24 High and Low
- davebert
- Joined: Fri May 05, 2006 4:00 pm
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- Jeff
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
- Location: Denver, CO
Two-disc reissiue due in July:
Toshiro Mifune is unforgettable as Kingo Gondo, a wealthy industrialist whose family becomes the target of a cold-blooded kidnapper in Akira Kurosawa’s highly influential domestic drama and police procedural High and Low. Adapting Ed McBain’s detective novel King’s Ransom, Kurosawa moves effortlessly from compelling race-against-time thriller to exacting social commentary, creating a diabolical treatise on class and contemporary Japanese society. Criterion is proud to present High and Low (Tengoko to jigoku) in this new high-definition digital transfer.
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
-- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with newly restored original
four-track surround sound
-- New audio commentary by Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
-- A 37-minute documentary on the making of High and Low, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
-- Rare archival interview with Toshiro Mifune
-- New video interview with actor Tsutomu Yamazaki, who plays the kidnapper
-- Theatrical trailers from Japan and the U.S.
-- New and improved English subtitle translation
-- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and a reprinted essay by Japanese film scholar Donald Richie
-- More!
SRP: $39.95
Prebook: 6/17/08
Street date: 7/22/08
- Cronenfly
- Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm
I was kind of hoping Dodes'ka-den would be first (if for no other reason than to finally be able to see that movie), but this is still excellent news; I thought we'd be waiting a fair bit longer for this and Vampyr, so this is a very pleasant surprise (to my mind at least).
Last edited by Cronenfly on Wed Apr 16, 2008 10:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- Cronenfly
- Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2007 12:04 pm
I'm inclined to agree with you (to an extent), but High and Low is truly superb, so I can suck up my "not another [insert overexposed Criterion director here]" anger pretty easily. Especially considering how in need of a decent disc from anybody this movie is.stalker_ozu wrote:What a Disappointment release, I am sick of Kurosawa.
Last edited by Cronenfly on Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- exte
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:27 pm
- Location: NJ
- denti alligator
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- Location: "born in heaven, raised in hell"
- Jeff
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:49 pm
- Location: Denver, CO
Yep. It was one of the first DVDs I bought in 1998. In the wake of laserdiscs, $40 for a non-anamorphic, completely featureless Criterion seemed like a steal. The film is an absolute masterpiece, and I can't wait to upgrade it. Even in this very solid month, High and Low is, for me, the pick of the litter.exte wrote:As I can best recall, this was one of those lame releases with the super high MSRPs, right?
- kinjitsu
- Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2005 1:39 pm
- Location: Uffa!
Same here. I just watched Ichida's incredibly haunting Fugitive from the Past, and throughout, couldn't help but think of High and Low, as they are two of the best police procedurals ever made.
This is very timely since I recently sold my old edition of High and Low in anticipation of a reissue, so the new set is practically paid for.
This is very timely since I recently sold my old edition of High and Low in anticipation of a reissue, so the new set is practically paid for.
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- Joined: Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:02 am
- Tommaso
- Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 10:09 am
FINALLY!
I can't tell how sick I am of my old VHS copy which I nevertheless didn't bother to exchange for any hitherto existing disc. Pretty good extras, too. Stephen Prince's commentaries can't get any better.
Now that indeed only leaves "Rublev" for a must-be-done remake.
Stefan: yes, I fully agree with you about CC's blackness boosting, and not just for Kurosawa films ("Drunken Angel" was pretty extreme, though). That's something that totally annoys me about CC discs, especially as one can now compare this to the look of MoC discs, or even occasionally discs from other companies. I found greyscale much more natural on the recent Fox Ford masters than on CC's "Young Mr. Lincoln", for instance. That's why I fear the worst for CC's "Vampyr" and would much prefer to get that one from MoC if they manage to put some decent extras on it as well.
I can't tell how sick I am of my old VHS copy which I nevertheless didn't bother to exchange for any hitherto existing disc. Pretty good extras, too. Stephen Prince's commentaries can't get any better.
Now that indeed only leaves "Rublev" for a must-be-done remake.
Stefan: yes, I fully agree with you about CC's blackness boosting, and not just for Kurosawa films ("Drunken Angel" was pretty extreme, though). That's something that totally annoys me about CC discs, especially as one can now compare this to the look of MoC discs, or even occasionally discs from other companies. I found greyscale much more natural on the recent Fox Ford masters than on CC's "Young Mr. Lincoln", for instance. That's why I fear the worst for CC's "Vampyr" and would much prefer to get that one from MoC if they manage to put some decent extras on it as well.
- Mr Sausage
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
- Location: Canada
I'm glad I held off buying this one for so long. This movie is Kurosawa's most morally ambiguous. It's so intricately balanced and calibrated that every possible choice that Mifune's character could make seems to both secure his fate and offer no assured outcome. He could pay the money, which would ruin him, but at the same time, there's no assurance that the money will even get the kid back. Yet, if he kept the money, which would make him hugely successful, there's no assurance that he would be able to live with himself and actually enjoy this success. It's Stray Dog amped up to the highest possible degree. Plus the ending is just pit-of-the-stomach disturbing.
