wants a massive ransom to be paid. Should the millionaire still pay the ransom even though it would bankrupt him and ruin his plans to takeover the company where he works. This is played out over 3 days with a police squad helping him while trying to remain hidden from the kidnapper who can see into the living room. Initially the policemen fail to shine but show more CSI skills when trying to hunt down the kidnapper in the second half of the film. This is a superb film, there is depth to the dilemma and the mood changes one way and then the other, the direction and acting are all excellent and the camera movement belies the staginess of the first half and some of the photography of the second half lights frames as if they were scenes from a manga comic. Recommended.

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Slow but very sure

Cato , 26/09/2005

A very measured start, in which we are in the main protagonist's living room for an hour, slowly burns to an exciting denouement in which the kidnapper and murderer awaits his execution. All the hallmarks of Kurosawa are there: the largely male cast, the disciplined but ethically challenged Japanese way of life, the tight and concise camera work. But what struck me as odd and rather commendable was that here was a thriller about a kidnapped child involving an aggressive father(Toshiro Mifune) and practically the whole of the city's police force, and yet there was not a scrap of physical violence in the whole film. A lesson which I think could have been followed a little more in the 40+ years of film making since.

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Kidnapper caper comes a cropper

Charles Brickley from Andover, Hampshire England [Highly rated reviewer] , 03/03/2008

Yet another Kurosawa masterpiece starring the magnificent Mifune which manages to deal with business powerplays, crime, loyalty, honour and drama in what could have been just another cop story.

Time is spent setting up the story as well as dealing with the decision that Mifune's character has to make when he is bargaining his hard earned fortune for the life of his chauffer's son who was mistakenly kidnapped instead of his own lad.

Yes, it's in black and white again, but the photography is still great and the plot eventually picks up the pace once the police get in on the act.

If you enjoy Akira Kurosawa's work then you will not be disappointed by this little gem, based upon an American story, but told as only the Japanese can.

Well worth the money!

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Moral dilemmas and police work in a top thriller

Saty from Reading , 07/04/2005

Really good setup, a millionaires chauffers son is kidnapped instead of his own son but the kidnapper still wants a massive ransom to be paid. Should the millionaire still pay the ransom even though it would bankrupt him and ruin his plans to takeover the company where he works. This is played out over 3 days with a police squad helping him while trying to remain hidden from the kidnapper who can see into the living room. Initially the policemen fail to shine but show more CSI skills when trying to hunt down the kidnapper in the second half of the film. This is a superb film, there is depth to the dilemma and the mood changes one way and then the other, the direction and acting are all excellent and the camera movement belies the staginess of the first half and some of the photography of the second half lights frames as if they were scenes from a manga comic. Recommended.

Read all highest rated reviews

Kidnapper caper comes a cropper

Charles Brickley from Andover, Hampshire England [Highly rated reviewer] , 03/03/2008

Yet another Kurosawa masterpiece starring the magnificent Mifune which manages to deal with business powerplays, crime, loyalty, honour and drama in what could have been just another cop story.

Time is spent setting up the story as well as dealing with the decision that Mifune's character has to make when he is bargaining his hard earned fortune for the life of his chauffer's son who was mistakenly kidnapped instead of his own lad.

Yes, it's in black and white again, but the photography is still great and the plot eventually picks up the pace once the police get in on the act.

If you enjoy Akira Kurosawa's work then you will not be disappointed by this little gem, based upon an American story, but told as only the Japanese can.

Well worth the money!

Read all highest rated reviews