Première High and Low

Hedgehogs: Director Akira Kurosawa and star actor Toshiro Mifune — it's often proven to be a perfect match. This is also the case in the intense noir detective thriller High and Low from 1963. The film might not ring as many bells as Kurosawa’s legendary classics Seven Samurai and Rashomon, but High and Low turned out to be a massive success and is considered by many to be one of the Japanese master’s very best works. Kurosawa adapted the characters and plot from an American pulp novel by Ed McBain. Mifune plays Kingo Gondo, a wealthy businessman on the verge of financing a crucial takeover when his son is seemingly kidnapped. Gondo finds himself in a moral quagmire.

Kurosawa presents a nail-biting battle between good and evil (and everything in between), between rich and poor, between penthouse and slum. A razor-sharp social drama and detective story that would even make Hitchcock jealous. Fun fact: Spike Lee is currently putting the final touches on a remake starring Denzel Washington.