Tatsuya Nakadai

Toshirô Mifune

Takashi Shimura

A wealthy businessman is told his son has been kidnapped and he will have to pay a very large sum for him to be returned safely. It is then discovered that his son is safe at home: the kidnapper took his chauffeur's son by accident. The kidnapper says this makes no difference: pay up or the child dies. This leaves him with a moral dilemma, as he really needs the money to conclude a very important business deal.—grantss

High and Low

High and Low (1963)

A priest, a woodcutter and another man are taking refuge from a rainstorm in the shell of a former gatehouse called Rashômon. The priest and the woodcutter are recounting the story of a murdered samurai whose body the woodcutter discovered three days earlier in a forest grove. Both were summoned to testify at the murder trial, the priest who ran into the samurai and his wife traveling through the forest just before the murder occurred. Three other people who testified at the trial are supposedly the only direct witnesses: a notorious bandit named Tajômaru, who allegedly murdered the samurai and raped his wife; the white veil cloaked wife of the samurai; and the samurai himself who testifies through the use of a medium. The three tell a similarly structured story - that Tajômaru kidnapped and bound the samurai so that he could rape the wife - but which ultimately contradict each other, the motivations and the actual killing being what differ. The woodcutter reveals at Rashômon that he knows more than he let on at the trial, thus bringing into question his own actions. But another discovery at Rashômon and the resulting actions from the discovery bring back into focus the woodcutter's own humanity or lack thereof.—Huggo

Rashomon

Rashomon (1950)

Kanji Watanabe is a civil servant. He has worked in the same department for 30 years. His life is boring and monotonous, though he once used to have passion and drive. Then one day he discovers that he has stomach cancer and less than a year to live. After the initial depression he sets about living for the first time in over 20 years. Then he realises that his limited time left is not just for living life to the fullest, but to leave something meaningful behind.—grantss

Ikiru

Ikiru (1952)

It's the early nineteenth century, and young Dr. Noboru Yasumoto has been summoned for a reason unknown to him to rural Koishikawa Medical Clinic from Nagasaki, where he has been stationed for three years completing his internship. The clinic, headed by the outwardly stern Dr. Kyojô Niide - nicknamed "Red Beard" for that attribute - under his very strict guidelines, treats the poor and disadvantaged of the region. Much to his surprise and dismay, Yasumoto is told he is to start work there immediately, staff, including doctors, living on site. As he was expecting a position as a physician for a shogunate in his privilege, Yasumoto shows his displeasure at this fate at every turn. He believes this fate was either orchestrated directly by Red Beard in solely wanting access to his detailed professional notes - Yasumoto believing he a much better doctor than his new, more experienced superior - or by the father of a female acquaintance in an effort to get rid of him. Yasumoto may get a different perspective of life as a doctor at the clinic in getting to view Red Beard's methods first hand, as he gets to know the stories of some of the in-patients at the clinic, and as he is assigned his first patient, Otoyo, a twelve year old orphaned girl who was raised in an abusive brothel environment in an effort to seal her supposed future.—Huggo

Red Beard

Red Beard (1965)

Sanjuro, a wandering samurai enters a rural town in nineteenth century Japan. After learning from the innkeeper that the town is divided between two gangsters, he plays one side off against the other. His efforts are complicated by the arrival of the wily Unosuke, the son of one of the gangsters, who owns a revolver. Unosuke has Sanjuro beaten after he reunites an abducted woman with her husband and son, then massacres his father's opponents. During the slaughter, the samurai escapes with the help of the innkeeper; but while recuperating at a nearby temple, he learns of innkeeper's abduction by Unosuke, and returns to the town to confront him.—Bernard Keane

Filmz

High and Low

1963

Action/ Crime/ Drama/ Mystery/ Thriller

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Duration: 143 min

IMDB Rating: 8.4

Language: ja

MPA Rating:

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Plot Summary

Top Cast

Tatsuya Nakadai as -Chief Detective Tokura

Toshirô Mifune as -Kingo Gondo

Takashi Shimura as -Chief of Investigation Section

Filmz

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