There are many things aboutAkira Kurosawa’s movies that make them feel timeless, including how he uses movement. He’s instinctive when it comes to blocking a scene, as well as his visuals. His masterpieceHigh and Lowis an example of both these elements, in part a social commentary on wealth and another a tense police procedural.High and Lowtakes place in a world of two halves, and as a structural piece, Kurosawa divides the two parts of his movie into a tale of cause and effect. From the tower where the tense negotiations take place to the dingy streets where the cops and criminals roam,High and Lowmight not feel as bold today, but it’s still a vital entry in Kurosawa’s filmography.
So whySpike Leefeels the need to remake it is a mystery.When Lee remadeOldboy, he struggled to recapture the cultural atmosphere of Park Chan-wook’s work, and he faces the same issue here.High and Lowis a movie of its time, not in a bad way, but Lee seems to want to transpose it to a cinematic culture he is more familiar with. This could be an interesting idea on the surface, but it will depend on how closely Lee sticks to the original story or if he feels the need to update it for a modern audience.
High and Lowis surprisinglyambiguous for Kurosawa, whose epics never usually cross that line and stoke many socio-economic conversations. It lets us inside the mind of the kidnapper in interesting ways, and Lee has an opportunity, but also a lot of pressure, to either replicate it or take it somewhere new.
Spike Lee Doesn’t Need to Remake ‘High and Low’
High And Low
There’s no doubt how important Spike Lee is as a director, especially today. His movies haven’t stopped being angry at injustice and determined to make a noise as they call out those in power. Lee’s might hasn’t been depleted, so to remakeHigh and Lowat this point in his career is either genius or a waste of time. It seems like he’s re-teaming with Denzel Washington, possibly to play the role of Gondo, the man whose child is kidnapped and ransomed. Toshirō Mifune’s towering lead performance can’t be recaptured withDenzel Washington’s usual charms, so this is a risk in itself.
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More importantly,the themes of wealthinHigh and Lowshouldn’t be transported across cultural lines without being changed in some way to reflect the characters. Lee has often been a cinematic voice for the African American struggle, and it almost feels cheap to deprive that community of something wholly original to them, likeDo the Right Thing, but in the modern day. Some parts ofHigh and Lowcould be translated into any cultural backdrop, but for the most part,telling the story of class inequality in an African American context should be done separately from the legacy ofHigh and Low.
‘High and Low’ Isn’t Thematically Modern Enough
This is not to say that it’s bad by any means, buttelling a story about wealth inequality takes a lot more today than just having the rich and poor on opposing sides.High and Lowis far from a lazy movie in how it explores its themes, but that thematic context has evolved over the decades in response to real-life financial disparity, andHigh and Lowrepresents the start of that in a way. Spike Lee would have to make a film that feels like it’s picking up on the progression and, in a lot of ways, regression in terms of the healing of the class divide. Lee’s films are often steeped in social context, so it’s not like he’s unfamiliar with telling stories with a purpose.
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High and Low’ssocial context is mostly universal, but the social rules that the characters abide byfeel distinctly Japanese.The idea of social honor and duty are two crucial elements that drive the conflict, and Lee would surely have to do something different within his context— not just an African American context, but a Western context too. It requires significant nuance, which Lee has sometimes thrown out in favor of hard-hitting moments that grab, which can also work well. If Lee prioritizes loud moments in his version ofHigh and Low, they should have the same consequence for the characters, whatever the cultural context of their situation is.
Is Spike Lee the Right Director to Remake ‘High and Low’?
If we are reaching the point where even Kurosawa’s films aren’t immune from remakes, at least one of his best would be in the hands of a socially-conscious director.High and Lowis a delicate balancing act of social conformity and envy, and Lee has often explored these themes in a context for which he is most known and successful at realizing. Lee could do a good job. Kurosawa’s work can transcend time because it’s so singular. However,High and Lowdoesn’t need to be remade because doing it properly would require adding many finer details that we now know about modern wealth and poverty in America, so much so that it may as well be its own thing.
Spike Lee would probably be the right man for the job, but that job doesn’t need to happen. If anything, the originalHigh and Lowacts as an interesting reference point for how themes of social class have developed in cinema, corresponding to what they were at the time. An African American context would be a fascinating change, as long as Lee leans into it and doesn’t just do the same thing as Kurosawa.
There’s a reason both Kurosawa and Lee’s movies have stood the test of time. They both understood how to mirror their own cultures and critique them. Lee can do that for a modern audience, but it willtake a lot more than Denzelwinking at the camera to sell it.High and Lowis now available to stream onMax.
