

High and Low
A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.
Audience Sentiment
The tense train ransom exchange
Gondō loses everything but gains respect
The film builds steadily through the moral dilemma to peak during the train ransom sequence, then maintains high quality through the procedural elements to a powerful ending
High and Low maintains consistently high audience approval throughout its runtime, with particular praise for the central moral dilemma and Kurosawa's masterful direction. The film peaks during the train ransom exchange and concludes with a powerfully acclaimed prison confrontation scene.
Full cast
Showing 20 of 48
Toshirō Mifune
Kingo Gondo

Tatsuya Nakadai
Chief Detective Tokura

Kyōko Kagawa
Reiko Gondo

Tatsuya Mihashi
Kawanishi, Gondo's secretary

Isao Kimura
Detective Arai

Kenjirō Ishiyama
Chief Detective 'Bos'n' Taguchi

Takeshi Katō
Detective Nakao

Takashi Shimura
Chief of Investigation Section

Jun Tazaki
Kamiya, National Shoes Publicity Director

Nobuo Nakamura
Ishimaru, National Shoes Design Department Director

Yūnosuke Itō
Baba - National Shoes Executive

Tsutomu Yamazaki
Ginjirô Takeuchi - Medical Intern

Minoru Chiaki
First Reporter

Eijirō Tōno
Factory Worker

Masao Shimizu
Prison Warden

Yutaka Sada
Aoki - the Chauffeur

Masahiko Shimazu
Shinichi Aoki
Toshio Egi
Jun Gondo

Kōji Mitsui
Second Reporter

Kyū Sazanka
First Creditor
Crew
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