I'm super curious to hear what you thought of it. Please answer two of the following questions:
- What is the theme of the film? Explain.
- Did the change of protagonists work for you in this movie? Why or why not? Compare it to the change of protagonists in Chungking Express.
- What do you make of the title? How do you think it relates to the plot / theme of the film?
Selflessness is more powerful than greed... Evidence? Once Mr. Gondo finally decides to give his money to save Shinichi, he becomes a national hero. The police dedicate a whole force dedicated to getting him his money back, but yet, wherever the bad guys get the money, there's death and despair. It serves them no good. Mr. Gondo's selflessness did him much more good than what his orignal plan was.
ReplyDeleteThe change in protagonists worked for me, because unlike in Chungking, the change was gradual, and eased into. We didn't have to learn a whole lot about the new characters. They just fit. I liked it. Mr. Gondo just slid into the backdrop, and he belonged there. The transition was great. Kurosawa did it again. That man was amazing.
Yeah, Kurosawa is amazing. I should just teach a Kurosawa class.
DeleteCool theme analysis. I would never have assigned this theme to this film but I think what you say works.
I think the theme is "some things are more important than others." Mr. Gondo mortgaged his house to get his 50 mil. so that he could win against the other guys for the shoe business, but decided that Sinichi's life was more important than him getting top position and instead spent his money for ransom to get Sinichi back and he did a lot of work to help find the boy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the last comment, that selflessness played a huge role in this film. If Mr. Gondo was greedy, selfish, and used his money for his own purposes instead, the boy may have been killed and it would look terrible on his reputation.Even if he had the money to get to the top, he'd be labeled then on as a horrible, greedy, heartless man and no one would give a rats ass about him- even if he was a powerful man with money.
I appreciate seeing that you read Justus' response. Kapow!
DeleteTayia Groesbeck-
ReplyDeleteI think the theme of this movie is,when you are all mighty, rich and rude it can come back and bite you in the butt. The first reason is his kid is supposably kidnapped but the kidnapper took the wrong kid and he was still forced to pay. The second reason is he had to pay 30 million for his friends kid because he is pressured by his wife and he had no other choice. The third reason is he didn't like his wife being upset because at first he refused to pay to get the kid back so he just ended up paying the money and risked everything he had to like debt, losing his job and puting his wife and kids life down the drain.
I think the title of the the movie relates to the theme because he was put threw hell by the kidnapper but in the end he was like considered a hero for risking everything for a kid that's not even his.
Good thought that he was put through hell by the kidnapper. That would be the "low" part of the title. What about the "high"?
Delete-Randi Ralston :)
ReplyDeleteThis was another movie that I didn't particularly like all that much. I don't know, it was just too slow for me and made me fall asleep again, which I feel terrible for, but it just..happened. I just felt like the story line didn't really make sense. I do agree with Katie though about the theme. I can see what she meant by the points she made. I also think that maybe because Mr. Gondo's son meant more to him than the money, is why he gave it up to the kidnappers in the end.
However, one thing that I did like about this movie is how the protagonist switch actually worked and had the movie still make sense. The way the Kurosawa made it was like it wasn't just random and out in the open with switching them like how Chung King Express was, and was more hidden about it, if that makes sense. Chung King Express made me confused through out the rest of the movie, and practically changed the entire story. While in High And Low, I didn't even really notice the change.
Way to find something evaluative to say (your comments on the protagonist switch) even though you didn't particularly enjoy the film.
DeleteI thought this film was pretty sweet. But when you said it was like taken and stuff I immediately thought it was going to be a sweet action movie full of blood and gore. But it was not like that at all more of a detective crime solving movie. That did not stray me attention though. From the Beginning this movie looked awesome.
ReplyDeleteBut anyways on the the questions. I thought the theme of the film was. Selfishness will not get you far. If Mr. Gondo was selfish and didn't want to pay the money. Everything will gave gone wrong. But since he did. His money was returned, and his life was blessed . He even started his own business you could say that after the kidnapping everything got better. His perception of the life he lived changed.
I really didn't catch the change of the main character. But again nice movie.
That's pretty cool that the film defied your expectations but you still LOVED it!
DeleteAlan Carrasco
ReplyDeleteI think the theme is the most importent thing in life. Because he goes though all this things to get his son back that was kidnaped. I think the title goes with the plot and the theme because they go though high's and lows.
I think the protagonist of high and low is way much better then in Chungking Express. This actor work very well for the part it had in the movie worked well went well with the whole movie. And i would rather see high and low rather then Chungking Express just because of the different actors.
DeleteThanks for adding to this.
Delete-tommy kiter
ReplyDeleteI think the theme of this movie is some things are more important than other things. it was dumb how the kidnapper took the wrong kid,Made no sense to me and in all of it he still had to pay the money. He had to pay alot of money to alot of people he was pressured by his wife and even paid money for his friends kid. to me selflessness played a huge role in this film.
I think how this movie can relate is he had to do and pay alot of people but then in the end he ended being like a savior to everyone.
I'm a little confused by your second paragraph. Can you explain more.
DeleteI believe the theme for this film is kind of like get your priorities straight. Cus the one dude with all the money obviously had plans for it. He had a plan to get on top of his buisnes but he had to make the decision to pay the ransom for that little boy. Even though it wasnt his son and he wasnt at all benefitting buy paying he HAD to make the right decision. Thats life.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think the protagonist change in this movie worked. At first it was all about that one guy who was being forced to pay the ransom and that was cool because that was his part in the movie. But once he did what he needed to do you really didnt need him there any more. And so the boys real dad came into play and i suppose it worked.
But in all honesty, this movie sucked. Lol. Im with you Randi, that was a snore fest.
I like your second paragraph a lot. You articulate so well why the protagonist shift works here.
DeleteC.J. Barrett:
ReplyDeleteThe protagonist change in Chung King Express was really sudden, and unexpected. It honestly felt really out of place, and almost unnecessary. It did little for the plot advancement, and for a short amount of time after it happened I didn't even notice. In High and Low, though, the transition was really smooth. As Josh said characters stop being interesting after their conflict has been resolved. After Mr. Gondo decided to pay the ransom, his conflict didn't quite end, but started to wind down. But the police task force? No way, they had a kidnapper out on the loose. Everything seemed in place, and made sense why it would change.
Priority seems to be a large theme in this film, as it commonly is in crime movies. The most obvious example being when Gondo is faced with the choice of paying the ransom, or keeping his money and investing it into his work.
Good insight about how priority is a common theme in crime movies. I have never considered this before but of course it would be!
DeleteWhat would you think if the protagonist shift happened but it shifted to the kidnapper as protagonist?
I think that the first half is a little more intense than the second half. Why do you think Kurosawa chose to keep the plot going so long in the second half rather than just end it shortly after Gondo makes his decision?
ReplyDelete