High and Low / Mossburn Speyside Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

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In 1963, director Akira Kurosawa
and star Toshiro Mufune gave the

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world a gritty kidnapping crime
drama that pits high society

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versus the low dregs of Japan.
In 2023 we start a two week trip

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to Scotland.
The film is high and low.

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The whiskey is Mossburn
Spaceside, and we'll review them

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both.
This is.

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The Film and Whiskey podcast.
Welcome to the Film and Whiskey

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Podcast, where each week we
review a classic movie and a

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glass of whiskey.
I'm Bob Book.

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I'm Brad G.
And Brad G this week we are

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looking at Akira Kurosawa's 1963
crime thriller High and Low.

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And before we say in Man.
Before we say anything else,

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yeah, we're four films in.
How different was this movie

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than the first three we watched?
Man, oh man, I was ready for it.

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Let's just say that.
But like, not only is it set in

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the modern day, but you know, I
think we'll see this next week

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too when we watch the movie
Akiru.

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That movie is a much.
I don't want to say slower film,

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but more kind of poetic.
This movie is just, I mean it's

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it's gritty.
There's people on heroin, It's,

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you know, kids getting kidnapped
and bribery and police

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procedurals.
And this movie feels 50 years

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ahead of its time.
Man, I was shocked watching it

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this time.
Just how contemporary it feels,

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even though it was made sixty
years ago.

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Yeah, honestly, it kind of
reminds me of West Side Story in

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that way that, like West Side
Story came out in, what, 62?

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61 61 And it felt like it came
out in like 1991 easily.

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And here I think you have a lot
of similar things where the

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camera work that he engages in,
the the pacing of the

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second-half of the film all just
feels like a modern blockbuster

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crime drama.
Even the first part of the film

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feels like it could be its own
indie film from like 2018.

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Yeah, I loved the first half of
the film in that it was set in

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one location.
It almost felt like the extended

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kind of prologue to The
Godfather where they're all at

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the wedding for the 1st 35
minutes of the movie.

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It was really cool to see it all
kind of contained in one place,

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and it played out almost like a
stage play.

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You know, there are people
coming in and out of the room

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and different scenes happening
and when they would finish

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talking about one thing, they'd
say.

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All right, we're going to go
back to talking about, you know,

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this businessman's dealings now,
and it really painted such a

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cool picture.
But you're right, it it feels in

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a lot of ways like two different
movies.

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But they both work really well.
Yeah.

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And I I think that there are
issues throughout.

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I I don't think this is a
perfect film.

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But overall, it was a, in my
opinion, an improvement of at

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least two of the three samurai
films that we watched.

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Well, we do have a link to last
week's film, Brad in the person

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of Tatsua Nakadai, who stars
here as the head detective

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investigating this kidnapping of
a child.

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And it's crazy because I saw him
and I was like, that's a very

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good looking man.
I wonder who that guy is.

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I I feel like I should have seen
him before, clicked on his name

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on IMDb and then saw that he is
the guy that played the lead

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role, the King Lear character in
Ron last week.

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You know, about 20 years after
this movie, and he's only like

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30 when he makes this movie,
which means he's only 50 when he

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makes Ron.
And I know they had him in like

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very heavy, obviously stagey
makeup in that movie.

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But even beyond the makeup, I
thought that that guy that

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played him must have been closer
to 60 or 70 years old.

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I'm pretty impressed with Mr.
Nakadai's range here because

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this is a very different
character, yeah.

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And in this one, he's the calm,
cool detective always, you know,

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on the top of his game, always
able to handle whatever's thrown

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at him.
And I think he he gives us a

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really great performance in high
and low.

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Well, for the first time in four
weeks, Brad, we will not be

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talking about swordsmanship or
samurai when we get into our

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first segment of the day, which
we call, Brad explains.

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Brad's going to give us the
movie plots with only 60 seconds

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ticking on the clock, so let's
go ahead and do your take with

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this little segment that we
call.

