modfather

I am ashamed to admit, I've only seen a few of his movies: Ikiru (possibly my favorite), Roshomon, Seven Samurai, Hidden Fortress, etc. Then I noticed that my TIVO automatically picked up the Kurosawa "night" the other evening on TCM. I started watching High and Low a couple of nights ago, and watched a bit more before bed last night - still have about 30-40 minutes left. DAMN, is this a great movie! I could go on an on about how much I love it! I haven't even finished it, and it's moving up my favorites of all-time list. Can't wait to finish it tonight!

All I can say is: WOW!!! If you haven't seen it, do yourself the favor...

Ash Ketchum

But it really works best when you see it all in one sitting.

The first half-hour or so is like a play--all dialogue in one room, but it's absolutely necessary as a build-up to what follows. Don't let it throw you. Stay with it!

modfather

In Robert Osborne's introduction, he mentioned that. So I watched the first "act" in Kongo's home, and that's when I turned the tv off for the night - it was late. Then watched up to the part where last night, before turning it off for sleep again. I have to say, the whole train scene was fabulous! I've been busy listing comics on eBay every evening for the last several days, so I've been trying to watch as much as I can, after the wife falls asleep. She doesn't get movies with subtitles. Rest tonight! Yay!

rocket1312

I've seen quite a few of Kurosawa's films and I like many of them, but in general, I don't love Japanese cinema (I think it's a cultural thing) so there weren't any Kurosawas that I truly loved. However, that all changed when I finally saw High and Low about a year and a half ago. I was totally blown away. It immediately became one of my favorite films. I haven't watched it since that initial viewing, but I think it may be time again soon. Hopefully I still feel the same way about it as I did that first time.

jjcool

I've seen most of the bigger Kurosawa films, and enjoyed them all. Havent gotten a chance to watch some of his lesser known stuff, so I cant really comment on those, but I will give them a shot at soem point.

Solid Snake

You don't need to LOVE Japanese cinema, I like it for sure...love of cinema to me is HK action cinema, anyway...where the movie is from should never ever deter you from just sinking into a world you do not know or comprehend. Just accept it for what it is.

Also: Thank god for CC. They love the hell out of AK. I gladly welcome their transition of his films to Blu. Can't wait for The Hidden Fortress (his first WS film!) and Seven Samurai on Blu.

Hokeyboy

Great movie, although the first two acts are infinitely superior to the last act, which is only GOOD when the rest of the movie is SUPERB.

dom56

Excellent movie with a ending I'll never forget.

rocket1312

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say. I don't need to love any cinema. But I do. And despite liking quite a few Japanese films, in general, Japanese cinema leaves me cold. And that has nothing to do with the quality of the film making or whether or not I think the films are good or bad. As I said, I think it's an inability to relate to their culture on a personal level. It interests me, but it's always struck me as very harsh and detached. Because of this, there weren't really any Japanese films I'd seen that I really loved. I never felt like I needed to love any of them or that I was somehow being un-accepting because I didn't love them. It's just an opinion I have. And despite that opinion, I still watched High and Low and loved it. End of story.

Finisher

High and Low holds up really well.

Hats off to TCM. They're airing 12(!) more Kurosawa films on the 23rd.

And then Kurosawa's underrated Dersu Uzala along with Kagemusha and Ran on the 30th; I recommend those if you haven't seen them already.

Ash Ketchum

I think I know what you mean by "harsh and detached," but I suspect you'll find a world of difference in MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE, CASTLE IN THE SKY and PRINCESS MONONOKE.

rocket1312

I've seen Mononoke and Castle in the Sky and while "harsh and detached" probably aren't good descriptions for those, I still didn't love either of them. They were both good, but I don't feel the need to own them on dvd or anything. I haven't seen Mononoke since it's theatrical release 12(?) years ago and I only saw the American version. Maybe I would like the Japanese version better.

Solid Snake

I'm not saying you have to love it. Just sink into it. I don't understand how a culture different from yours can leave you unable to relate. That's a bunch of stuff out there for sure that I may not understand the rules or traditions of that culture. You just come to accept what is there and go w/ it.

bluetoast

Loved this film, and just a month or so ago I read "King's Ransom" the book that Kurosawa based it on. Let's just say that the movie elevates the source material to a level that is many orders of magnitude beyond what a straight adaptation would have done.

Ash Ketchum

Ditto. I've read the book too (it's by Ed McBain) and it's basically just a cheap paperback crime novel that was transformed into a work of art by Kurosawa. (Similar to what Orson Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL did with its source, "Badge of Evil," by Whit Masterson.)

modfather

Finished it last night. Maybe I'm being overdramatic, but the very end (last scene) was HAUNTING to me. I felt the 3rd act was just as strong as the first, two, but what do I know??? Absolutely brilliant movie!

Sessa17

Awesome to see anyone experience a masterpiece for the first time.

