A Fine Kurosawa Film in a New and Greatly Improved DVD Version
In addition to his celebrated samurai-era films, legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa made a number of movies where the story took place at the time of filming. One of the best of those was High and Low (1963), a dark crime drama set in 1962 Yokohama. The plot was based loosely on Ed McBain's 1959 novel King's Ransom, a police procedural.
In 1998 Criterion Collection released a barebones single-disc DVD edition of High and Low, but in 2008 that same company came out with a Special Edition Double-Disc set that is superior in every way. The details of the 1998 DVD version, including a review of the feature film, were given in a previous article on this site, so the discussion here will be confined to what is different in the 2008 edition.
Both picture and sound quality are noticeably better in the 2008 release. Also, Criterion claims that the English subtitles are improved, and that appears to be true, although it is difficult to judge for those of us who understand little Japanese. Furthermore, the newer edition adds an outstanding feature-length scholarly audio commentary, over an hour and 35 minutes of video extras and a 36-page booklet with informative written materials. If you like Kurosawa, the 2008 two-disc edition is worth buying, even if you already own the 1998 DVD.
A Superb Scholarly Audio Commentary
The best bonus material on the DVD set is the feature-length English-language audio commentary by Stephen Prince, a professor at Virginia Tech who has written several books on film, including The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa.
Prince goes into some detail about how Kurosawa transformed the story in McBain's pulp novel into a topical movie about Japan's need for tougher penalties for kidnapping. He says the director was also making a statement about the inequitable distribution of wealth and conspicuous consumption that had arisen as a result of the country's economic boom. Prince observes that the kidnapper became enraged because he was sweltering in a hovel while an affluent businessman enjoyed air-conditioned comfort in a mansion. The commentator also claims Kurosawa wanted to show that "misfortune is the price of enlightenment."
For the cinephile, Prince discusses Kurosawa's general approach to filmmaking, which consisted of thoroughly rehearsing both actors and camera movements, then shooting long takes simultaneously with two or more cameras, and finally meticulously editing the resulting footage to get the look he wanted in the finished movie. This technique led to many beautiful compositions, yet Kurosawa's films exhibit remarkable fluidity of movement.
There's not much music in High and Low, but Prince points out two interesting uses of it. One is when the kidnapper walks along a fetid canal and Schubert's "Trout Quintet" is heard. The other is when the kidnapper is arrested while the soundtrack plays a schmaltzy rendition of "O sole mio."
Video Extras Plus a Booklet With Two Essays
For fans of Toshiro Mifune, the best video bonus material is the half-hour 1981 interview for Japanese TV of the charismatic actor at age 61. He talks about growing up in Dalian, Manchuria, then spending six years in the army as an aerial photographer. He seems to be promoting the TV miniseries Shogun and an acting school he had recently opened.
The 37-minute excerpt from Toho Masterworks — Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create is a worthwhile extra. Four decades after High and Low was made, surviving cast and crew recall production details. Three different sets were used for the businessman's mansion, but the exciting train sequence was shot aboard the Kodama Express. In the role of the police inspector, Tatsuya Nakadai was supposed to pattern himself after Henry Fonda.
There is also a 19-minute 2008 video interview of actor Tsutomi Yamazaki, who portrayed the kidnapper in High and Low. He says he received no advice from Kurosawa as to how to play his character, but he thought of the kidnapper as being similar to Dostoevski's Raskolnikov.
Packaged with the DVD set is a 36-page booklet containing a pair of essays. One is by Geoffrey O'Brien and seems to be aimed at a reader who has only a passing familiarity with High and Low. The other is a reprint of an informative 1963 article by Donald Richie about a visit he made to the mansion set when they were filming the sequence where the businessman talks to the police for the first time about the kidnapping.
DVD Details
Below I have listed all the details for the Criterion Collection Special Edition Double-Disc DVD set containing High and Low.
Release Date: May 22, 2008
Number of Discs: 2
Feature Film Runtime: 2 hours 23 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Widescreen (2.35:1), Black and White
Japanese Four-Track Surround Sound
English Subtitles
Audio Commentary by Scholar Stephen Prince
Making-Of Documentary Extracted From It Is Wonderful to Create (37 min.)
An Interview With Actor Toshiro Mifune (30 1/2 min.)
An Interview With Actor Tsutomu Yamazaki (19 min.)
Japanese Trailer, Japanese Teaser, US Trailer
36-Page Booklet Containing Two Essays
