'High and Low' | Critics' Picks | The New York Times

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  • Опубліковано 9 тра 2010
  • A. O. Scott looks back at Akira Kurosawa's film about a kidnapping in postwar Japan.
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 61

  • @brucejackson6451
    @brucejackson6451 4 роки тому +85

    This is a great, great film. Kurosawa made many, many great movies, but I think this is his best. It started out as an Ed McBain potboiler novel, then Kurosawa got ahold of it, added the great Toshiro Mifune, and turned it into one of the great artistic statements about the interconnectivity of all human beings and the responsibility we have towards each other. It's a tragedy most people won't see this movie because, (1) it's old, (2) it's in black and white, and (3) it's in Japanese, which means you have to "read it." Some works of art are WORKS, and you have to work a little bit, but the gift you're given at the other end makes it all worthwhile. I bought this at a VHS discount store 30 years ago and it opened my eyes to the great works of Kurosawa, and from there to the unbelievably rich treasure trove of "foreign" films, a lifetime's worth, just so long as you don't mind subtitles. It's a thriller and a drama and a melodrama and a course in humanism all at once.

    • @tl8211
      @tl8211 4 роки тому +1

      This movie is endlessly entertaining too. There's not a single empty second, the action is slick and the themes are all presented clearly: you don't need a dictionary, a lot of experience with cinema or to understand some meta-linguistic point. It's a masterclass.
      Stray Dog is an example of a very good action movie by him, but with far less interesting morality the main attraction is the technical skill and the super beautiful presentation of Tokyo. And The Bad Sleep Well has technical skill in spades and loads of depth, but is far too slow and brutal to entertain. For one to ally both entertainment and depth in one movie is just exceptional, yet Kurosawa did it in modern action movies, historical action movies AND historical epics.

    • @deckofcards87
      @deckofcards87 2 роки тому +3

      It's my favourite too on par with Throne Of Blood and Seven Samurai... Honestly I can't choose which of those films I prefer

    • @Njbear7453
      @Njbear7453 Рік тому +1

      @@deckofcards87 throne of blood is AWESOME!!!!!!!!

    • @ahonaotokodesu7719
      @ahonaotokodesu7719 8 місяців тому +3

      Many JAPANESE won't see this movie, either, because, (1) it's old, (2) it's in black and white, and (3) it's in Japanese, ... no, it's seldom shown in theaters.
      I strongly recommend you see it on big screen because every single shot has a lot of information packed you can't take it all on small display, say, a smart phone.

  • @wa6tkq
    @wa6tkq 13 років тому +91

    The sequence on the bullet train is terrific. Good pacing and editing.

  • @nickstoli
    @nickstoli 5 місяців тому +7

    This movie is really two films. The first is a drama starring Toshiro Mifune and the second is a police procedural starring Tatsuya Nakadai. It probably defies all the conventions of storytelling, but it works. It's hard not to agree with Coppola that very few filmmakers made more masterpieces than Kurosawa.

    • @Mooseman327
      @Mooseman327 3 місяці тому

      Coppola got that right.

    • @clarkness77
      @clarkness77 Місяць тому

      I feel ikiru is 2 films too

  • @sudhirpv
    @sudhirpv 5 років тому +57

    Superb performance by Toshiro Mifune..

    • @welshtoro3256
      @welshtoro3256 4 роки тому +7

      True but Mifune never delivered less in any film by Kurosawa.

    • @emmanuelsalazar9424
      @emmanuelsalazar9424 3 роки тому +7

      My favourite Mifune performance in a Kurosawa film. His eyes say so much.

    • @MrGrass97
      @MrGrass97 2 роки тому +6

      I’d say this and Red Beard are Mifune’s deepest roles. Though my personal favorite will always be Yojimbo + Sanjuro

  • @murtazarizvi368
    @murtazarizvi368 6 років тому +62

    never knew a B&W movie like high and low would keep me captivating all night long. love this film and the soundtrack.

    • @Decetop
      @Decetop 6 років тому +12

      Murtaza Rizvi you'd be surprised. Kurosawa's best work was in B&W.

    • @Meesterlijker
      @Meesterlijker Рік тому +5

      Another great example of this is _8 ½ (1963)_ . Incredible film too.

  • @Njbear7453
    @Njbear7453 Рік тому +8

    Just watched last night; like every Kurosawa film, it was GREAT.

  • @sdinesh28
    @sdinesh28 3 роки тому +22

    This movie is ahead of its time

  • @garrison6863
    @garrison6863 7 років тому +53

    Excellent piece of genre film making. Two hours and 23 minutes of faultless entertainment. Not one flaw in the shooting or editing. Take a look at the composition at 2:52, note the balance of the shot from foreground into the backgrounds e.g. the colors on each side of the dark curtains. Note also at 4:04. This is one of Mifune's quietest but strongest performances. And the kid who played the antagonist was just about perfect. A really fine film, which shows Kurosaw's wide range.

    • @kh884488
      @kh884488 6 років тому +7

      The placement of actors on the frame is also significant in the two scenes you mentioned. Both of them visually show Gondo as isolated from the rest which reflects on how his ethical dilemma isolates him from the rest.

  • @roo7227
    @roo7227 11 років тому +21

    Just saw this a couple weeks ago at the Paramount Theatre, in Austin, on the back end of a double bill with Rashomon.. Love Kurosawa..

