Zwischen Himmel und Hölle

A child of a chauffeur is mistakenly kidnapped in the place of a businessman's son. The businessman, involved in a high-stakes takeover of his company from his erring bosses, chooses to risk losing his shirt to pay the ransom for a child not his own. While the clock is ticking on both the businessman's fortune and the child's life, the police decide that they want a sure conviction rather than a quick arrest.

A suspenseful crime story based on a novel by Evan Hunter (aka Ed McBain) transported to 1960's Japan. The soon to be famous "Economic miracle" is in full swing as Japan rebuilds its war-ravaged landscape. The mix of optimism and despair of the people in the thick of this economic transformation is palpable beneath the multiple story lines of scrappy cops following their hunches, the inventive kidnapper and the businessman.

Toshiro Mifune shines as the businessman while Tatuya Nakadai makes a fine appearance as Inspector Tokura. Tsutomu Yamazaki as the kidnapper debuts into a glorious career. Many of the bit players who appear only briefly eventually became big stars notably Eijiro Tono as the worker in a shoe factory and Nekohachi Edoya as the charming engineer who identifies a train, gesturing with chopsticks, by merely listening to recorded sounds.

This movie was incredible!! They called it Film Noir but, my God, it's so much better than THAT-- This film out-Hitchcocks Hitchcock! And I'm a Hitchcock devotee. The issues Kurosawa wrestles with in this, and his other films; the ethic responsibility we have as humans, humanity vs. greed, crime and punishment are universally understood. Nothing he presents in black and white(except literally in the film stock)-- but every shade of grey is reflected on. The story unfolds slowly but contains many twists and turns as the viewer questions the motives of each character. It's not just the force of good against evil--but a question of what is morally right and morally wrong. The title itself clues the viewer in to the ambiguities of class, greed, and moral ethic.

"High and Low" could be considered two movies. The first, "High" takes place in Kingo Gondo's (Mifune's) hilltop mansion. The crime occurs and what follows in the next hour is one of the most meticulous and brilliantly constructed film segments I have ever seen! The first half of the film could almost be considered theatre. It is static and deceptively simple but.....so intense! The ensemble acting is superb with Mifune a stand out as usual! Connecting these two movies is the train sequence. After the calculated intensity of the first part this scene comes at you like a sledgehammer! These four or five minutes are magnificent! So very exciting and so very quick it leaves you drained when it ends! "Low" begins with the hunt for the criminal. Only "Stray Dog" comes closer to capturing the cop's decent into hell. This last part of the film is fast and furious. We are no longer an observer. We have become part of the chase. First, we know who the criminal is. The police do not know and what follows is a fascinating puzzle being put together before our eyes! The last scene in the film is unexpected, deeply disturbing and left me numb and staring at the TV screen after the film had ended. Like Gondo we are left with the answers that we did not want to hear.

Kingo Gondo is a wealthy executive at the National Shoes company in Yokohama. He aims to make affordable, sturdy footwear for the masses. His co-workers opt instead for those of the cheap, low-quality variety that will wear easily, meaning they will need to be replaced often. In secret, Gondo organizes a leveraged buyout of the company, mortgaging all he has to afford it. However, just before he makes the deal, the son of his chauffeur is kidnapped and held for ransom. It's clear the kidnappers intended to kidnap Gondo's child, and he feels just as responsible as if they had. Will the police- led by the capable Inspector Tokura- be able to find the child and solve the extortion plot before it's too late?

Loosely based on Ed McBain's novel 'King's Ransom,' Akira Kurosawa's 'High and Low' is a powerful police procedural that will keep viewers' attentions held rapt from start to finish. With a screenplay by Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Ryûzô Kikushima and Eijirô Hisaita, the film examines many themes in an eloquent manner, including those of honor and morality. It also paints a picture of then-contemporary Yokohama as a city built upon an endemic inequality between the classes, and shows how easily the disenfranchised and impecunious can fall into a life of crime.

'High and Low' is a tense thriller that feels most authentic. Kurosawa shows us with precision the minutia that the police engage in, how they build their case and begin scavenging the city for clues to the kidnapping. Slowly, but steadily, headway is made, and Kurosawa doesn't rush the procedural process of the investigation. This is not to say the film is in any way slow-moving or drawn out, because the opposite is the case: 'High and Low' rockets along at a brisk pace, feeling all too short at 143 minutes; if anything.

