Remade by Spike Lee just this year as Highest 2 Lowest, Kurosawa’s original High and Low features legendary actor Toshiro Mifune as businessman Kingo Gondo who must balance his plan to take over his company and negotiating the release of his chaffeur’s son from a befuddled kidnapper. A tense corporate thriller, the film has become a classic of the genre thanks to Kurosawa’s expert pacing and composer Masaru Sato’s surprisingly diverse soundtrack that keeps the film feeling unpredictable.