Touches You

Best movie ever!

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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

"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.

"High and Low" is a Japanese hostage police drama that follows Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), the executive of a successful shoe manufacturer who is extorted for 30 million yen when the son of his chauffeur is kidnapped and held for ransom - the only problem is that he can't risk losing the money, otherwise he'll slump into debt, having put all his possession up for collateral in order to buy the majority of shares and maintain order in his company.The movie is over two hours long, split into two parts and is masterfully directed by Kurosawa, using deep focus photography, multiple camera setups, long takes (the longest being 9 minutes and 50 seconds) and his skillful blocking of the actors to get the most out of their performances.The first 50 or so minutes take place inside Gondo's house, the kidnapper on the phone making demands and the police trying to reason with him. Toshiro Mifune has a difficult choice to make and you can really see why he's one of the great actors in film with these scenes - his facial expressions and body language tell you everything about his internal struggle to choose between the safety of his employee's son, or the well being of his family.The movie's then followed by a brilliant train sequence that was done in two takes, had eight cameras filming at once and a hundred extras on board! Kurosawa definitely knew how to stage a scene to make the most out of his resources cinematically.The final part is a police procedural, with every finite detail being included in the large scale investigation. Just like the rest o the movie, it's all very exciting and expertly crafted."High and Low" is one of Akira Kurosawa's best films and one of the best movies ever made, crime flick or otherwise.

From start to finish, let me assure all of you, there is not one moment that is not engrossing for a true movie viewer. Akiro Kurosawa always does what he does best and this is no exception. Let me take you through the plot without getting into any spoilers.The first half or so shows us the high of the movie where emotions of a group of people inside a household takes turmoils. Our protagonist specially, his wife, more importantly his driver and of course the right hand man. How naturally those "meticulously to the point", emotions pour out is the master's work. He on the other hand is extremely well complimented by the actors. This first part to me in incomparable to any like movie situation I have seen earlier. In here we are shown that a top business man at that exact point of his high business life where he can control all, is informed that his child has been kidnapped. The kidnapper asks for an unimaginable sum of money. This unimaginable sum is the key to his future business success. The twist is, the kidnapper made a mistake and took the child's look alike friend, the driver's son instead. And thus starts a drama so well conceded, words, will be not enough to describe. I cannot say any more without taking away any thrill you may get when seeing this, so.... See for yourself.The low is the second part. This period can be best described as a thorough police work to catch the criminal ever documented onto a movie screen. Nothing is dramatic here, just routine, yet awe- inspiring. I found out the low was the longer period of the movie but was unable to find which is the better of the two.In the end it all comes down to haves and haves not, as seen through the eyes of a common man. Yet, the question is, did the common man do what was required, to get to the category of the haves. You can answer that once you have seen this ....The newcomers here like Tsutomu Yamazaki had a flowering career ahead after this. Tatsuya Nakadai, the perfect actor, did perfectly, the job of chief police investigator and planner. Nothing is required to be said about Toshirô Mifune. 10/10 is my verdict.