Monday, August 15, 2011

High and Low (1963)

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)
High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku • 天国と地獄 (1963)

Genre: Crime Drama
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kenjiro Ishiyama, Tatsuya Mihashi, Kyôko Kagawa
Duration: 142 min.
Rating: 8.5  

Summary:
At a crucial moment in his career, Kingo Gondo a wealthy executive, becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapping and extortion scheme.  Now he must decide between the loss of his fortune and the loss of another man's child.



High and Low is a film by legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, adapted from King's Ransom an 87th Precinct detective novel by Ed McBain.  It has recently been released on Blu-Ray by The Criterion Collection.

When most people think of Kurosawa, the first images that come to mind are samurai and sword play, but he was just as masterful with his contemporary dramas.  High and Low is set in the industrial city of Yokohama and stars none other than Toshirô Mifune as Gondo a self made, wealthy, shoe-company executive; and Tatsuya Nakadai as Tokura, the chief detective assigned to Gondo's case.

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

The film employs a very unique structure.  The first half is very stage play like, and takes place almost entirely in one location, Gondo's house on a hill overlooking the city.  As far as mystery suspense thrillers go, this first part of the movie is incredibly well crafted and absolutely fascinating to watch.  The acting, the dialogue, and the cinematography are all excellent.  Mifune really painfully struggles with the moral dilemma set up for his character, paying the ransom will destroy his career, not paying it will destroy his humanity.  The exchanges with his wife, his chauffeur, the kidnapper, and the police are all perfectly played out.  Everything captured beautifully using wide angle shots of the interiors of Gondo's house, characters always placed purposefully on the edges of the screen to take advantage of the full frame.

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

After a frantic sequence aboard a passenger train, the second half of the film switches gears completely and turns into a somewhat straight forward police procedural.  We now follow Detective Tokura as he tries to track down the kidnapper and the money.  This section while not as captivating as the first, is still very entertaining and provides some impressive scenes that take place in several locations around the city, really bringing it to life with much attention to detail and creative scene composition.

In particular a lengthy case briefing that takes place in a crowded room of a police station, as each of the variously assigned detectives takes turns explaining the full details of the investigation, we can almost feel the sweltering heat and smell the cigarette smoke wafting through the room.  Then in another brilliant scene that follows the suspect into a packed seedy nightclub frequented by American soldiers, the viewer gets totally immersed in the atmosphere and action, all perfectly captured from a wide vantage point.  In fact, the whole last part of the film set in the slums of Yokohama has a very noirish feel, and I would be very surprised if it didn't have a direct influence on the look of Sin City.

As far as Kurosawa films go, this might not be one of his masterpieces, but still is an incredible piece of cinema, and is up there with the best detective films this reviewer has seen.

Bonjour Tristesse

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

High and Low • Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

29 comments:

Chip Lary said...

I was riveted by the first ("High") section when the moral question came up on paying the ransom.  The first half was so good, though, that I felt it made the second half look not so good in comparison.

On a general note, I went back through your 50 most recent pages, or about one third of your posts.  I've seen only about 20-25 of those movies (not counting more mainstream recent ones).  I didn't keep track, but there were probably 10-15 percent that I had not even heard of.

I'm going to add myself as a Follower, although I will probably only comment on the movies I have seen, so it may be a while between comments.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Welcome to the blog, and thanks for all your comments so far.

I prefer the first half as well.  The interior shots and mise-en-scene are amazing, and Mifune's acting was so good.  You are right, the second half while still very good just can't keep up with all that.

I also realize that many of these films won't garner a lot of readers or discussion, but I do think its worthwhile putting them out there.  Thanks again for stopping by and following!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Glad you enjoyed this.  For another great Kurosawa in a contemporary setting I recommend watching Stray Dog / Nora inu

Max Covill said...

Just finished watching the Criterion Blu-ray of this last night. This is the first Contemporary film from Kurosawa I've seen and I think by and large it delivered. 

I whole heartily agree that the beginning was extremely captivating while the crime procedural stuff left something to be desired. 

I'm not sure which film I should watch by him next, but I really felt like putting in one of his samurai classics right after High and Low was over. 

Hoi-Ming Ng said...

I'm going to add this to my watch list.

FrontRoomCinema said...

It is not THIS film that needs sneaking, it is the whole foreign film aspect. I can only get away with one foreign film a week.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I haven't seen Drunken Angel yet but Stray Dog is definitely one of my favorites.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Yeah now I really need to see his postwar box set.

blahblahblahtoby said...

just putting the finishes touches to the first post now. hopefully we can fit films 2 & 3 in for next tuesday.

Jack L said...

Great review,
I'm a fan of Kurosawa's non samurai films as well, especially Drunken Angel and Stray Dog, so this one seems to be something I'd enjoy.
I'll be sure to check it out.

Moviemonstrosityblog said...

Damn,  Kurosawa made masterpieces

Electric Addict said...

looks solid, ill check this one out!

thevoid99 said...

This is among one of my favorite films from Kurosawa.  He is definitely a master in films.  Whether it's samurai or contemporary films, there is no one like him.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks FilmMasterT, though I have to say that the trailer in this case is not a very good one.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

It's funny because I'm not usually a big fan of detective stories because they always seem to employ the same tired tricks, but this one's extremely well done.

Bonjour Tristesse said...

I think this period is the one that most interests me just because there's more foreign films.  Are you starting the marathon this week?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Cool, what have you seen so far?

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks Custard, but what aspect of this requires sneaking around? 

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks.  I quite enjoyed it.

FilmMasterT said...

Very nice review, I like how you put the trailer in. Great pictures too.

d_4 said...

Since I'm not a very huge fan of samurai movies, I'll go with the detective thriller which I think I'm going to enjoy. It looks good, it sounds good.

blahblahblahtoby said...

this is number 71 on the noir list. i deally we're gonna get to it sooner than 71 weeks though. with an 8.5 and its pedigree i'm quite excited by this one.

FrontRoomCinema said...

Very High marks there BT!

I recently got this but have been waiting for the right time to sneak it past my wife. It is always tough to do that these days!!
Hope you are well my friend

The Angry Lurker said...

A very good movie as I remember.

A Hero never dies said...

Excellent review BT, and a wonderful movie!

Mette said...

I'm going through a Japanese and Asian phase at the moment, actually, so that film sounds very interesting. 

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Ah, I understand.

FilmMasterT said...

Splendid review! I intend to see this soon. Oh I just noticed that Disqus has changed layout. I'll have to update mine!

Bonjour Tristesse said...

Thanks. I highly recommend it, and I can easily see my score going up on further viewings.

I pretty happy with the new Disqus so far. Some nice new features and a cleaner looking interface.

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