Tengoku to jigoku (1963)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Akira Kurosawa

Writers:

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

Release Date:

26 November 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

An executive mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company, with...

Plot Keywords:

Ransom | Shoe | Police | Chauffeur | Briefcase

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
Kenjiro Ishiyama	...	Chief Detective 'Bos'n' Taguchi (as Kenjirô Ishiyama)
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
Koji Mitsui	...	Second Reporter
Kyu Sazanka	...	First Creditor (as Kyû Sazanka)
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 Kondo	...	Identification Center Worker (as Jun Kondô)
Satoshi Suzuki	...	Detective Koike
Senkichi Omura	...	Messenger Passing Note to Intern (as Senkichi Ômura)
Kazuo Kato	...	Identification Center Worker (as Kazuo Katô)
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 Ito	...	Detective (as Minoru Itô)
Haruo Suzuki	...	Undercover Detective 'Drug Addict'
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kôzô Nomura	...	Detective (uncredited)

Directed by
Akira Kurosawa

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

Produced by
Ryuzo 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
Yoichi Matsue	....	assistant director
Shirô Moritani	....	chief assistant director
Kenjiro Omori	....	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
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
Yuichi Yoshitake	....	acting office

Production Companies

• Kurosawa Production Co.
• Toho Company

Distributors

• Toho Company (1963) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• Cowboy Pictures (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Continental Home Vídeo (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• trigon-film (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• trigon-film (2006) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Continental Distributing (196?) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Janus Films (????) (USA) (theatrical)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1968) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Walter Reade-Sterling (????) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Connoisseur Video (????) (UK) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (New Zealand) (DVD)
• Palace Video (1983) (UK) (VHS)
• Sandrews (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Toho Company (USA)

Other Companies

• Kyoto Costumes  costumes
• Toho Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

Heaven and Hell (International: English title) (literal title)
High and Low (USA)
The Ransom (UK)

Runtime:

USA:142 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:

Australia:PG | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 | UK:12 | UK:A (original rating) (cut)

Filming Locations:

Enoshima, Kanagawa, Japan

Company:

Kurosawa Production Co.

Trivia:

The last section of the movie originally had a great deal of dialogue, but Akira Kurosawa decided to omit all of it.

Quotes:

Reiko Gondo: [to her husband, about their son Jun] He takes after you. He likes violent games.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

It's Now or Never

The masterpiece of the "police procedural" genre

This is one of the outstanding detective films. For me, the most remarkable feature of this film is its architecture - the beginning is a long, static set piece taking place in one room. however, about a third of the way through the movie, it erupts into action, showing the resourcefulness of a largely blue collar police force tracking a lone sociopathic criminal.

The film is a fascinating portrait of '60's Japan, but at the same time reveals its roots in Ed McBain's _King's Ransom_, from which it was taken.

This is one of those films which doesn't seem to age after several viewings. Especially affecting are the police detectives, whose proletarian roots contrast sharply with the cold insensitivity of the powerful corporate executives. But the police find a hero in Gondo, the rebellious general manager who stakes his entire fortune to rescue his chauffeur's son. The admiration that the police detectives feel for him is one of the key emotions in the film.