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

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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


After the novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter).
Kurosawa was 53 when he directed High and Low.

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

Film Rating (0-60):

60

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.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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