A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.
Direction
Kurosawa's train sequence is pure cinematic terror.
Cinematography
Toshiro Mifune framed like a trapped animal in his own glass fortress.
Acting
Mifune's simmering rage vs. Nakadai's icy patience.
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Toshirō Mifune
Kingo Gondo
Tatsuya Nakadai
Chief Detective Tokura
Kyōko Kagawa
Reiko Gondo
Tatsuya Mihashi
Kawanishi, Gondo's secretary
Isao Kimura
Detective Arai
Kenjirō Ishiyama
Chief Detective 'Bos'n' Taguchi
Takeshi Katō
Detective Nakao
Takashi Shimura
Chief of Investigation Section
Jun Tazaki
Kamiya, National Shoes Publicity Director
Nobuo Nakamura
Ishimaru, National Shoes Design Department Director
Yūnosuke Itō
Baba - National Shoes Executive
Tsutomu Yamazaki
Ginjirô Takeuchi - Medical Intern
Minoru Chiaki
First Reporter
Eijirō Tōno
Factory Worker
Masao Shimizu
Prison Warden
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kurosawa shot the climactic train sequence with multiple cameras running out of sync to capture genuine chaos.
The film adapts Ed McBain's 'King's Ransom' but transforms it into a critique of Japan's post-war economic miracle and its human casualties.
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