Akira Kurosawa, who was a fan of American film noir, adapted High and Low from American author Ed McBain’s detective novel King’s Ransom. The story is of a powerhouse executive in the Japanese shoe industry who lives in a luxurious mansion on a hill overlooking a teeming city. His family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper. However, what seems like a basic kidnap drama is actually a story about a much deeper theme – of differences between the rich and the poor, employers and employees, husbands and wives; in short, it explores how people relate to each other based on their social status. Kurosawa brilliantly captures the irony of laissez-faire system gobbling economies and its evident effects in the present day planet through the use of shadows, a metaphor of the glaring social gaps.
The protagonist of the story — Kingo Gondo — is faced with difficult moral decisions after a kidnapping. His son was the target, but his chauffeur’s son was taken by mistake. He's hit by a huge ransom demand, paying which will ruin him financially. However, not paying it will ruin his moral values. The kidnapping is followed by the investigations which lead to a not-so-obvious ending.
High and Low is made up of two parts — the first one is about the kidnapping while the second one focuses on the hunt for the kidnapper.
One of the best scenes in the movie is that of Gondo stopping outside a shoe store window to have a look at the merchandise. That one moment underlines the fact that money, position and power don’t mean everything to him; it’s just shoes that he loves.
Technically it’s a brilliant film. Some of the early scenes remind one of Alfred Hitchcock’s usage of confined spaces to build suspense. If the camerawork is great, the soundtrack is brilliant. Primarily one of silence, it adds wonderfully to the gripping suspense.
High and Low is among the most suspenseful of Kurosawa's films. It looks at people across levels in society and their struggles and conflicts.
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