High and Low (1963)

25 March 2017

Although a big part of his oeuvre, Akira Kurosawa didn't only do samurai films: High and Low (天国�地�; 1963) is a police drama about an executive (Mifune) enlisting the help of the police (Nakadai) in a child kidnapping. It was a much richer film than I expected, covering not only the ransom, but also the repercussions it brought to everyone touched by the event. Its craft remains distinctly Kurosawa, and the implementation weaves a solid tale that disassembles both the crime and the cast. After over 50 years it shows its age a little, but it still holds up very well. 9/10