High and Low is a film based on the novel by Ed McBain called The Kings Ransom. A more accurate translation of the Japanese title would be Heaven and Hell (Tengoku to Jigooku). Kurosawa addresses moral decay in Japan in the new post-war era. The lack of concern for producing good products and pushing to make profits no matter what the tactic used, reveals the hollowness of Japanese economic growth. The heaven and hell dichotomy can be seen throughout the film. The main character, Kingo Gondo (Toshiro Mifune), is the head manager of a shoe making company. Just as he has poised himself to gain the controlling share of the company, someone kidnaps his son's friend, Shinichi, the son of his chauffeur. The kidnapper had meant to take Gondo's son, Jun, but still makes him pay the ransom. The movie then proceeds into a thrilling mystery that keeps the audience enthralled. A well-to-do sarari-man (business man) who has a huge western style house in business clothes discusses his recent business meeting with his wife clad in a traditional Japanese kimono. We see his son and his friends running through the house playing sheriff and robber. The sterile image of the meticulously clean living room seems to be the perfect image of new post-war Japan. With a first-born son, a good job, and beautiful wife, Gondo could ask for nothing more. This scene, however, is an illusion. The two boys playing "cops and robbers" in a western framework show the embrace of American culture into Japanese life. This illusion of paradise is soon brought crashing down when one of the boys is kidnapped. Gondo's lavish western house looks over a much larger neighborhood of people who are not as fortunate. This house does not serve as a beacon of success for everyone. One twisted soul resents everything about Gondo's hard earned position and sees his house and happiness as an icon to hate. In this clip we can see the modern side of Japanese prosperity that Kurosawa intends to use in his commentary on Japanese society.