High and Low (Tengoku to jigoku) (Heaven and Hell) poster & wallpaper

Toshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyoko Kagawa

An executive mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives. He needs...( read more  read more... ) the same money, though, to pay the ransom that will possibly save a child's life. His resolution of that dilemma -- the certain loss of the company vs. the probable loss of the child -- makes for one distinct drama, and an ensuing elaborate police procedure makes for a second.

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94% liked it

6,286 ratings

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92% liked it

13 critics

Unrated, 2 hrs. 23 min.

Directed by: Akira Kurosawa

Release Date: November 26, 1963

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DVD Release Date: October 13, 1998

Stats: 369 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (369)

  • her69eyes
    July 19, 2009
    her69eyes
    The title of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 noir thriller "High and Low" is both a reflection of the setting in which much of the action takes place in, as well as a portrait of the class boundaries separating the industrial slums from the mansion that rests atop a hill. The film stars th...( read more)e longtime Kurosawa mainstay Toshiro Mifune (Takashi Shimura turns up as well, but in a much smaller roll), and it is arguably Kurosawa's best non-period piece.

    Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune) is a top level executive at the National Shoe Company, which is in the process of a huge reform to maximize profitability. Although his associates are fine with producing less-than-stellar products, Gondo takes a great pride in his shoes and angrily rejects. Fearing the future of the company in their hands, he plans to become the majority shareholder and keep the NSC from producing poor footwear.

    After mortgaging everything and arranging a big business deal, Gondo gets a call at home saying that his son, Jun (Toshio Egi), was kidnapped. In actuality, Jun was mistaken for Shinichi (Masahiko Shimazu), the son of Aoki (Yutaka Sada), Gondo's chauffeur. Although Gondo was willing to give up his money to protect the life of his own son, he recklessly calls the police (despite the kidnappers saying police involvement will lead to the death of the boy) and refuses to pay for Shinichi's life.

    The police and Gondo eventually set up a foolproof method of catching the criminals while delivering the ransom money, but they are fooled. Shinichi is back in the hands of his father, but the rest of the film follows the police's pursuit of the kidnapper and Gondo's fortune.

    The first half of the film, dealing with Gondo and the kidnappers, is simply brilliant. Gondo's apartment is filled with a number of people, and each actor plays their roles wonderfully. Gondo's wife chastises Gondo for not saving Shinichi, and Aoki lingers in the backdrop as a nervous and pathetic wreck. When the story shifts to the slums and the cat-and-mouse chase between the cops and the kidnapper, it becomes more of a standard police procedural - however the perfectly realized drug and prostitution culture make it never less than fascinating to look at.

    Although the second half of "High and Low" doesn't reach the brilliance of the first, it's nevertheless a wonderful thriller that criticizes the cruelty of capitalism in a creative and new fashion.
  • rubystevens
    March 28, 2009
    rubystevens
    an excellent crime drama. it's always fun to see mifune and nakadai play something besides samurai and mifune gives a nicely restrained performance here as a man who must choose between his prosperity and the life of a child. great city scenes toward the end. kurosawa obviousl...( read more)y loved film noir :)
  • stopitgoaway
    January 9, 2009
    stopitgoaway
    While I've seen HIGH AND LOW referred to as a "film noir," a "detective drama," a "riveting game of cat-and-mouse," and so on into infinity, I think those terms tend to underestimate some very great films (such as this and Kubrick's THE KILLING) and attempts to place them within ...( read more)boundaries over which the expanse of a few powerful films such as these spill.

    Indeed HIGH AND LOW is a story involving some familiar techniques from film noir; the detective story; and the hunter-and-hunted storyline, but it surpasses so many films that might be included in a list of fine films noires. It, in true Kurosawa style (one which Stanley Kubrick matched blow-for-blow, seeming to complement one another in their stunning gifts to the cinema), stands as a fable showing the differences and tensions which the coexistance of different classes creates.

    Gondo, the rich on high, receives torment from those who live below him, being literally perched upon a hill, overlooking the city in a feudalistic way, in which the king's palace gazes down upon the serfs below. As the kidnapper says, "it's hot as hell down here. But you wouldn't know that, you have air conditioning." Thus we see the parallels pile upon each other: it is about class warfare but also shows the differences between heaven and hell; and Gondo makes both a descent and ascent simultaneously.

    The plot is simple, but the truth is complicated, and I won't go into it here, but take my word as it stands: this is an amazing piece of film. See it now or regret it! Every Kurosawa film is sublime.
  • bort16
    August 31, 2008
    bort16
    Akira Kurosawa dipped into the facets of hardboiled American crime drama with his 1963 masterpiece High and Low. Working from Eijiro Hisaita's screenplay, based on a novel by Evan Hunter, Kurosawa crafted one of the most meticulous and influential police procedurals in film.
    T...( read more)he incomparable Toshiro Mifune plays Kingo Gondo, a rich executive of the National Shoe Company. Faced with a restructuring by other executives that would see the quality of their products drastically reduced in order to increase profits, Gondo secretly arranges to buy out the majority of the company's stock and successfully take it over. In order to do so, however, he must mortgage everything he owns. On the evening he is to complete the take over, a call comes to tell Gondo that his son has been kidnapped. He demands a ransom, one which will bankrupt Gondo and end his planned takeover of the company. Willing to pay that price for his son, miraculously the boy walks into the house unaware of anything that has just happened. The kidnappers have made a mistake; they have taken his chauffer's son. Gondo is now faced with a moral dilemma: Does he pay the ransom and lose out on his company to save the life of another man's child or play hardball?

