High and Low 4K UHD (1963) (Criterion Collection)

[trip66]

Originally Posted by Doctor Jack

I don’t know if it’s an odd opinion, but I think this is Kurosawa’s finest film. It’s absolutely incredible. I will buy this day one.

I've read people saying this is one of his weaker films, but its always been my personal favorite of his.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by trip66

I've read people saying this is one of his weaker films, but its always been my personal favorite of his.

Whoever says that is objectively wrong.

[BorisKarloffice]

Originally Posted by trip66

I've read people saying this is one of his weaker films, but its always been my personal favorite of his.

Who has ever said that? It's his second highest rated film on IMDb and it has a 96% RT score, same as Yojimbo, The Hidden Fortress, Ran, and Throne of Blood.

[Warm Gun]

Originally Posted by BorisKarloffice

Who has ever said that? It's his second highest rated film on IMDb and it has a 96% RT score, same as Yojimbo, The Hidden Fortress, Ran, and Throne of Blood.

I watched the UHD in January. Even more suspenseful and emotionally gripping than I remembered, but I also wasn't as impressed with the last act ten years later. Maybe because there's nothing really at stake anymore once the police know they have the kidnapper. Then it becomes about nailing him for murder too.

Why the hell was the main character played by Mifune in the street where the kidnapper was getting his cocaine, in that last act? Did they plan to have him pursue the kidnapper on his own and ended up cutting that part of the story? He's mostly not involved in that last act. Maybe that's another reason I wasn't as impressed the second time. The cop played by Tatsuya Nakadai is almost more the protagonist. Well, the movie is so much about the difficult decision Mifune's character has to make, to be fair.

It's still almost great. Just not quite TOP marks for me.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by Warm Gun

I watched the UHD in January. Even more suspenseful and emotionally gripping than I remembered, but I also wasn't as impressed with the last act ten years later. Maybe because there's nothing really at stake anymore once the police know they have the kidnapper. Then it becomes about nailing him for murder too.

Why the hell was the main character played by Mifune in the street where the kidnapper was getting his cocaine, in that last act? Did they plan to have him pursue the kidnapper on his own and ended up cutting that part of the story? He's mostly not involved in that last act. Maybe that's another reason I wasn't as impressed the second time. The cop played by Tatsuya Nakadai is almost more the protagonist. Well, the movie is so much about the difficult decision Mifune's character has to make, to be fair.

It's still almost great. Just not quite TOP marks for me.

No, it was a chance encounter.

[Show spoiler] Mifune's character (Gondo) was obviously not aware of the sting, or that he was face to face with his adversary (Takeuchi), which makes it more suspenseful for audiences, wondering what Takeuchi will do.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Warm Gun

Why the hell was the main character played by Mifune in the street where the kidnapper was getting his cocaine, in that last act? Did they plan to have him pursue the kidnapper on his own and ended up cutting that part of the story? He's mostly not involved in that last act. Maybe that's another reason I wasn't as impressed the second time. The cop played by Tatsuya Nakadai is almost more the protagonist. Well, the movie is so much about the difficult decision Mifune's character has to make, to be fair.

I love Kurosawa's films, but they often make bold, daring, wonky choices like this. It's true, this choice doesn't follow any of the rules of conventional narrative structure, and perhaps the film could be even stronger if the protagonist didn't recede into the background for so much of the second half, but then he gets that chilling final scene, so I think you still leave the theater feeling like he was there all along, in many ways.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I love Kurosawa's films, but they often make bold, daring, wonky choices like this. It's true, this choice doesn't follow any of the rules of conventional narrative structure, and perhaps the film could be even stronger if the protagonist didn't recede into the background for so much of the second half, but then he gets that chilling final scene, so I think you still leave the theater feeling like he was there all along, in many ways.

I actually like that he plays a very diminished, almost non-existent role in the second half. It really makes it feel like 2 films in one. The first half from his POV with the police being in the background, and the second with the police now in the foreground, with him in the background. I really love the way the film is split this way, and it's also cool how thematically, and even geographically the split perfectly aligns with the film's High & Low title.

[trip66]

Originally Posted by BorisKarloffice

Who has ever said that? It's his second highest rated film on IMDb and it has a 96% RT score, same as Yojimbo, The Hidden Fortress, Ran, and Throne of Blood.

I was gonna post that people have problems with the second half of the film, especially since Gondo becomes more of a background character. Now, a few posts above, that discussion has already begun.

I personally love how this is a film of two very different halves. The first, focusing on Gondo up in the Heaven or the High of the title. A nice, clean, white, and expensive house, with a beautiful view of the city outside of his window. Its mostly a one room/drama/stage play film with heavy characterization.

Then, at 55 minutes, the swipe cut to the action on the bullet train! The film shifts away from the High, to the Low or the Hell of the title. The film leaves Gondo in the dust to the investigation and action in the world below his. At that point, Tokyo as the setting becomes a main character as multiple characters navigate throughout the high population looking for a needle in a haystack.

As a Michael Mann fan, watching High & Low for the first time became an instant masterpiece. As a crime/noir lover, kidnapping films are probably my least favorite sub-genre. Yet, this film does something that generic kidnapping thriller would never do, using it and its contrasting locations of its two halves, for an awesome social commentary, even if it is heavy handed.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by trip66

I was gonna post that people have problems with the second half of the film, especially since Gondo becomes more of a background character. Now, a few posts above, that discussion has already begun.

I personally love how this is a film of two very different halves. The first, focusing on Gondo up in the Heaven or the High of the title. A nice, clean, white, and expensive house, with a beautiful view of the city outside of his window. Its mostly a one room/drama/stage play film with heavy characterization.

Then, at 55 minutes, the swipe cut to the action on the bullet train! The film shifts away from the High, to the Low or the Hell of the title. The film leaves Gondo in the dust to the investigation and action in the world below his. At that point, Tokyo as the setting becomes a main character as multiple characters navigate throughout the high population looking for a needle in a haystack.

As a Michael Mann fan, watching High & Low for the first time became an instant masterpiece. As a crime/noir lover, kidnapping films are probably my least favorite sub-genre. Yet, this film does something that generic kidnapping thriller would never do, using it and its contrasting locations of its two halves, for an awesome social commentary, even if it is heavy handed.

Completely agree with all of this! As a fan of the investigative police procedural, I didn’t mind the switch and like the social commentary as you mentioned!