Rating of
4/4
High and Low review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 11/22/12
The title means "Heaven and Hell," and the picture and themes never get dated. Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) is an executive for National Shows who faces a dilemma whether to pay the ransom for his chauffeur's child or to gain full control of the company. Screenplay was extraordinarily clever and provocative with lines: "Success is not worth loosing your humanity." by Reiko Gondo, "My work is part of me." by Kingo and "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." by Ginjirô Takeuchi (Tsutomu Yamazaki). All the artists were solid in their performances while humor was slightly injected to since the mood was tense. Camera direction was a delight while the method of locating/capturing the kidnapper was meticulous and well detailed. High and Low is about corporate politics, morality, sacrifice, envy and justice which was expertly portrayed in an entertaining manner by the legendary Akira Kurosawa. Definitely an underrated crime mystery thriller with slight humor.
