High and Low | 4K UHD+Blu-ray

Akira Kurosawa will forever be known for his samurai dramas, but Japan’s most renowned filmmaker was a master of form well outside the constraints of the historical epic. In fact, Much of Kurosawa’s early career was spent making crime thrillers in parallel with the film noir styles of classic Hollywood.

High and Low may be the last time that Kurosawa took on a modern crime story, but it’s worth asking after a masterpiece like this, what more could he have left to say in the genre? Part family drama, part thriller, part criminal investigation, Kurosawa’s command of technique and storytelling weave a complex intrigue into something entirely compelling, even over a more than 2 hour runtime.

In a career full of masterpieces, it’s impossible to say that High and Low is the director’s best work, but it certainly occupies the rarified air alongside Ran, Yojimbo, Seven Samurai, Ikiru, and Dreams. A monument to the police procedural thriller, not just in Japan, but across the breadth of film history.

Special Features (via criterion.com)

• New 4K digital restoration, with 4.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• Audio commentary featuring Akira Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince
• Documentary on the making of High and Low, created as part of the Toho Masterworks series Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create
• Interviews with actors Toshiro Mifune and Tsutomu Yamazaki
• Trailers and teaser
• PLUS: An essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and an on-set account by Japanese-film scholar Donald Richie