High and Low

A milestone of the police procedural, Kurosawa’s masterly, labyrinthine adaptation of Ed McBain’s King’s Ransom intricately details the kidnapping of a prominent businessman’s young son. Focusing as much on the effects on the executive’s life (even after the case’s conclusion) as it does on the crime itself, it’s both a grippingly immersive thriller and a pointed critique of amorality in post-war Japan.