High and Low 1963 Criterion Collection
Kingo Gondo, played wonderfully by Toshiro Mifune, is concocting a scheme to take over the shoe company he is working for, no longer satisfied with the direction the corporation is taking, so he has mortgaged everything to come up with the millions he needs to secretly acquire a majority share. That’s when the call comes in from kidnappers demanding a ransom for his son; a ransom so high it will practically ruin him. But, the kidnappers have made an error; they’ve taken his employee’s son by mistake. They demand the ransom anyway, appealing to Gondo’s sense of honor. Now Gondo is caught between wanting to do the right thing, the pressure of his wife to save his employee’s son, Chief Detective Tokura (Tatsuya Nakadai) who wants to use him to help capture the kidnappers, and his own desire to keep his money to take over the company.

BD50 + 2xDVD9 | 1080p AVC, NTSC | 02:23:32 | 44 Gb + 12.7 Gb
Language: Japanese
Subtitles: English

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Yutaka Sada, Tatsuya Nakadai
Country: Japan
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Extras:

Commentary - an audio commentary by Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince, author of The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa and professor of film studies at Virginia Tech.

Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create - in this documentary feature, part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It is Wonderful to Create, the famous Japanese director discusses how How and Low came to exist, how specific sequences were filmed, etc. The documentary feature also contains interviews with actors Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyoko Kagawa, Takeshi Kato, and Tatsuya Mihashi, as well as cameraman Takao Saito and Masaharu Ueda, script supervisor Teruyo Nogami, and others. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (38 min, 1080i).

Toshiro Mifune - an interview with the legendary Japanese actor recorded in 1981 for the TV show Tetsuko no heya (Tetsuko's Room). The actor discusses his life and acting career. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (31 min, 1080i).

Tsutomu Yamazaki - in this interview, recorded for Criterion in 2008 in Tokyo, award-winning actor Tsutomu Yamazaki, who plays the kidnapper in High and Low, discusses his career and collaborations with Akira Kurosawa. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (20 min, 1080i).

Trailers - two trailers and a teaser. The Japanese trailer for High and Low includes the only known footage of the original ending of the film, in which Kingo Gondo and inspector Tokura leave the prison after Gondo's visit with Takeuchi. This scene was removed by Akira Kurosawa in the final stages of editing.

-- Japanese Trailer - In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (4 min, 1080i).
-- Japanese Teaser - In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (2 min, 1080i).
-- U.S. Trailer - Music only. (2 min, 1080i).