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Brad explains.
Brad Explains is the part of the

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podcast where Brad breaks down
the plot of the movie that he

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has just seen, often for the
first time.

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All five of these Kurosawa
movies are first time watches

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for Brad.
You know, Brad, usually we give

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a little spoiler warning and I
tell you to spoil the whole

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thing.
This is one of those movies

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where I don't, I don't know.
How do you feel about actually

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spoiling the movie?
Oh, I I never care.

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It is a 60 year old movie, you
know.

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Yeah, I was going to say for the
most part, I'm a very

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antispoiler person.
I don't want to know a single

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thing about a movie before I go
watch it, but if it's a 60 year

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old movie and you feel intrigued
to watch it, pause the episode.

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Go watch it.
Come on back.

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Yeah.
I would highly recommend you do

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that if you have any interest in
watching a really great

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detective movie.
And I will say that you know I

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say that Brad's going to spoil
the movie.

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This isn't the kind of spoiler
where it's some twist ending and

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you knew the guy all along.
Like they catch a criminal and

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you learn who the criminal is.
But I guess the first spoiler

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I'll say, is like.
It's not like he was a guy that

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you've been following the whole
movie, you know what I mean?

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Yeah.
And honestly, they kind of set

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you up to feel like there is a
twist, but then there isn't.

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There's not.
And they just they just catch

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the bad guy.
It's pretty nice, yeah.

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I love it when the bad guy gets
caught, you know, it's it's

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pretty incredible.
All right, Brad.

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The rules of Brad explains are
as follows.

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You get 60 seconds on the clock.
You have to explain every minute

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detail that happens in this
movie as you remember it.

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You've got a minute and go High
and Low is a film about a

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executive of a shoe company who
is about to be forced out of the

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the company by some bad upper
management, evil, naughty

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people.
Naughty In the midst of the his

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plans to try and take over the
company himself, it is found out

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that his son has been kidnapped.
But they quickly realized it was

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not his son.
It was his chauffeur's son.

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So in the midst of this, the
police get involved.

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They try to help figure out
where this criminal is.

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About halfway through the film,
they get on a train and take a

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payment to the kidnappers in
order to get the chauffeur's son

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back.
A rising tide of public

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sentiment goes in the in the The
executives favor 10 seconds, and

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the police works their way
through the dregs of Japan to

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find the bad guy.
High and low baby high and low.

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Also, fun fact they talk about,
not talk about.

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There's a American Bourbon
whiskey proudly displayed on the

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GI Bar near the end of the film.
You know there sure is Brad.

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We we should have worked that
in.

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Yeah, obviously.
You know, even today we're we're

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drinking a space side Scotch
whiskey and I'm thinking like we

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should have done a highland or
something like high and low.

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What am I thinking here man?
Come on, what are you doing?

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What am I doing?
I obviously didn't schedule any

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Japanese whiskeys during this
entire five week run and but I

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could have done a little bit
more.

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Yeah, you you could have tried.
We all know the the very little

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to no effort you put into this.
Podcast That's true. 0 hours a

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week spent on this podcast
Speaking of 0 hours a week.

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Brad.
I have not watched this movie

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since the very first time I'd
seen it and that had to have

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been over a decade ago.
Like I watched it once.

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I thought it was a well made
movie and pretty good and I

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never thought about it again.
And when I started planning out

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the schedule for this season and
we talked about doing Kurosawa,

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I went on IMDb to see what the
public thinks are his highest

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rated films and High and low is
within the top 100 of all time

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on I MDBI think it's at like 84
at the time of recording.

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I was shocked to see that
because I remembered it being a

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pretty good movie and that's it.
And so I I didn't touch it

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again.
I didn't want to watch it before

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we sat down for this episode.
But you're catching me in a

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state of surprise, Brad,
because, like Rashomon, it's

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been a really long time since
I've seen this movie.

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And I have to say, this movie
freaking slaps dude.

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Yeah, yeah, I.
It's so good, Brad.

