High and Low

Everything, and I mean everything about Akira Kurosawa’s crime film High and Low is nothing short of perfect. Going into it, the plot synopsis hadn’t exactly sold me, but that opening sequence discussing the business was enough to hook me, and sold me on the idea that this may be the greatest screenplay put to film. The first half of the story more or less takes place in Mr Gondo’s house alone, as they discuss and plan the optimal way in saving a child whom has no importance to Gondo himself, all the while he feels it’s necessary to pay 30 million yen, killing his career, just to save an unknown boy. I think the plot is just genius. It explores class better than any other film to memory, while not solely focussing on the matter. "That house gets on your nerves. As if it's looking down at us." This is one of my favourite quotes of all time. How two simple sentences capture all the ideas this film explores is beyond me. A rich man, built up as antagonistic, is given a choice, lose everything he’s ever worked for to reunite a boy with his father - saving him from a kidnapper’s clutches - or let him die. One masterful phone calling sequence after the other, leads up to Gondo’s final decision, to dispose of his fortune, and bring the child back. The train sequence bridging the pathway from the first to second half of the story was just perfection, taking us into the unraveling of the case of catching the kidnapper. While Gondo takes a step back from the frontline of High and Low for the meantime, his legacy becomes known as one of a hero, his selfless act placing him in spot of public appreciation, but in a dire financial situation, sacrificing his life’s work. The police case begins, as detectives gather in tracking evidence to realising more than just a 15 year sentence for the torture this kidnapper has inflicted upon Mr Gondo could be a viable option, if worked around correctly. The city chimes in, helping where they can, an act of honour towards Gondo. Clues build upon one another, the suspect’s identity slowly being brought to light in a series of investigations, climaxing in an arrest, sending the kidnapper to one final conversation between himself and Mr Gondo. This time not through a phone call, but behind bars, as it continues the belief that this could be the greatest screenplay of all time. Akira Kurosawa directed this masterpiece to perfection. High and Low is a must see for anyone and cements itself as one of the greatest films I’ve yet to see.