You should check out The Bad Sleep Well as your next underrated Kurosawa experience. Its in the same genre as High & Low.

rocket1312

I never said anything about not understanding the rules or tradtions of another culture. Those I get. It's about watching a film (even a great one) and not having it resonate on an emotional level for me. I can't really quantify emotional resonance so I guess I'm just trying to come up with a rationale for the feeling of detachment I have while watching Ran or Battle Royale or Kwaidan or Akira or whatever. I don't think I'm being un-accepting or closed minded by saying I didn't love any of those films. I think I'm just having an opinion. Would you think I'm being closed minded if I told you I didn't like Japanese food (not true by the way)?

The bottom line is I watch a lot of movies. There are some I like, some I dislike and some I love. Until I saw High and Low, no Japanese film fell into the "love" category. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Are there others that I may love if I were to watch them? I hope so. The more movies I love, the better.

shakti

A great film by my all-time favorite filmmaker.



I like these quotes.....

Kurosawa was one of film's true greats. His ability to transform a vision into a powerful work of art is unparalleled.
- George Lucas

The term 'giant' is used too often to describe artists. But in the case of Akira Kurosawa, we have one of the rare instances where the term fits.
- Martin Sorsese

His (Kurosawa) influence on filmmakers throughout the entire world is so profound as to be almost incomparable
- Martin Scorsese

(Kurosawa) is the master of us all.
- Martin Scorsese

I'd like to be able to make a Western like Kurosawa makes Westerns.
- Sam Peckinpah

Other filmmakers have more money, more advanced techniques, more special effects. Yet no one has surpassed him.
- Zhang Yimou

I love Kurosawa’s movies, and I got so much inspiration from him. He is one of my idols and one of the great masters.
- John Woo

Of the filmmakers with whom I feel some kinship Griffith, Murnau, Pudovkin, Buñuel and Kurosawa come to mind. Everything these men did has the touch of greatness.
- Werner Herzog

The ideal definition of cinema: a succession of perfect images. And Kurosawa is the only director who has attained that.
- Takeshi Kitano

(Kurosawa is) the pictorial Shakespeare of our time.
- Stephen Spielberg

Now I want to make it plain that The Virgin Spring must be regarded as an aberration. It's touristic, a lousy imitation of Kurosawa.
-Ingmar Bergman

(Kurosawa is) the greatest living example of what an author of the cinema should be.
- Federico Fellini

Kurosawa's movies and La Dolce Vita, Fellini, are the things that pushed me sucked into being a film director.
- Bernardo Bertolucci

Kurosawa never affected me directly in terms of my own movie-making because I never would have presumed that I was capable of that perception and that vision.
- Sidney Lumet

One thing that distinguishes Akira Kurosawa is that he didn't make a masterpiece or two masterpieces, he made, you know, eight masterpieces.
- Francis Ford Coppola

Akira Kurosawa is one of the greatest directors ever to work in the cinema. His films meant an enormous amount to me when I was starting my own career.
- Francis Ford Coppola

Solid Snake

No offense but...what's the point of the quotes? Kinda phoned in..ish.

shakti

No point. Just felt like posting them. Don't know what "phoned in..ish" means...oh, and no offense taken.

Ash Ketchum

I appreciate your honest description of your responses to these films. I always find it interesting when people try to lay out what's in their heads when they watch a film.

Regarding Japanese films, I find that they resonate very powerfully with my emotions. I feel an instant emotional link when watching so many of these films, anime or live-action. You mentioned two in particular, AKIRA and BATTLE ROYALE, that struck me on that level. BATTLE ROYALE took me right back to when I was 14 and I felt all kinds of stirrings and long-dormant emotional remembrances as a result. The emotional honesty of Japanese depictions of adolescence, both animated and live, has always resonated with me.

But I also think you had to have had something of an emotionally deprived childhood like I did to really feel that resonance. I tend to notice that among anime buffs, Hong Kong movie fans, and certain kinds of film buffs. They were all emotionally deprived and look to those pop culture forms with high degrees of emotional content to find some satisfaction. There's something missing in us that we need to go outside the larger culture to find some kind of fulfillment. This is my theory, anyway, for what it's worth. Just a little dime-store psychology.

If you had a normal childhood and don't feel that need, God bless you. As you get older you'll realize what a gift that was.

Hokeyboy

The epilogue -- the scene at the jail -- is amazing. But Act 3, which is entirely a police procedural, is nowhere near as compelling as the first 2/3rds of the movie, which is a knockout dramatic piece masquerading as a thriller.

modfather

I wouldn't say it was the same as act one or two, but I would say I personally enjoyed it as much as the first two acts. Every movie of his I watch just makes me appreciate how wonderful film-making can be.

Oh, and shakti, I enjoyed reading your quotes very much!

Mondo Kane

Underrated indeed. I first saw this during dvdtalk's first Oscar challenge-marathon and I could not get this movie out of my head long after seeing it.

Looking forward to Drunken Angel & Stray Dog for tomorrow's TCM fest.