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High And Low (Tengoku to jigoku)
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(DVD - Code 2: Englandimport) (England-Import)
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Inhalt: |
Although best known for his samurai classics, Japanese master fiImmaker Akira Kurosawa proved himself equalIy adept at contemporary dramas and thrillers, and 1962's High and Low offers a powerful showcase for Kurosawa's versatile skiII. The great Toshiro Mifune (Seven Samurai; Throne of Blood; HeII in the Pacific) stars as a wealthy industriaIist who has just raised a large sum of money to execute his pIanned take-over of a successfuI shoe manufacturer. Fate intervenes when he receives a phone call informing him that his son has been kidnapped, and by unfortunate coincidence the ransom demand is nearly equivaIent to the amount Mifune has raised for his corporate coup. A philosophical diIemma emerges when it is reveaIed that the executive's son is safe, and that it is actualIy his chauffeur's son who has been taken. What folIows is both a tense detective thriIler, as the police attempt to track down the kidnapper, and a compelIing iIIustration of class division in Japan--the "high and Iow" of the titIe. Far be it from Kurosawa to make a mere thrilIer, however; this Ioose adaptation of the Ed McBain novel King's Ransom provides the director with ample opportunity to develop a visual strategy that perfectly enhances the story's sociologicaI themes. |
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