    What i have described thus far is the first of two parts in High and Low. It is no spoiler to divulge that Gondo chooses to spend all he owns to save the boy, culminating in a marvelous exchange sequence on a train. This scene was carbon copied in other films, notably Along Came a Spider.
    The second part of the film is a marvelous police procedural following the hunt for the kidnappers in an attempt to get back the noble Gondo's money. His plan to takeover the company has been revealed, and now with no money he's been fired. Kurosawa was obviously inspired by American crime films, particularly the films of Jules Dassin (The Naked City). He weaves clever ideas placed to out the kidnappers early on, then dives into the pavement pounding difficulty of catching a criminal in a bustling city.
    Kurosawa crafted his crime thriller so meticulously, planned so carefully, and leads us towards moral conclusions only to subtly pulling the rug out from under us in the final scene. He has one of the most prolific and impressive resumes in film, delivering everything from swashbuckling samurai epics to touching human dramas, and here to hard boiled crime fiction. This was of course not Kurosawa's first foray into the genre - His Stray Dog and Drunken Angel are also excellent films, though High and Low is likely the best.
    Praises to Kurosawa aside, Toshiro Mifune as well must be applauded. He carried many of Kurosawa's best films. His brooding presence in High and Low is one of the high points. Mifune is able express so much simply by sitting and staring.
    As far as police prodecurals go, High and Low is one of the best. It's high quality filmmaking has raised it above the majority of the films it was inspired by. For example, while obviously inspired by The Naked City, a great example of police procedure while not necessarily a great film, High and Low doesn't miss a beat and achieves a whole other level.
  • columbiatch
    August 26, 2008
    columbiatch
    New favorite Kurosawa
  • g0y
    September 25, 2009
    g0y
    Finally a Kurosawa film that I love. The guy's ridiculously overrated but High and Low strikes well with me because the minimal suspense sticks with you throughout the investigation. There's flawed directing choices (Over acting lead actors, moments aware of a filming camera) but...( read more) at least it's not another samurai film.
  • Kabita100
    April 14, 2009
    Kabita100
    Truly the Emperor of Cinema, Kurosawa has panache of creating some of the most memorable characters in film and attracting a plethora of Japan's most respected talents. Our empathy reaches out to Gondo as he struggles in his impossible situation, while our hearts bleed for his c...( read more)hauffeur's anguish for the safe return of his son. Meanwhile, edge of your seat suspense, tension and drama is heighted by what is NOT being said between characters. Kurosawa's choice of changing the POV from Gondo to Det. Tokura and finally to the kidnapper himself, is bold, risky and masterfully pulled off. This gives us glimpses into each lead's mindset with the two most important being Gondo in his desire to cement a secure future for his family, and the envy driving Ginjirô Takeuchi to his crime. Both Gondo and Takeuchi represent the same demographic, and Kurosawa uses these characters to represent the point that we are all the subjects of our environments, and given the right (or wrong) circumstances, we are all capable of unthinkable deeds. This point reaches its dramatic apex in the final scene as Gondo sits across from Takeuchi; with each cut, Kurosawa brings the prior's reflection ever closer to the latter's until, finally, both faces overlap. ...Chillingly brilliant.
  • kurosawian
    April 9, 2009
    kurosawian
    The finest detective thriller ever filmed. But that's just skimming the surface. Kurosawa remains the emperor of cinema. It's remarkable just how much suspense and emotional involvement we get from one room with a few characters. The choreography and character proximities through...( read more)out is inspiring. Kurosawa clearly knows how to use the anamorphic lens. The second half/detective story is riveting. The finale transcends the crime genre and makes a bold statement with some of the most amazing imagery ever put to screen. This is the work of a true master.
  • doqtor
    March 2, 2009
    doqtor
    Superb crime/detective drama, with elaborate characterization of main roles. From the technical aspect, I have not seen better use of widescreen resolution, every shot was amazing. Also, scenery was very well used, particularly in the apartment. My favorite scene is definitely in...( read more) drug street, where junkies look like zombies, in horror-like atmosphere, I really wish Kurosawa did some horrors or sth like that.
  • alexroy69
    January 2, 2009
    alexroy69
    J'ignore par où commencer mon éloge de ce chef-d'oeuvre qui m'a donné envie de me louer toute la filmographie de Kurosawa. La première moitié du film se passe en majeure partie dans la même pièce, mais quelle tension, quel jeu de la part des acteurs! On croirait du théâtre, surto...( read more)ut à cause des plans larges de Kurosawa qui embrassent souvent tous les personnages présents. Mais pas du théâtre ennuyant, du film noir théâtrale plutôt, avec une intensité presque insoutenable.

    L'enquête se déroulant dans la seconde moitié du film est un bijou de suspense policier. Kurosawa utilise la tension qu'il a tranquillement fait grimper dans la première partie pour propulser l'intrigue dans une course folle et effrénée qui emporte avec elle le spectateur, les ongles plantés dans son siège. On a l'impression de participer à l'enquête dans les premières loges, en plus de voir les réactions de l'ennemi, quel privilège! Inutile de dire que je recommande fortement...

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