High and Low poster

High and Low

Stark, intense drama almost beyond belief!

8.4(1,227)19632h 22m20

A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.

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Status
Released
Budget
$250K
Box office
—
Language
Japanese
  • chauffeur
  • police
  • ransom
  • manager
  • kidnapping
  • blackmail
  • heroin
  • film noir
  • black and white
  • shoe
  • criminal investigation
  • japanese noir

Top billed cast

Behind the camera

Where to watch

Availability for United States. Provided by JustWatch through the TMDB API.

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Gallery

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Videos

Release dates

  • United StatesUS

    • TheatricalNR26 Nov 1963
  • United KingdomGB

    • Theatrical121 Apr 1967
    • Digital / OTT1227 Jan 2025
  • AustraliaAU

    • Theatrical (limited)MRe-Release24 Oct 2024
  • ArgentinaAR

    • Theatrical13(Clasicos del Cine Japones)20 Nov 2000
    • Theatrical13(De Kurosawa a Kitano: 50 años de Cine Japonés)8 Sept 2002
  • CzechiaCZ

    • PremiereEiga-Sai Film Festival24 Feb 2018
  • DenmarkDK

    • Theatrical27 Oct 1969
  • FinlandFI

    • TheatricalK-1627 Mar 1981
  • FranceFR

    • Theatrical9 Jun 1976
    • Theatrical(re-release)21 Jul 2004
    • Theatrical(re-release) (restored version)9 Mar 2016
  • GermanyDE

    • Theatrical(Berlin International Film Festival)1 Feb 1993
  • ItalyIT

    • PremiereVenice Film Festival27 Aug 1963
    • Theatrical27 Jan 1967
  • JapanJP

    • Theatrical1 Mar 1963
    • Theatrical(Nihon Meisaku Eigasai)27 Feb 2016
  • MexicoMX

    • Theatrical12 Jun 1968

Frequently asked questions

High and Low was released on 1 March 1963.

Audience reviews

3
  • C

    CinemaSerf

    9/4/2023

    7/10

    I didn't take to this initially. The scenario reminded me a little of an episode of "Columbo" - a rather sterile, studio-set environment that came across as quite limiting. Once it gets going, though, it's one of the best crime thrillers I've seen in ages. It all centres around the kidnapping of a small boy for whom the anger-prone, shoe millionaire "Gondo" (a strong contribution from Toshirô Mifune) is supposed to p…

  • Z

    Zak_Jaggs

    12/19/2024

    8/10

    A well worked, high stake crime thriller. The stakes are deeply personal to our main characters and puts them in an impossible situation. The performances and direction are very solid, the story is engaging and ultimately, it's a simple yet enjoyable film. Kurosawa comments on modern corporate greed and poverty in post-war Japan, and he does it very well.

  • B

    Brent Marchant

    8/27/2025

    7/10

    I’m always amazed at how a single film can be fundamentally characterized in multiple ways, but that’s understandable when the picture combines an array of diverse elements, each of which has a validity all its own that can subsequently lead to different overarching interpretations. Such is the case with this 1963 film classic from famed Japanese auteur Akira Kurosawa, which provides the cinematic inspiration behind …

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