In Spike Lee’s reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller HIGH AND LOW (1963), the activist artist is reunited for the fifth time with collaborator Denzel Washington (MO’ BETTER BLUES, MALCOLM X). Kurosawa’s psychological thriller explored social inequality through the story of a wealthy executive who becomes a victim of extortion when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake. Spike Lee transposes Kurosawa’s Yokohama to the mean streets of New York, with Denzel Washington as the titan music mogul — the “best ears in the business” — targeted with a ransom plot and jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma. Also starring Jeffrey Wright and A$AP Rocky — under his own name, Rakim Mayers.
Programmers Note: HIGH AND LOW opens our Akira Kurosawa series one week prior (Aug 8, 11). You can catch back-to-back screenings on Sun, Aug 17 of HIGH AND LOW (11:50am, 5:30pm) and HIGHEST 2 LOWEST (2:45pm, 8:25pm). Tickets sold separately.
“The movie rockets into a sublime new stratosphere, delivering an electrifying last act that’s at once original and deeply personal…. Lee has taken HIGH AND LOW to new highs, delivering a soul-searching genre movie that entertains while also sounding the alarm about where the culture could be headed.” —Peter Debruge, Variety “It’s smart, hugely entertaining, and profound in a way that’s anything but sentimental. With Akira Kurosawa as his guiding star…Lee has made a film that feels modest and grand at once, the kind of movie you can see on a Saturday night just for kicks and still be thinking about the next day…. A lustrous entertainment, one with a soul.” —Stephanie Zacharek, TIME “A faithful adaptation of Kurosawa’s HIGH AND LOW, until it’s not…. Unabashedly epic, fearlessly funny, and proudly Black, HIGHEST 2 LOWEST might derive from a Japanese filmmaker. But its soul clearly resides in Lee…. Lee isn’t setting out to copy what was great before. He is using the past as a starting point to launch into what may be the final phase of his career. He is wielding a plethora of inspirations—musical, cinematic, and historical—to reunite with an old friend. He is making a Spike Lee joint. And it’s exceptional.” —Robert Daniels, rogerebert.com “Lee and screenwriter Alan Fox handle the material with the utmost care and respect. At the same time, they transpose the narrative spine to an environment Lee knows intimately, allowing the director to make the film his own, with wit, high style and kinetic energy to burn…. A big, highly polished chunk of movie that’s pure enjoyment.” —David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter
