High and Low

I'd rather be told the cruel truth than be fed gentle lies.

**Warning: I am not spoiling the plot but I'm mentioning some important scenes in this review so don't read it if you haven't watched High and Low (and please go see it as soon as possible).**
I’m only at the beginning of my journey as a cinephile, and I’m afraid of looking like I’m trying too hard by giving High and Low a 10/10 rating, but honestly, I literally can’t find a single flaw in it. I think it’s truly the first time I’ve been this amazed by a director’s cinematic talent.

Kurosawa grabs the viewer and throws them around with incredible mastery: the investigation is incredibly satisfying to follow, everything stacks up perfectly without ever feeling forced. There are several moments of tension where doubt creeps in purely thanks to the power of the images [spoiler](Shinichi’s second sudden disappearance, the kidnapper at the bar, etc.)[/spoiler].

The character development is striking, especially Gondo’s of course. It’s deeply human and perfectly illustrates Kurosawa’s message: the most human character in the film is the one who manages to detach himself from greed, especially financial greed.

There are also several visually exceptional scenes: [spoiler]the colored smoke, the bar scene, the final conversation… but strangely enough, the one that struck me the most was one of the last: the kidnapper’s arrival at the vacation house.[/spoiler] It’s a fairly simple scene, and yet visually, I felt like it could have been shot in 2025 just by adding some colour. It shows just how extraordinarily talented Kurosawa was, managing to make a 62-year-old film feel so modern.

And I could go on and on about Inspector Tokura's charisma or how important the police meeting scene is, but I'd go on too long, which just goes to show how much this film affected me.

This Movie was Ahead of it's Time.
Many Hollywood, Bollywood and other movies are inspired from this movie.

Amazing film. Gets right into it and is high pressure cat and mouse until the very end. The ransom method on the train is top notch. Surely this has been copied in other films, right? I can't think of any though...

[Tivify] An extraordinary example of creating tension and suspense with minimal elements, especially in the masterful first part that takes place exclusively in Gondo's apartment. There are all the elements of Akira Kurosawa's cinema brought together in one of the most intense thrillers, with a description of Japan divided into impoverished classes that look up the top of the hill at the arrogant splendor of economic success. Splendid actors, an excellent script and a masterful sense of pacing serve to enrich the film.

It's a well done thriller, but it's more than that with Kurosawa's compositions and the values being explored in the film between high and low class, tradition versus modernism/Westernism. The tension of the first half can seem faster than the latter portion where a police procedural takes the focus, but the same values and biases are at stake in both sections. Why the police make choices they do in the latter half are informed by the first, and lay bare their prejudices, as well as society's. The film's final minutes are chilling.

Great film by Akira Kurosawa, everything is very good.

Really liked it. You don't see this type of movies nowadays. A little long though.

The original title of the film is Tengoku to Jigoku.

It started out great for me. The tension in the first half is amazing. The second part gets a bit slow. Especially the police meeting went on for way to long in my opinion. Still, I think it’s a solid film!