I was so taken with Akira Kurosawa’s Tengoku to jigoku (High and Low, 1963) when I watched it on DVD earlier this year that I created a page of dvd captures from the film, which I then forgot about. Listening to a bunch of natsukashii Japanese music from the 50’s and 60’s reminded me again of the film, and the web page. (Click on the image above to have a look).
I need to re-watch the film and comment properly on it, but as should be obvious from the captures, there is a wonderful sense of composition throughout the film, with Kurosawa using the entire widescreen frame to full effect, yet it never feels gimmicky, even 40 years later. There are some wonderful set pieces in the film (I particularly like an extended police briefing scene where a parade of detectives and officers — the film is centered around a kidnapping — run down the details of the investigation so far.)
The briefing is one of my favorite scenes, too. In fact, the details of the police investigation is what I enjoyed most. And, of course, the train scene is classic, but almost a surprise after the pacing in the rest of the movie.