High and Low:
Between Heaven and Hell
By July 21, 2008
Akira Kurosawa’s propensity for adapting European classics—Dostoyevsky (The Idiot), Shakespeare (Throne of Blood), Gorky (The Lower Depths)—earned him Read more »
- Japan
- 1963
- 143 minutes
- Black and White
- 2.35:1
- Japanese
SYNOPSIS: 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 (Tengoku to jigoku). 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.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Kingo Gondo | Toshiro Mifune |
| Reiko | Kyoko Kagawa |
| Kawanishi | Tatsuya Mihashi |
| Inspector Tokuro | Tatsuya Nakadai |
| Aoki | Yutaka Sada |
| Director | Takashi Shimura |
| Commissioner | Susumu Fujita |
| Detective Taguchi | Kenjiro Ishiyama |
| Detective Arai | Ko Kimura |
| Detective Nakao | Takeshi Kato |
Credits
| Director | Akira Kurosawa |
| Producer | Tomoyuki Tanaka and Ryuzo Kikushima |
| Screenplay | Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Oguni and Akira Kurosawa |
| Cinematography | Asakazu Nakai |
| Art direction | Yoshiro Muraki |
| Lighting | Ichiro Inohara |
| Sound | Hisahi Shimonaga |
| Music | Masaru Sato |
Disc Features
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET:
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer with original four-track surround sound
- Audio commentary featuring Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
- A 37-minute documentary on the making of High and Low, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
- Rare video interview with actor Toshiro Mifune, conducted by TV talk-show host Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
- New video interview with actor Tsutomu Yamazaki, who plays the kidnapper
- Theatrical trailers from Japan and the U.S.
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and an on-set account by Japanese film scholar Donald Richie
From the CurrentView the Current »
Film Essays
High and Low:
High and Low
By October 12, 1998
Are there cultural purists still remaining who would argue that the “Westernized” title of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 masterpiece—High and Low—throws polluted water on the cosmological Read more »