  • @reedsalus
    @reedsalus Рік тому +5

    cut off the best part of dialogue in the film, right at the beginning...
    "I don't know. I'm not interested in self-analysis. I do know my room was so cold in winter and so hot in summer I couldn't sleep. Your house looked like heaven, high up there. That's how I began to hate you."

    • @Drforrester31
      @Drforrester31 10 місяців тому +1

      Best not to give away the kidnapper's motivation if for some reason someone hasn't seen the movie yet

  • @nmuthukrishnan3347
    @nmuthukrishnan3347 10 років тому +18

    spellbinding magic on screen! Saw it about 10 years ago, still etched on my memory.

  • @wierd_fishez
    @wierd_fishez Рік тому +3

    This film left me speechless. Just amazing

  • @Daniel-df8lj
    @Daniel-df8lj 6 років тому +15

    My favourite film ever

  • @emmanuelagudo4918
    @emmanuelagudo4918 2 роки тому +18

    This is one of the finest script writing I have ever seen, not to mention the inspiration (true art of acting) that comes from conjuring the feebleness of the human condition.

  • @muthusid
    @muthusid 2 роки тому +5

    This movie is a master craftsman's tribute master craftsmen. Kurosawa is one of the greatest cinematic craftsmen. Gondo is at heart a craftsman of shoes. Tokura is a craftsman of investigation.

  • @65g4
    @65g4 Рік тому +3

    Great film one of Kurosawa's best i just saw it for the first time. Really interesting film

  • @Mooseman327
    @Mooseman327 3 місяці тому

    This is a great film. One of Kurosawa's very best. A must view.

  • @manuelgonzales2570
    @manuelgonzales2570 4 місяці тому

    Excellent presentation! Thank you very much!

  • @eyesofpicasso
    @eyesofpicasso 9 місяців тому +1

    yes. i will watch this. thank you

  • @cnbank
    @cnbank 9 років тому +78

    Did you really just show the ending of the movie in the first clip? Other than that a good review.

    • @georgemorley1029
      @georgemorley1029 3 роки тому +9

      Out of context, it’s meaningless and gives nothing away. If anything, your comment reveals more by indicating to people (who otherwise wouldn’t understand what they were seeing) that they are looking at the final scene.

    • @monkberrymoon4042
      @monkberrymoon4042 3 роки тому +4

      @@georgemorley1029 Fine, but really..... What's the statute of limitations on a sixty-year-old movie. I mean, no one pretends that talking about Soylent Green or Empire Strikes Back is going to lead to spoilers, right?

    • @dan-mb2ne
      @dan-mb2ne 2 роки тому +2

      Why would you watch this before seeing the film? Makes no sense

  • @ppuh6tfrz646
    @ppuh6tfrz646 7 місяців тому +1

    A fantastic film.
    Very untypical of Kurosawa but undoubtedly one of his best.

  • @bikerbudjr
    @bikerbudjr 6 місяців тому +2

    A Brilliant Piece of Film

  • @yen9659
    @yen9659 Місяць тому +3

    Spike Lee brought me here

  • @Derl30
    @Derl30 13 років тому +15

    Greatest ending all time

    • @sourandbitter3062
      @sourandbitter3062 Рік тому +1

      Absolutely. The dialogues and the acting from Tsutomu Yamazaki who played Takeuchi the criminal, both were perfect.

    • @Derl30
      @Derl30 Рік тому +1

      @@sourandbitter3062 Yes, phenomenal performance.

  • @christinaluna2055
    @christinaluna2055 Рік тому +3

    RIP Akira Kurosawa you inspired so many films and filmmakers we miss you

  • @SameerShaikh-un3uu
    @SameerShaikh-un3uu 4 роки тому +3

    Great movie ..just finished ..wat a acting by all actors..great police work m great business man

  • @pioneer7777777
    @pioneer7777777 14 років тому +4

    Sweet, this is on Netflix InstaWatch. I've got my movie entertainment for the night!

  • @leonrizal8194
    @leonrizal8194 3 роки тому +2

    one of my favorite movie

  • @manjunathprasadcv3332
    @manjunathprasadcv3332 Місяць тому

    Kurosawa - The Blockfather...

  • @roygbiv330
    @roygbiv330 12 років тому +3

    in akira kurosawas high and low toshiro mifune plays mr. gondo, a japanese buisiness executive, who is confident in his ability to do the right thing. then something happens that forces this man to grab of? his deepest beliefs and tries to figured out what his basic values really are.

  • @siennajohanna
    @siennajohanna 4 роки тому +2

    This critique feels unfinished

  • @nanami-773
    @nanami-773 9 місяців тому

    1:18 このシーンの香川京子がものすごい美人!!

  • @goback3spaces
    @goback3spaces 12 років тому +7

    Thumbs up if you turned off the clip the minute the critic starts talking.

    • @SniperGhost
      @SniperGhost 2 роки тому +1

      can you explain this comment?

  • @amphitheatre
    @amphitheatre 13 років тому +2

    Just watched this. It was good but not great. Kurosawa is excellent at suspense no matter what genre he's tackling...

  • @user-yq3wm5gm3n
    @user-yq3wm5gm3n 5 років тому

    外人の分析など笑止千万