High and Low | Vermont Public

In honor of Spike Lee’s newest effort, Highest 2 Lowest, we current the supply materials for that movie: Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 masterpiece High & Low, in addition to Lee’s most iconic movie, Do the Right Thing.

One of Kurosawa’s biggest modern-dress tales, High and Low (the literal translation of the Japanese title is “Heaven and Hell,” however why quibble?), focuses on shoe firm exec Toshirō Mifune (completely magnificent, as ordinary), who’s within the midst of a high-stakes company takeover when he will get phrase that his son has been kidnapped, and a ransom is anticipated. But all will not be because it appears…

Adapted from an Ed McBain 87th Precinct novel—the one Kurosawa movie to immediately come from an American supply, until you depend the uncredited Dashiell Hammett on the coronary heart of Yojimbo—Kurosawa offers us the last word kidnap film, replete with quite a few traditional set items (the cash drop on the bullet prepare! The drug move within the dance corridor!).

The first half of the movie is confined to Mifune’s workplace, full of distraught household, cynical advisers, and super-cool detective Tatsuya Nakadai. Moral and moral arguments rage till the second half, which descends to avenue degree, as Mifune performs cat-and-mouse with the kidnapper. The New York Times calls it “One of the best detective thrillers ever filmed” and so they’re not fallacious. It’s additionally one among Kurosawa’s biggest movies and, provided that he’s The Best, that’s saying so much.

The Screening Room @VTIFF

$12 General Admission | $6 Student | Member advantages could apply

07:00 PM – 09:25 PM on Fri, 5 Sep 2025