Overview
A gripping tale of moral conflict unfolds when a businessman faces an impossible choice: wealth or a child's life.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- tense
- austere
- paranoid
- focused movie night
- classic cinema evening
What critics said
Critics broadly acclaim Kurosawa's controlled direction, suspenseful construction, camera work, staging, and social perspective, while some find the split structure and later pacing uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Gondo must decide whether to sacrifice his business and fortune for the kidnapped chauffeur's son, turning class inequality into the central ethical conflict.
The story moves from Gondo's enclosed domestic and corporate crisis into an expansive police investigation and criminal pursuit.
Critics specifically praised the film's geometric design, scene composition, blocking, and staging, especially within Gondo's elevated home.
Police surveillance, handwriting profiling, voiceprint analysis, corporate finance, rail travel, and industrial expansion frame the kidnapping as a crisis of postwar modernization.
Films like High and Low, and why
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Shared film noir atmosphere, kidnapping suspense, moral conflict, and social critique of wealth and poverty.
Zodiac
Shared police procedural structure, meticulous investigation, tense pursuit, and morally complex criminal psychology.
Memories of Murder
Shared neo-noir crime framework, class tension, hostage stakes, and cool procedural intensity.
Ransom
Shared kidnapping dilemma, ethical pressure on the wealthy, and tightly controlled suspense.
Movie Details
- Director
- Akira Kurosawa
- Release Date
- 1963-03-01
- Runtime
- 142 min
- Rating
- 8.4 / 10 (1202)
Cast
- Toshirō Mifune
- Tatsuya Nakadai
- Kyōko Kagawa
- Tatsuya Mihashi
- Isao Kimura
- Kenjirō Ishiyama
- Takeshi Katō
- Takashi Shimura
- Jun Tazaki
- Nobuo Nakamura
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is High and Low about?
- A wealthy Japanese executive faces an impossible ransom decision when a kidnapper demands payment for the chauffeur’s son, forcing private privilege into collision with public justice.
- What is High and Low like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of High and Low as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is High and Low violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in High and Low as mild.
- What did critics think of High and Low?
- Critics broadly acclaim Kurosawa's controlled direction, suspenseful construction, camera work, staging, and social perspective, while some find the split structure and later pacing uneven.
- Which films are like High and Low?
- Films with a similar feel include The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Zodiac, Memories of Murder, and Ransom.
- How long is High and Low?
- High and Low runs 142 minutes.
- Where can I watch High and Low?
- In United States, High and Low streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max.