The film reunites Kurosawa with cinematographers Asakazu Nakai and Takao Saitô, whose camera-work and shot construction is mightily impressive. 'High and Low' has an assured visual style, and the utilization of shadows is most striking. There is one instance of color being used in the film, which is to great effect; while the remainder of the black and white cinematography is rich and textured. Though he made some beautiful looking pictures in his time, the naturalism and style with which 'High and Low' is captured makes it a standout in Kurosawa's filmography.

As do the terrific, power-house performances from his cast. His second-to-last collaboration with the incomparable Toshirô Mifune, here his original muse stars as Gondo, giving a masterful performance of much restraint. Mifune creates in Gondo an initially fastidious character, whose evolution over the course of the film feels both authentic and subtle. Often, when one thinks of Kurosawa and Mifune, the Samurai pictures spring first to mind; though their work together here is just as impactful and entertaining as any of those earlier films.

Co-starring as Inspector Tokura is Kurosawa's second muse, the great Tatsuya Nakadai. Always a commanding presence on screen, he plays Tokura as a charming, determined detective who will do anything to catch his man. Though he has less emotional volubility to exhibit in the role, Nakadai performs just as strongly as Mifune; and neither man overshadows the other. Additionally, in a small but pivotal role stars Tsutomu Yamazaki, who showcases much depth and range, leaving a lasting impression on the viewer.

Thrilling from beginning to end, Akira Kurosawa's 'High and Low' is a brilliant piece of film noir, featuring an interesting examination of class at its center. Boasting stunning cinematography, as well as strong performances from all in the cast, there is little fault one can find with it. If you haven't seen it before, and you're a fan of police procedurals, they look no further: for 'High and Low' is a masterpiece of the genre.

High and Low, like Yojimbo and Throne of Blood, combines elements to create something special while seeming rather routine- while Yojimbo seems like a bad-ass samurai flick, it has the ingredients of a western and satire, and Throne of Blood is a rather faithful, strange adaptation of Macbeth in the guise of a warlord/samurai tale, High and Low does a similar method. Akira Kurosawa, a filmmaker who gets film buff's ears lit up at the mere mention of him, can usually be counted on to keep a film interesting even if it may not be entertaining to some of the crowd that likes a section of his movies or another (there's usually a split between his samurai/medieval tales and epics, and his dramas about the tragedies of ordinary people).

Here he finds a middle ground- the story is taken from a hard-boiled detective novel, the kind you could probably buy for a quarter or fifty cents in the old days- as he tells of two stories interconnected at the hip, both with detail a commercial Hollywood director would brush off. The first is of businessman Gondo (Toshiro Mifune, with his usual bravura presence, but with enough nuanced and quiet moments for two movies), who is about to close a deal to get the shoe company he's worked for for years, when he gets a phone call. There's been a kidnapping- not his son, but his chauffeur's by default. Backed into a corner without options, he gets together 30 million he really can't afford, and gives it to the kidnapper(s). The police, meanwhile, are not about to give up, and start digging for clues with an in-depth investigation that goes to probe every possibility: the chauffeur's son used as a partial witness with drawings; a car; a trolly car; all this leads to nothing and everything, leading to a third act that's as riveting as the first two.

Although the acting by everyone involved, cop characters included (Tatsuya Nakadai and Yutaka Sada are surprisingly good, the later even with limited screen time), Kurosawa keeps the film deliberately paced. Another director (more modern perhaps, but maybe not) might cut to the chase quicker, cutting past most of the investigation details, and even the emotional high-points in the first act. But Kurosawa is as interested in the nature and details of what the police do as he is with the compositions, which are constructed and framed as only an artist would do. The film creates a superb juxtaposition as well- Mifune's Gondo is enraged about what will happen with his money, but his morals stand above everything in his business affairs. Meanwhile, the cops here aren't cruel and unforgiving, but professionals trying to crack a case that the audience can hang onto. And then when the "seedy" underbelly of the city comes into view, it's looked on with at least some compassion by Kurosawa, and it's not too over-the-top.

If all your looking for is thrill after thrill, like in Sanjuro or even Hidden Fortress, look elsewhere- the violence, by the way, is kept to a low level for this one (it'd even be quite suitable for kids, if they don't mind the subtitles and quintessential intensity in the Japanese style of film acting). But for tight, often gripping suspense in the IL' 'whodunit' mystery tale, this is a keeper. Manipulative, perhaps, yet in the hands of a master it's an exemplary deal. And, in the end, it even provides a sad, existential kind of conclusion as good and evil become blurred as the kidnapper looks through glass at the disillusioned Gondo. It's one of the great endings in world cinema. A+