A businessman goes to the extent of mortgaging his properties to get majority stakes of a company to prevent it from going into the hands of his unworthy peers. That is exactly when a kidnapper seeks ransom for kidnapping his son. When the kidnapper gets to know he has kidnapped not his son, but his chauffeur’s son, the game gets interesting & the way the police solve this case makes this one of the very best investigation films.
Language:
Japanese
Running Time:
143 min
Rating:
PG
Release date:
01 March 1963
Directed by:
Akira Kurosawa
Produced by:
Ryuzo Kikushima
Akira Kurosawa
Tomoyuki Tanaka
Written by:
Eijiro Hisaita
Ryuzo Kikushima
Akira Kurosawa
Hideo Oguni
Based on:
King’s Ransom by Ed McBain
Starring:
Tatsuya Nakadai
Toshiro Mifune
Kyoko Kagawa
Isao Kimura
Music by:
Masaru Sato
Shot by:
Asakazu Nakai
Takao Saitô
Editing by:
Akira Kurosawa
Reiko Kaneko
Distributed by:
Toho

What’s Hot

  • To me, this one is the best work of Kurosawa! What a gripping narrative, what a clean & neat screenplay!
  • Toshiro Mifune, as the businessman has a limited role but performs wonderfully. However, the stellar performances over the latter half of the film are from the graceful cop & the stylish villain.
  • There are a lot of touching scenes – the scenes where the entire family is in a catch-22 situation when the caller says he knows he has kidnapped the wrong kid & yet he demands ransom; and the final scene in the jail is the icing on the cake.

What’s Not

  • Forget it. This one’s clean as a hound’s tooth!

Badges

Verdict

Verdict Stamp

Way ahead of its time; A Kurosawa Urban special!