Review of High and Low (1963) by Erwin M — 27 Sep 2010

As is true in society, this movie demonstrates that the womenâ??s shoe industry is a dangerous place. Our hero, who is planning on taking control over the shoe company he works for through some pretty slick negotiations, must put that plan on hold when his son is kidnapped for 30 million yen.

Then the plan is back on when he realizes the kidnapper made off with his chaufferâ??s kid, not his own. False alarm, guys. Except here comes the morality bit (and the filmâ??s strongest third) in that we have to ask how valuable the life of a human is.

Ten minutes ago, Mifune was ready to pay the ransom despite the fact it would bankrupt him. But when the victim isnâ??t his own flesh and blood, he starts to ease up. Dramatics and interesting staging make the apartment where the entire first 42 minutes take place the best part, with Mifune being Mifune (but wearing a shirt this time) and the police assigned to the job trying to track the kidnapper via phone conversations.

The wheels start to come off when we shift to Mifune paying the ransom in a very clever train sequence. After that, our focus is with the police trying to figure out who did this (we find out pretty quickly) and why (thatâ??s a bit tougher).

Youâ??ll be forgiven for thinking youâ??ve wandered into a second movie on your DVD by mistake. But then the last third starts and we follow the kidnapper through the drug-infested lower depths of Japanese culture in the 1960s (read: drugs, dancing and making drug deals while dancing).

What should be exciting and engaging is dull, repetitive and downright heavy handed on a symbolic level. Kurosawaâ??s better than this, sure, but when weâ??re constantly reminded of the â??highâ?? and â??lowâ?? of the title (Mifune lives atop a hill, high above the poor citizens, the street-level drug-laced culture is a living hell, etc.

), itâ??s not exactly thought provoking anymore. Then again, this was adapted from a book I havenâ??t read, so maybe itâ??s even worse in the book and Kurosawa smoothed out the blatant symbolism. No idea.

But if youâ??re out to tear through all the Kurosawa-Mifune collaborations, this is one that can wait.