Akira Kurosawa Fans Need to See His Overlooked Crime Procedural

“How far would you go to protect your family?” That question has been at the center of countless crime stories in which everyday people are forced to act beyond themselves when those they love most are taken from them. Usually, this entails a path of vengeance, as seen in the Death Wish films where Charles Bronson’s middle-aged architect becomes a cold-blooded vigilante. But in 1963’s crime noir High and Low, Akira Kurosawa is interested in everything but the usual.