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High and Low (1963)

Directed by Akira Kurosawa · Cinematography by Takao Saitō, Asakazu Nakai

143 min46 frames

DramaCrime

Stark, intense drama almost beyond belief!

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Stills, screencaps & shots from High and Low

16 of 46 frames — the full set is searchable by lighting, lens, shot size, color and mood with a free account.

High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — A crowded, mid-century room features many men in suits gathered around wooden tables. A central man reads…High and Low (1963) movie still: wide — A spacious hotel suite features heavy floor-to-ceiling curtains and mid-century modern furniture. Six men in…High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — Three men are sitting in the back of a car at night. The man in the middle looks forward while the others…High and Low (1963) movie still: wide — A crowded room features multiple rows of men facing a series of large blackboards. The blackboards are…High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — A group of five men sit in chairs facing a central figure in a room. The room has heavy pleated…High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — A dark, modern interior staircase landing with clean lines and wood-paneled walls. A man and a young boy…High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — A high-rise room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooks a city landscape. Three men sit on chairs around…High and Low (1963) movie still: wide — A group of people watch a projected film in a minimalist, wood-paneled room. The projection shows a…High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — A crowded, dimly lit office interior contains many men sitting around tables with fans. The men…High and Low (1963) movie still: establishing — Stagnant canal water contains patches of floating waste, refuse, and submerged twigs. A concrete…High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — A mid-century modern room features floor-to-ceiling pleated curtains and dark carpeted floors. A woman in…High and Low (1963) movie still: closeup — A close-up photograph of a black-and-white Japanese newspaper printed on textured newsprint paper. A…High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — Two men eat at a table viewed through a vertical wooden slatted room divider. The table is filled with…High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — An office interior features four men organized around communication equipment and a rotary phone. They are…High and Low (1963) movie still: wide — A group of men in a sterile, white-walled room gathered for a briefing session. The main subject gestures…High and Low (1963) movie still: medium — A man stands behind a thick wire mesh screen in a sparse room. He wears a suit and smiles while facing an…
High and Low (1963) — © TOHO, Kurosawa Production

High and Low — official trailer

What is High and Low about?

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

High and Low is a 1963 Japanese police procedural film directed by Akira Kurosawa. It was written by Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Eijirō Hisaita, and Ryūzō Kikushima as a loose adaptation of the 1959 novel King's Ransom by Evan Hunter. Starring Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Kyōko Kagawa and Tatsuya Mihashi, it tells the story of Japanese businessman Kingo Gondō (Mifune) struggling for control of the major shoe company of which he is a board member. He plans a leveraged buyout of the company with his life savings, when a kidnapper mistakenly abducts his chauffeur's son to ransom him for ¥30 million. The film is viewed as influential on police procedural cinema, and has been remade multiple times internationally.

Second paragraph from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where can you watch High and Low?

US availability for High and Low (1963). Data by JustWatch, listings on TMDB. Availability changes — check the provider for current listings.

Who stars in High and Low?

Who made High and Low?

What does the cinematography of High and Low look like?

Sampled across 46 frames, the coverage of High and Low leans on medium shots (50% of the sample) and wide compositions (33%). Cinematographer Takao Saitō keeps 39% of it in soft, high-key light. Deep focus keeps foreground and background readable at once in 80% of the frames. The production design places the film in the 1960s.

What is the color palette of High and Low?

The dominant colors across the sampled frames of High and Low (1963) are #030303, #fcfcfc, #4a4a4a, #878787, #cbcbcb, #aeaeae — measured from the per-frame color data FrameThrower extracts for every film.

  • #030303
  • #fcfcfc
  • #4a4a4a
  • #878787
  • #cbcbcb
  • #aeaeae

See the full High and Low colour palette — every hex with its share, plus warmth, saturation and luminance.

High and Low ranks in

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Techniques in this film

More films by Akira Kurosawa

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