High and Low

CRITERION/IMAGE
Street: July 22
Prebook: now
> Kurosawa’s masterful adaptation of an Ed McBain suspense novel.

The great Akira Kurosawa was a master at transforming works from other cultures—from westerns to Russian novels—into authentically Japanese dramas, and there’s no better example than this taut 1963 adaptation of the Ed McBain novel about a kidnapping gone wrong, King’s Ransom. Set indoors in one space for most of the first hour, High and Low is a veritable lesson in widescreen filmmaking that looks as crisp and compelling as ever in this Criterion restoration. Supplements that add a purchase-incentive for those who already own the title’s 1998 Criterion release include a 37-minute Toho featurette on the film, containing incisive comments from Kurosawa, and an informative interview with actor Tsutomu Yamazaki, who gives a powerful performance as the kidnapper.

Shelf Talk: Movie buffs eagerly await the Criterion releases of works by the “Old Masters,” so High and Low is certainly a sell for Kurosawa fans and film students alike. Samurai-flick addicts can geek out over the 30-minute supplement in which the characteristically gruff Toshiro Mifune guests on an extremely genteel 1981 afternoon TV talk show.