High and Low (1963) Tengoku to jigoku (original title)

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

Hideo Oguni (screenplay) &
Ryûzô Kikushima (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

26 November 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

An executive of a shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and held for ransom.

Plot Keywords:

Ransom | Shoe | Chauffeur | Police | Train

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	Kingo Gondo
Tatsuya Nakadai	...	Chief Detective Tokura
Kyôko Kagawa	...	Reiko Gondo
Tatsuya Mihashi	...	Kawanishi - Gondo's Secretary
Isao Kimura	...	Detective Arai
Kenjirô Ishiyama	...	Chief Detective 'Bos'n' Taguchi
Takeshi Katô	...	Detective Nakao
Takashi Shimura	...	Chief of Investigation Section
Jun Tazaki	...	Kamiya, National Shoes Publicity Director
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Ishimaru, National Shoes Design Department Director
Yûnosuke Itô	...	Baba - National Shoes Executive
Tsutomu Yamazaki	...	Ginjirô Takeuchi - Medical Intern
Minoru Chiaki	...	First Reporter
Eijirô Tôno	...	Factory Worker
Masao Shimizu	...	Prison Warden
Yutaka Sada	...	Aoki - the Chauffeur
Masahiko Shimazu	...	Shinichi Aoki
Toshio Egi	...	Jun Gondo
Kôji Mitsui	...	Second Reporter
Kyû Sazanka	...	First Creditor
Susumu Fujita	...	Chief of First Investigating Section
Kamatari Fujiwara	...	Junkyard Cook
Yoshio Tsuchiya	...	Detective Murata
Kazuo Kitamura	...	Third Reporter
Gen Shimizu	...	Chief Physician
Akira Nagoya	...	Detective Yamamoto
Jun Hamamura	...	Second Creditor
Masao Oda	...	First Executor at Tax Office (as Masao Orita)
Kô Nishimura	...	Third Creditor
Yoshifumi Tajima	...	Chief Prison Officer
Koji Kiyomura	...	Fish Market Office Worker (as Kôji Kiyomura)
Hiroshi Unayama	...	Detective Shimada
Yoshisuke Makino	...	Detective Takahashi
Jun Kondô	...	Identification Center Worker
Satoshi Suzuki	...	Detective Koike
Senkichi Ômura	...	Messenger Passing Note to Intern
Kazuo Katô	...	Identification Center Worker
Ikio Sawamura	...	Yokohama Station Trolley Man
Kin Sugai	...	Female Drug Addict
Keiko Tomita	...	Murder Victim
Isao Onoda	...	Male Drug Addict
Seiichi Taguchi	...	Detective Nakamura
Takeo Matsushita	...	Second Executor at Tax Office
Kiyoshi Yamamoto	...	Detective Ueno
Kenji Kodama	...	Detective Hara
Minoru Itô	...	Detective
Haruo Suzuki	...	Undercover Detective 'Drug Addict'
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kôzô Nomura	...	Detective (uncredited)

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

Writing credits
Hideo Oguni		(screenplay) &
Ryûzô Kikushima		(screenplay) &
Eijirô Hisaita		(screenplay) &
Akira Kurosawa		(screenplay)
Evan Hunter		(novel "Kingu no minoshirokin") (as Edo Makubein)

Produced by
Ryûzô Kikushima	....	producer
Akira Kurosawa	....	associate producer
Tomoyuki Tanaka	....	producer

Original Music by
Masaru Satô

Cinematography by
Asakazu Nakai
Takao Saitô

Production Design by
Yoshirô Muraki

Costume Design by
Miyuki Suzuki

Production Management
Hiroshi Nezu	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masanobu Deme	....	assistant director
Yôichi Matsue	....	assistant director
Shirô Moritani	....	chief assistant director
Kenjirô Ohmori	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jun Sakuma	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
Ichirô Minawa	....	sound effects editor
Jin Sashida	....	sound assistant
Hisashi Shimonaga	....	sound mixer
Fumio Yanoguchi	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Fukahirô Akike	....	assistant lighting technician
Masao Fukuda	....	still photographer
Kazutami Hara	....	assistant camera
Ichirô Inohara	....	lighting technician
Katsuhiro Kato	....	assistant camera
Hiromitsu Mori	....	lighting technician

Editorial Department
Reiko Kaneko	....	assistant editor

Transportation Department
Ginzo Osumi	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Shigeru Kishima	....	production assistant
Teruyo Nogami	....	script supervisor
Yûichi Yoshitake	....	acting office

Production Companies

• Kurosawa Production Co.
• Toho Company

Distributors

• Toho Company (1963) (Japan) (theatrical)
• East West Classics (1963) (worldwide) (all media)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1968) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Palace Video (1983) (UK) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Pacific Arts Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Cowboy Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• trigon-film (2006) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• trigon-film (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Sandrews (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Continental Distributing (196?) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Janus Films (????) (USA) (theatrical)
• Walter Reade-Sterling (????) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Connoisseur Video (????) (UK) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sandrews (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Toho Company (USA)
• WoWow (2012) (Japan) (TV)

Other Companies

• Kyoto Costumes  costumes
• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

"Tengoku to jigoku" - Japan (original title)
"Heaven and Hell" - International (English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

USA:143 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor) (inserts only)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 | UK:12 | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | Australia:PG | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Enoshima, Kanagawa, Japan

Company:

Kurosawa Production Co.

Trivia:

The original Japanese title for the film was "Heaven and Hell."

Quotes:

Kingo Gondo:I have no time for lies. I want the truth!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Big Lebowski (1998)

Soundtrack:

The Magic Begins

I was enthralled from start to finish.

This movie was incredible!! They called it Film Noir but, my God, it's so much better than THAT-- This film out-Hitchcocks Hitchcock! And I'm a Hitchcock devotee. The issues Kurosawa wrestles with in this, and his other films; the ethic responsibility we have as humans, humanity vs. greed, crime and punishment are universally understood. Nothing he presents in black and white(except literally in the film stock)-- but every shade of grey is reflected on. The story unfolds slowly but contains many twists and turns as the viewer questions the motives of each character. It's not just the force of good against evil--but a question of what is morally right and morally wrong. The title itself clues the viewer in to the ambiguities of class, greed, and moral ethic.