THE PREMISE:

"An executive of a Yokohama shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped by mistake and held for ransom." 

OUR REFLECTION:

In the midst of a major business deal, shoemaker mogul Mr. Gondo faces the dilemma of paying the ransom of the kidnapping of his driver’s son, or keeping the money for the business deal. For some, the choice would be obvious on what the right thing to do is, however, legendary director Akira Kurosawa wants to contemplate on how this man's morality has been corroded by his business ambitions. If he keeps the money, his business launches into new highs, but he lives on knowing that a child died in the means of his success, and if he pays the ransom, his business empire crumbles. 

The film plays in two distinct halves. The former being in Gondo's high luxury villa where Kurosawa's most famous and elegant examples of staging come to life creating almost a thrilling procedural dance. All revolving around actor Toshiro Mifune in one of his many collaborations with Kurosawa - though an acting giant, it's impossible to talk about this film with out the performances from the imposing Tatsuya Nakadai, as Chief Inspector Tokura, and the desperate physicality of Tsutomu Yamazaki, as the film's antagonist. All three command the frame in unique and stunning ways, and Kurosawa just ingeniously directs the film to their strengths. 

With High And Low, you're in for a tense experience that not only from top to bottom is pretty perfect, but it proves as one of the most dazzling directed films in all of cinematic history. Its filmmaking influence is not only prominent today, but its meditations on capitalism and morality are still very much timely. Films such as Bong Joon Ho's Parasite or Mark Mylod's The Menu use High and Low as a massive influence in both form and story, so if you enjoyed either of those films, I can't recommend this film enough. Every film fan, I feel, must watch at least one Akira Kurosawa film in their lifetime, and one of the best starting points is by far High and Low.