It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

WOW! This is my first time watching a Akira Kurosawa film and I've instantaneously converted into being a massive fan of his after witnessing this! High and Low plays out almost as if it was two different movies; the first half being an intense, claustrophobic thriller and the second half being a detailed crime investigation. The mystery and eminently realistic atmosphere surrounding the film's story-which is greatly achieved thanks to its extraordinarily written screenplay-is gruesomely gripping. High and Low is the original Chinatown/Se7en/Fargo/Blue Velvet/Prisoners. Imagine those movies all combined into a single package and you can essentially picture how brilliantly eccentric I found this film to be. (Verdict: A+)

High and LowThe key to being a successful kidnapper is never targeting families with twins or triplets. However, the dimwitted abductor in this thriller can't even swipe the correct kid.Just as capitalist Kingo (Toshiro Mifune) is about to use his enormous wealth to acquire a company, he receives a phone call from a mysterious man informing him that his son has been kidnapped and that a ransom is demanded.While Kingo agrees to put his purchase on hold to save his son, that all changes when it is learned that the captors took Kingo's chauffeur's son by mistake. Worse, they still want Kingo to pay the ransom.A classic kidnapping caper elevated by an impossible moral quandary, director Akira Kurosawa's black-and-white 1963 adaptation of the American novel is beautifully shot, briskly pace and dynamically performed by Kurosawa's main muse Mifune. Nevertheless, abducted Japanese children are still expected to maintain a respectful GPA. Green Light vidiotreviews.blogspot.ca

HIGH AND LOW is one of the excellent contemporary thrillers that Akira Kurosawa made during the peak of his career. Unfortunately it's a sub-genre that seems mostly forgotten about today, passed over in favour of Kurosawa's well-renowned samurai movies. It's a shame because these films often have just as much to offer.HIGH AND LOW tells a detailed, lengthy story about a kidnapping and subsequent police investigation. It's a long and slow-moving film but one which rewards close submersion into the storyline and narrative. Toshiro Mifune is cast against type playing a hard-headed shoe factory boss whose son is kidnapped for ransom. However, the kidnapper gets his kids mixed up and accidentally kidnaps the chauffeur's son instead.What follows is tense, well-shot and superbly acted, as are the majority of the director's films. Mifune gives a bullishly realistic turn as the proud factory boss but it's Tatsuya Nakadai who really shines as the smooth detective brought in to solve the case. Watch out for Kurosawa regular Takashi Shimura in the minor role of the police chief. Essentially HIGH AND LOW is a film in two parts, and the original Japanese title - HEAVEN AND HELL - gives some idea of Kurosawa's thematic ideas. Watching these characters descend into a literal and figurative Hell makes for unmissable cinema.

"This film brought awareness and somewhat changed laws when it came to child kidnapping in Japan, and is easily one of Kurosawa's finest outside of his period dramas". If I could end this review with just that statement I would be very happy, for those who have seen the movie know exactly what I'm talking about.Based on the 1959 Novel "King's Ransom" by author Ed McBain (How amazing and American is that for a name), the first half all takes place in a living room. Shoe executive Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), who was about to craftily claim a decent position within his line of business, must soon carefully consider his next possible choices to not give in to anonymous demands from a phone caller who has abducted a child as a means of leverage. The next half is a police procedural's nightmare lead by another fantastic actor and Kurosawa regular Tatsuya Nakadai, to find this elusive caller in hopes of discovering how and why these events started in the first place.The two things that will sell you immediately is Toshiro Mifune's incredible performance, the other is the pacing and dialogue which is crafted so well never has the nature of a situation been so apparent. The directions in which the narrative takes never falter as they progress, and the camera-work by Kurosawa is easily one of the sharpest of his Black and White movie era. Whilst this all leads to an "anti-climactic" situation of sorts, the simplicity of the surprises and revelations lead to one of those movies that leaves a deep impression of just how meaningless and out of hand such a situation becomes (The Western title "High and Low" refers to Gondo's house upon the hill overlooking the slums of a city, the movies exact title "Tengoku to Jigoku", literally means "Heaven and Hell").Final Verdict: Impeccably crafted, almost endlessly re-watchable and influenced countless crime drama we see on Television today. It certainly stood for something for its time, and presents a scenario where unfortunately none of our characters can seem to find any middle ground. 10/10.