High and Low

“One of the best detective thrillers ever filmed.”—New York Times

Kurosawa combines the qualities of a police procedural with insightful character study and pointed social/cultural observation.

The inimitable Toshiro Mifune gives one of his most unforgettable performances as a wealthy businessman whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in Akira Kurosawa’s hugely influential domestic drama and crime story High and Low. Adapting a classic detective novel by Ed McBain, Kurosawa efficiently shifts between race-against-time thriller and incisive social commentary to create a gripping treatise on contemporary Japanese society. (143 mins., 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles)

This is the August 2013 film in the Wex’s ongoing, monthly Film History 101 series.