High and Low
aka Tengoku to jigoku
First screened in August 2025

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Director: Akira Kurosawa. Cast: Tōshiro Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kenjirō Ishiyama, Kyōoko Kagawa, Yutaka Sada, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Tatsuya Mihashi, Yūnosuke Itō, Nobuo Nakamura, Jun Tazaki, Toshio Egi, Masahiko Shimazu, Takeshi Katō, Isao Kimura, Takashi Shimura. Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Ryūzō Kikushima, and Eijirō Hisaita (based on the novel King's Ransom by Ed McBain).

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Photo © 1963 Toho/Kurosawa Production Co./Continental Distributing

In Brief: Taut, socially and ethically fraught premise. Then, stellar suspense. Plus, increasingly stretchy social tableau. WOW.

VOR: ⑤  Synthesizes eclectic influences at home and abroad (U.S., Italy) and pays back with extraordinary influence on ambitious filmmakers around the world.

Grade: A

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Golden Globe Nominations:
	Best Foreign Film

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