Kurosawa understands character and structure so well that, once Mifune's character has made his decision, Kurosawa understands that the character has run its course and, structurally, there is no longer any need for him. Hence Kurosawa divides the film in half and lets another character guide this second half, the police procedural. It's remarkable how, once a major character (and actor) is no longer structurally necessary, Kurosawa has no compunction at all with dropping him and moving on. For such a long film, nothing is wasted.
Kurosawa understands character and structure so well that, once Mifune's character has made his decision, Kurosawa understands that the character has run its course and, structurally, there is no longer any need for him. Hence Kurosawa divides the film in half and lets another character guide this second half, the police procedural. It's remarkable how, once a major character (and actor) is no longer structurally necessary, Kurosawa has no compunction at all with dropping him and moving on. For such a long film, nothing is wasted.
- Michael Kerpan
- Spelling Bee Champeen
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- Highway 61
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:40 pm
- Jean-Luc Garbo
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- Forrest Taft
- Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:34 pm
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- Mr Sausage
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
- Location: Canada
Because changing 'thief' to 'thieves' is so small that there could be no problem with identification. Changing High and Low, the more commonly known english title, to Heaven and Hell not only makes the movie more difficult to identify, but gives it all sorts of western religious connotations that would be confusing and misleading since the movie is not at all theological.Highway 61 wrote:Too bad Criterion didn't have the balls to use the film's true title, Heaven and Hell. If Bicycle Thieves is worthy of that respect, why not this?
You're breaking my heart, man.kerpan wrote:and find the second half (on average) only so-so (largely because of the fairly ineffective scenes featuring the kidnapper).
- codam
- Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2007 5:40 am
- Location: London
Criterion page says 2.35:1Stefan Andersson wrote:Hopefully HIGH AND LOW will now be the full 2.55 like the BFI DVD.
- Michael Kerpan
- Spelling Bee Champeen
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The scene going through the make-believe slum is one of my least favorite AK sequences (in movies I like -- along with the night club section in Ikiru). He did this a lot better in Stray Dog.Mr_sausage wrote:You're breaking my heart, man.kerpan wrote:and find the second half (on average) only so-so (largely because of the fairly ineffective scenes featuring the kidnapper).
- miless
- Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:45 pm
It also says that they did a 4k transfer!codam wrote:Criterion page says 2.35:1Stefan Andersson wrote:Hopefully HIGH AND LOW will now be the full 2.55 like the BFI DVD.
- exte
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 4:27 pm
- Location: NJ
BRAVO! Now that's what's up...miless wrote:It also says that they did a 4k transfer!codam wrote:Criterion page says 2.35:1Stefan Andersson wrote:Hopefully HIGH AND LOW will now be the full 2.55 like the BFI DVD.
- davebert
- Joined: Fri May 05, 2006 4:00 pm
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Unfortunately, a 4k transfer to me means that I'm just going to hold back and see about about a Blu-ray release, possibly in 2009. I am feeling kind of burned about the fact that I ponied up for an upgrade on The Third Man just to be stiffed less than a year later, so I think I've learned my lesson.
However, for people who don't already own the barebones disc because of previous sticker shock, I am in total agreement with many in this thread that this is one of Kurosawa's best films, and a brilliant genre film even for the folks who might find the director himself overexposed (note that I am not one of those people; he continues to be one of my favorites perhaps out of the sheer sentimentality of being my original introduction to 'sophisticated' foreign films so many years ago).
However, for people who don't already own the barebones disc because of previous sticker shock, I am in total agreement with many in this thread that this is one of Kurosawa's best films, and a brilliant genre film even for the folks who might find the director himself overexposed (note that I am not one of those people; he continues to be one of my favorites perhaps out of the sheer sentimentality of being my original introduction to 'sophisticated' foreign films so many years ago).
- What A Disgrace
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Finalized specs:
* - SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer with original four-track surround sound
* - Audio commentary featuring Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
* - A 37-minute documentary on the making of High and Low, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
* - Rare video interview with actor Toshiro Mifune, by TV talk-show host Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
* - New video interview with actor Tsutomu Yamazaki, who plays the kidnapper
* - Theatrical trailers from Japan and the U.S.
* - New and improved English subtitle translation
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and an on-set account by Japanese film scholar Donald Richie
* - SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer with original four-track surround sound
* - Audio commentary featuring Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
* - A 37-minute documentary on the making of High and Low, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
* - Rare video interview with actor Toshiro Mifune, by TV talk-show host Tetsuko Kuroyanagi
* - New video interview with actor Tsutomu Yamazaki, who plays the kidnapper
* - Theatrical trailers from Japan and the U.S.
* - New and improved English subtitle translation
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and an on-set account by Japanese film scholar Donald Richie
- psufootball07
- Joined: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:52 pm