Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List
Spoiler-free premise
An executive of a shoe company becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur's son is kidnapped and held for ransom.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
A wealthy executive's son is apparently kidnapped from his Yokohama home, forcing the executive to consider a ruinous ransom. The discovery that the chauffeur's son was taken by mistake creates an agonizing choice while police organize a detailed pursuit.
Why it belongs
High and Low divides one kidnapping between a modernist hilltop home and crowded city streets, so class geography supplies the procedural tension.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Kurosawa divides the film between Gondo's modern hilltop home and the city's crowded streets, employing widescreen blocking, social geography, and a precisely staged train exchange to connect private conscience-bound choice with systematic police work and class division.
Major award wins
No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.
Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Good for
Date NightFilm Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.
Institutional reference ranks
Sight & Sound—IMDb Top 25073AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score
Great Cinema Master List scores
Greatness9.6
Engagement9.4
Ease8.7
Japanese · Not Rated Narrative Feature Mood: Tense & Absorbing
