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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1Audience Rating: Unrated Binding: DVD Brand: Image Entertainment EAN: 0715515030922 Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Item Dimensions: Label: Criterion Languages: Manufacturer: Criterion MPN: CC1760DDVD Number Of Items: 2 Publisher: Criterion Region Code: 1 Release Date: July 22, 2008 Running Time: 143 minutes Studio: Criterion Theatrical Release Date: November 26, 1963 Editorial Review: Product Description: 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 domestic drama and police procedural 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 diabolical treatise on class and contemporary Japanese society. Criterion is proud to present High and Low (Tengoko to jigoku) in this new high-definition digital transfer.SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:New restored high-definition digital transfer with newly restored original four-track surround soundNew audio commentary by Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen PrinceA 37-minute documentary on the making of High and Low created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to CreateRare archival interview with Toshiro MifuneNew video interview with actor Tsutomu Yamazaki who plays the kidnapperTheatrical trailers from Japan and the U.S.New and improved English subtitle translationPLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Geoffrey O'Brien and a reprinted essay by Japanese film scholar Donald RichieMore!System Requirements:Running Time: 143 minutes Language: Japanese Subtitles: EnglishFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: NR UPC: 715515030922 Manufacturer No: CC1760DDVD Amazon.com essential video: Although best known for his samurai classics, Japanese master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa proved himself equally adept at contemporary dramas and thrillers, and 1962's High and Low offers a powerful showcase for Kurosawa's versatile skill. The great Toshiro Mifune stars as a wealthy industrialist who has just raised a large sum of money to execute his planned takeover of a successful shoe manufacturer. Fate intervenes when he receives a phone call informing him that his son has been kidnapped, and by unfortunate coincidence the ransom demand is nearly equivalent to the amount Mifune has raised for his corporate coup. A philosophical dilemma emerges when it is revealed that the executive's son is safe, and that it is actually his chauffeur's son who has been taken. What follows is both a tense detective thriller, as the police attempt to track down the kidnapper, and a compelling illustration of class division in Japan--the "high and low" of the title. Far be it from Kurosawa to make a mere thriller, however; this loose adaptation of the Ed McBain novel King's Ransom provides the director with ample opportunity to develop a visual strategy that perfectly enhances the story's sociological themes. The Criterion Collection DVD of this extraordinary film is presented in the original "Tohoscope" aspect ratio of 2.35:1. --Jeff Shannon Average Rating:
 Rating:  - High and LowWhile I generally view Kurosawa's original Stray Dog as another in long line of his genre setting triumphs, High And Low is his masterpiece of the crime genre. High and Low was made in the middle of his career before Kurosawa's decline when his failure with Dodeskaden and getting kicked off of Tora, Tora, Tora caused him to go on hiatus for nearly ten years and drove him to attempt suicide. Thankfully Russia came along with a chance to adapt Dersu Uzala a film I wish was given the respectable ... Read More Rating: - the latest Criterion releaseThis is one of my top 5 best movies of all time. And I'm old enough to have seen it in several incarnations, starting with impossible to own, to a grainy VHS version with impossible-to-read subtitles, to the first Criterion release to this one. This latest version has all the bells and whistles a Kurosawa fan would want. Interviews with Mifune (and the actor who plays the kidnapper), a documentary on the making of the film and an interesting (if intrusive) commentary track from Stephen Prince. Read More Rating: - Truly Complex Social CommentaryThis film starts out with Gondo Kingo, a wealthy, self-made man who has risen from a humble shoe maker inside the National Shoe factory to an executive and minority owner of National Shoe (yes, that is the name, it's the English name, "National Shoe"). Having been a craftsman, Gondo wants to make sure that National Shoe will continue to make quality, well-made shoes. His fellow executives want to save money by switching to cheaply-made products that will fall apart soon. Gondo has engineered a plan to take ... Read More Rating: - 2008 Criterion editionHigh and Low centers on a kidnapping drama. A child is kidnapped by an unknown man who wants 30 million yen to let him live, and factory boss Kingo Gondo is put in a dilemma. Through the film we get glimpses of several different parts of 1960s japanese society: the police, drug addicts, wealthy industrialists and so on. The film is quite long (143 minutes) but never gets boring. We follow the police investigation in detail which is very well done. Also the visuals are remarkable. The look of the kidnapper when ... Read More Rating: - A film that transcends by far, the original source!From a simple detective story, Kurosawa builds a supreme masterwork that certainly overpasses the limits of thriller. Insight humour, suspense, social commentary happen throughout this superb film. The drama turns around a ransom by mistake of the young son of a wealthy businessman, who decides if he will pay or not the agreed payment. But meanwhile Kurosawa displays his endless genius and exquisite cinematography. A pyramidal movie and certainly one of the most extraordinary films of ... Read More |
