Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by vocalion (A) on December 06, 2003 at 12:04:39

In Reply to: "High and Low", one of Kurosawa's finest films... posted by vocalion on December 06, 2003 at 00:13:27:

.., I don't know about it being "perfect", but I am just so enraptured by the craft every time I see it! The characters all gleam like jewels! And, the memorable scenes are just too numerous: The arrival of the uncles train at the old Santa Rosa, California station when that billowing dark smokecloud pours forth from the train's stack just as he arrives, unfurling an ominous pall of shadows-of-things-to-come over the platform! The fluttering emotions of uncle's angelic but slightly idiotic sister at his announcement of leaving! The implications of anal-erotica in various scenes (seemingly representative of the pervading atmosphere of sublimated incest), such as when father hoists his youngest daughter piggy-back style up the stairs with his hands clasped behind her! The "Till Two" bar scene, with the deathly wan waitress who craves precious gems! The giddy, conniving widow at the bank! The ominous and gothic-looking old Santa Rosa library lit up at nighttime, with the cadaverous old librarian/keeper-of-the-tomb-of-dead-knowledge, inside! And oh, the blind madness of all - except for uncle, who definitely is not blind and who by virtue of eyesight has made himself deathly soul-sick! It just goes on and on... An Overly Enthusiastic Two Thumbs Up?