Procedural - that is the term to associate Kurusawa's ingenious detective thriller - High and Low (TENGOKU TO JIGOKU). Over the course of its 143 minute run time, High and Low proves to be a fine example of Kurosawa's craft and further proof that it's not a few masterpieces but the overall scope of a career that defines a great director. Rich in drama, the images populate the widescreen frame like a pressure cooker that is ready to blow up. And boy, they do!
Kurosawa wastes no time to prep his audience to deal with his obsession in fine details. The single use of color - it will be a plot giveaway if I tell what the color is - in an otherwise B&W film and the use of BLOCKING in an otherwise still set piece are few examples. There are absolutely no unnecessary scenes. Every dialogue, every character, every plot turn and every emotion mean something and relevant in the overall context of the film.
High and Low isn't just a supremely made detective thriller. It is also a illumination of the world with a wholeness and complexity, rarely seen in films. This is a film about the haves and the have-nots. The moral dilemma of the film's central character surrounded by other characters who keep influencing his thought process who otherwise seems to be a pretty uptight individual presents a case of how soceity as a whole influences an individual.
On the whole, High and Low is an expertly weaved police tale with social commentary while remaining a character study above all.
*****/5
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