Welcome to the Movie Club! Today’s movie is Akira Kurosawa’s classic crime drama High and Low.
High and Low begins by following Kingo Gondō, a wealthy businessman who is targeted by kidnappers that mistakenly take the son of his driver instead, forcing him into a moral decision where he must decide between the boy’s life or his career and wealth. The aftermath of that takes up the second half of the movie, as we follow the police as they track down the kidnapper in one of the earliest examples of a police procedural.
High and Low is an adaptation of the novel Kings Ransom by Evan Hunter, although it deviates from the novel with its expansion of the ransom scene and following investigation. It was produced on a reported budget of ¥230 million and released in Japan on March 1, 1963, earning a total of ¥460.2 million in the box office (Admittedly, the age of this movie means much of this information is from Wikipedia, sourced through literature). It later had its first North American release on November 26, 1963 in New York. While initial reviews were mostly positive, its reception has grown stronger over time. It currently has a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and is widely viewed as one of Kurosawa’s greatest and most influential films1.
Trivia:
- Going by Wikipedia citations here, but apparently the film’s release led to a rise of kidnappings in Japan!
- Ticket sales for the film’s North American release were said to be hampered by the assassination of JFK a few weeks prior.
- The daytime scenes in Gondō’s house were said to be filmed on location, using a set overlooking the city of Yokohama, while nighttime scenes were filmed using a backdrop.
What did you think? Share your thoughts below!
Up Next: Our next movie takes us back further into the past with Rouben Mamoulian’s pre-Code musical comedy Love Me Tonight. It is not streaming anywhere officially, but can be found on YouTube here:
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