Tengoku to jigoku

English title: High and Low

Genre: crime drama (in black and white)

With: Toshirô Mifune (Kingo Gondo), Kyôko Kagawa (Reiko, his wife), Toshio Egi (Jun, their young son), Yutaka Sada (Aoki, Gondo’s Chauffeur), Masahiko Shimazu (Shinichi, Aoki’s son), Tatsuya Mihashi (Kawanishi, Gondo's Secretary), Jun Tazaki, Nobuo Nakamura and Yûnosuke Itô (as Kamiya, Ishimaru and Baba, respectively), Tatsuya Nakadai (Chief Detective Tokura), Kenjirô Ishiyama (Chief Detective ‟Bos’n” Taguchi), Tsutomu Yamazaki (Ginjirô Takeuchi), Isao Kimura (Detective Arai)

Director: Akira Kurosawa

Screenplay: Hideo Oguni, Ryûzô Kikushima, Eijirô Hisaita and Akira Kurosawa (based on Evan Hunter’s novel)

Release: 1963

Studio: Kurosawa Production Co., Toho Company

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.6/10 

 

‟It gave me a reason for living.” 

 

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Story-line: Yokohama in the 1960s. It’s make-or-break time for Gondo, an executive at National Shoes. Coming out of a meeting with three colleagues – Baba, Kamiya and Ishimaru –, he understands that they fundamentally disagree with him about the future of the company and that he may be thrown out… but this prospect doesn’t worry him. Having anticipated such a showdown, he has secretly borrowed 50 million yen to gain control of National Shoes. What he hasn’t anticipated, however, is that his young son Jun would be kidnapped and ransomed for millions more.

Pluses: great acting by Toshirô Mifune (who shows fine range as Gondo), Kyôko Kagawa (his sensible, intelligent wife), Tatsuya Nakadai, Yutaka Sada, Kenjirô Ishiyama and a professional cast, masterful, time-efficient direction, a flawless, brilliantly logical screenplay that puts its characters under huge pressure and stokes lots of drama, adept cinematography and editing, top-quality production values, a sparse but effective musical score and a surprising ending that poses one more mystery to viewers.

Minuses: try as I may, I couldn’t find anything wrong with this film. The screenplay is not 100% functional; like in some Truffaut movies, you will be given tantalizing hints that lead nowhere. 

Comments: this magnificent movie by one of the greatest directors ever vividly recounts a household’s suffering and the painstaking investigative work that was done for a businessman who didn’t deserve much sympathy at first but whose predicament will bring him respect and even admiration from police and public alike. Kurosawa’s riveting crime drama matches the best Hollywood thrillers with its strong suspense and meticulous execution. Once you’ve seen 20 minutes or so of this superior film, there will be no turning back for you, movie buffs. 

 

MBiS 

© 2026 – All rights reserved

Cry in the Dark (A)

Also known as: Evil Angels

Genre: personal and judicial drama 

With: Meryl Streep (Lindy), Sam Neill (Michael), Dale Reeves, David Hoflin and Jason Reason (their son Aidan at 6, 8 and 11 respectively), Michael Wetter, Kane Barton and Trent Roberts (their son Reagan at 4, 6 and 9), Lauren Shepherd, Bethany Ann Prickett, Alison O’Connell and Aliza Dason (their daughter Azaria), Bill McCluskey (Greg Lowe), Debra Lawrance (Sally Lowe), Brian James (Cliff Murchison, the Grandfather), Dorothy Alison (Avis Murchison, the Grandmother), Bruce Myles (Barker), Neil Fitzpatrick (Phillips), Sandy Gore (Joy Kuhl), Kevin Miles (Professor Cameron), Edgar Metcalfe (Dr. Brown), Gary Files (Professor Chaikin), Peter Aanensen (Sims), Roderick Williams (Les Harris), Nick Tate (Sergeant Charlwood), Mervyn Drake (Inspector Gilroy), Maurie Fields (Justice Barritt), Charles ‟Bud” Tingwell (Justice Muirhead), Susan Leith (Jenny Richards)

Director: Fred Schepisi

Screenplay: John Bryson (based on Evil Angels), Robert Caswell and Fred Schepisi

Release: 1988

Studio: Cannon Entertainment Inc., Golan-Globus Productions, Cinema Verity, Metro Goldwyn Mayer

Rating: PG-13

MBiS score: 8.4/10

 

 

Predators Everywhere 

 

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Story-line: this true-life movie begins in Mount Isa, Australia, during the summer of 1980. Michael Chamberlain, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, wife Lindy, sons Aidan and Reagan and infant daughter Azaria leave home for a camping trip in the outback near Ayers Rock. Little do they know that the trip will end in tragedy for one of them and submit the others to a terrible ordeal.

Pluses: admirable acting by Meryl Streep (dominant and eminently credible as the grounded and gutsy Lindy) and Sam Neill (a well-meaning but sometimes fragile Michael), a consistent supporting cast, efficient and sober direction, a busy, twisty screenplay that unfolds methodically and logically, excellent cinematography (Ian Baker) and diligent editing (Jill Bilcock), suitable production values, appropriate musical support and a strong finish.

Minuses: don’t be fooled by the film’s rather innocent introduction… there’s plenty of drama coming your way.    

Comments: the modest but worthy A CRY IN THE DARK sheds its initial quietness to illustrate how personal misfortune can be compounded by public scrutiny, intolerance, incompetence and sensationalism. Fred Schepisi’s cautionary work, a testament to one woman’s courage in the face of adversity, proves that human suffering, despite its apparent cruelty and injustice, brings sanctity to one’s soul. Be brave, people, be brave…

In memory of Sam Neill (1947-2026). 

 

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