#24: KUROSAWA, Akira: High and Low (1963)

KUROSAWA, Akira (Japan)
High and Low [1963]
Spine #24
DVD


Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in Akira Kurosawa's highly influential High and Low. Adapting Ed McBain's detective novel King's Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a penetrating portrait of contemporary Japanese society. Criterion is proud to present High and Low in an all-new high-definition digital transfer.

143 minutes
Black & White/Color
Surround
in Japanese
2:35:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 1998

Director/Writers


Akira Kurosawa was 53 when he directed High and Low.
Screenplay by 
Hideo Oguni, Eijiro HisaitaRyuzo Kikushima and Kurosawa.
Based on the book King’s Ransom by Ed McBain.

Eclipse Series 7: One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
#413: Drunken Angel (1948)
Eclipse Series 7: Scandal (1950)
Eclipse Series 7: The Idiot (1951)
#221: Ikiru (1952)
#2: Seven Samurai (1954)
Eclipse Series 7: I Live in Fear (1955)

The Film


The Extras

The Booklet

1998 DVD: Four-page leaflet featuring an essay by Chuck Stephens.
2008 DVD: 36-page booklet featuring an essay by Geoffrey O’Brien and Donald Richie.

Commentary

By Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince.

Documentary

Thirty-seven minute doc on the making of High and Low, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful To Create.

Video interview

With Mifune, conducted by TV talk-show host Tetsuko Kuroyangi.

Interview

With actor Yamazaki.

Theatrical trailers from Japan and U.S.

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