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Release Year: 1963

Japan’s most respected director, Akira Kurosawa, is best known for his Samurai classics. Often borrowing source material from Shakespeare (Ran is based on King Lear and Throne of Blood is based on Macbeth), he just as often provided source material himself for other directors in the West. His signature piece, Seven Samurai, was remade into The Magnificent Seven while Yojimbo became Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars. Even George Lucas’ Star Wars: A New Hope was based largely on Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress. Amidst all the acclaim for his Samurai movies, and they well deserve it, his other films are often ignored. One such film is 1963′s High and Low, a masterpiece of a film exceeded among Kurosawa’s opuses only by Seven Samurai itself.

Actually entitled Heaven and Hell in Japanese, the film is based on the novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain. It tells the story of a factory manager, Gondo, played by Kurosawa regular Toshiro Mifune, who is in a battle with the other stock holders in his shoe company for control of the entire enterprise. By mortgaging his home and gathering in all his hard earned money, Gondo prepares a desperate attempt to buy up enough stock to control the corporation. Just as his plans are coming together however, he receives a phone call from a man who claims he has abducted Gondo’s son, and will kill the boy if Gondo does not pay him 30,000,000 Yen, an amount not only enough to preclude any attempt to control the company, but enough as well to leave Gondo at the mercy of his creditors and with no way to pay.

Gondo, whose house sits high on a hill, is told not to call the police, that the abductor, whoever he is, will be able to see if any cops come to assist him. Caught in a difficult situation, he is suddenly relieved to see his son come waltzing back into the house, blissfully unaware of what has transpired. It is then that Gondo and his wife realize the abductor has taken the son of Gondo’s chauffeur who closely resembles Gondo’s child. The abductor soon calls back to admit his mistake, but insists that Gondo pay anyway or he will kill the chauffeur’s son. While the police desperately search for the felon, time is running out and Gondo must decide whether or not he will keep the money or save his chauffeur’s child.

The movie is both a commentary on Japanese society of the time and a thrilling story in the film noir genre. As a commentary on Japanese society, the movie largely fails. There is too much economic illiteracy, something common in not just Hollywood films. For instance, Gondo is painted from the beginning as a hard working man fighting for the people as he insists on making expensive yet durable shoes, while his foes in the company want to make cheap, fashionable shoes which will wear out quite quickly. Gondo accuses them of being too worried about the bottom line, and yet that is exactly how a company best serves the public. People don’t spend their money on things they don’t want to buy, and cheap products are actually a sign of a wealthier society: people have the disposable income to change clothing each year with the latest fashion, so it actually makes sense to make shoes, and indeed many products, that may wear out quickly, but actually cost less to produce. Why waste good, durable materials on things which will be thrown out as soon as they go out of style?

Though I disagree with much of the take on Japanese society, as a film noir crime caper, the movie is marvelous. Kurosawa’s fluid camera and judicious shot selection tell the story at a steady pace, allowing the mystery to unravel bit by tense bit. It is a lean telling, with no unnecessary coverage and no flamboyant camera work; and the individual shots are truly a wonder of beauty from simplicity. Kurosawa, following the footsteps of Orson Welles, uses his space with a veteran’s refined skill. The story flows in and out of the frame, making off camera space as important as what is in front of the screen. He uses depth in his shots, and the night lighting, often a problem point for older movies, enhances the feel of the nightlife in Tokyo. The actors account well for themselves and are well directed, with even the many small parts giving just a touch of personality to flesh out the world of the story. They are also well chosen for their roles, many of them possessing very cinematic faces, a particularly important thing for a non-easterner viewing facial types to which he is unaccustomed.

As solid a film as this is through the first two thirds, it is the last act which truly grips the viewer and makes one’s pulse start to race. Bereft of fast and kinetic action sequences, the movie manages to build up the tension and make our hearts race as if we were watching a car chase. The cinematography is superb, the sets well chosen, and the viewer is so engrossed with the story at this point that one finds oneself on the edge of one’s seat as the hunt for the abductor reaches its climax. Originally, the climactic scene was filled with dialogue, but Kurosawa sagely chose to cut almost all of it and let the images and the actions carry us along.

After the climax, there is a brief epilogue whose tone is responsible for this movie being film noir, or at least noir-ish. Coming right on the heels of the suspense of the climax, it’s a delicious way to close the film, leaving one drained and yet eager for the second viewing.

The movie is superb in a way that few movies are. When I first saw it, I had at least seven or eight Kurosawa films under my belt. A viewer new to Japanese cinema may be slightly put off by the distinct nature of Japanese acting, as I was when I saw The Hidden Fortress, my first Kurosawa movie. However, like a language student who familiarizes himself with the sounds of a foreign tongue until they no longer seem strange, a viewer of Kurosawa films will quickly grow accustomed to the alien nature of the acting, until suddenly it does not seem alien at all and starts to make sense. Anyone who takes the time to do this will be well compensated with the delights awaiting him from the master of cinema, Akira Kurosawa. Chief among these delights is High and Low. I am not of the school of thought which declares that older is better, so you’ll not often hear me say this, but in this case it is warranted: they just don’t make ‘em like that anymore!

Final Grade: A

The Upside: Just about everything. This is what God intended when he created cinema.

The Downside: The social commentary is a bit off the mark at times, but is easily ignored in favor of the superb story.

On the Side: This is one of the last films that Kurosawa made before going through a long period of drought in which many thought his career was over. Happily, it was revived with the financial help of some American admirers and he came back with Kagemusha in 1980 and Ran in 1985, two of his greatest films.

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