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Yeah, yeah.
For the first time in four

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weeks, Bob, I was actually like
just thoroughly entertained by a

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movie.
Like I I like 7 Samurai wellmade

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film entertaining, but it's also
3 1/2 hours long.

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And it's a it's a bit of a slog.
High and low has the same issues

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at times.
It definitely turns into a slog

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at different points, but it's
two hours and 20 minutes and and

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it's a lot.
It's a lot easier to forgive

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some pacing issues when you're
not there for over 180 minutes.

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There were.
So many modern editing

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techniques in this movie that,
you know, I've already said, I

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think it's like 50 years ahead
of its time.

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But especially in the second
part of the movie where the

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police procedural takes over and
they're intercutting, like this

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giant meeting that all the cops
are having where they're

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reporting on all the
investigating they've been doing

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behind the scenes.
And there's kind of silent

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montage happening as each guy
gets up and says, well, I went

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over to Okinawa or whatever, and
then they show him doing that,

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you know?
But there's a moment where the

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young boy who was kidnapped is
returned to his father.

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His father feels very guilty
because his boss has paid this

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¥30,000,000 ransom for him.
And so his father decides I'm

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going to take him out playing
detective and and make this kid

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retrace his steps.
And as they're doing that, the

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actual detectives that are
supposed to be solving this case

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are out looking for them as
well.

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And there's this great kind of
intercutting between the two

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parties looking for the bad guy,
slash looking for each other.

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And the tension is ramped up so,
so much.

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And it's like really easy to see
how the editing techniques that

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are being played at here get
copied in movies like this for

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decades and decades afterwards.
Yeah, there's that.

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There's that element of, like,
the amateurs trying to figure

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things out while the
professionals have it under

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control.
And you get a chance to see

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everybody's character come out.
Like you get a chance to see the

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detectives get a little bit
angry with the chauffeur, you

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know, trying to get his son to
remember it.

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And and yet there's there's also
the the amusing point of like

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they they were also going to
take the kid out to do the exact

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same thing for sure.
Like, I don't know why they're

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super angry with him, but you
know, I guess that they do find

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2 dead druggies.
So.

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You know, and and but even just
like on a structural level,

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having the kind of A subplot and
B subplot that they're cutting

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back and forth to.
And you're you hear the cop

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saying things like, hey, did you
bring your gun?

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And the cop says, like, of
course I brought my gun.

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Like I'm not going to go chasing
a madman with my bare hands.

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And then the next cut is the dad
and son getting out of the car.

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At the bad guys house, unarmed
with bare hands.

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And I was like, Oh, my God,
like, like, at that point the

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suspense was killing me.
Because I'm like something

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terrible is about to happen
here, you know?

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Well dude, talking about like
plot structure, how many movies,

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how many kidnapping movies have
you ever seen where A the

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kidnapping is resolved halfway
through the film and B

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everything goes off without a
hitch?

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Like the the the person who is
being ransomed is received back

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safely.
The guy giving the ransom pays

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it, the the criminal gets away
with the money, you know, at

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least to start.
Like that is the cleanest

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kidnapping, exchange ransom that
I've ever seen in the film.

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You know, Brad, before we go any
farther, I think we should

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00:12:41,780 --> 00:12:43,860
probably talk about the
performances here.

223
00:12:44,260 --> 00:12:47,380
And I got to know what you
thought of the top build actor

224
00:12:47,380 --> 00:12:52,030
in this movie, Toshiro Mifune.
Who is not doing the overblown,

225
00:12:52,030 --> 00:12:55,350
jumping up and down kind of
theatrical performance here?

226
00:12:55,670 --> 00:13:00,110
He's playing a much more
internalized, frustrated

227
00:13:00,110 --> 00:13:04,230
businessman and I think that he
really does a great job of

228
00:13:04,230 --> 00:13:08,510
leveraging his movie star
persona onto this character.

229
00:13:09,310 --> 00:13:12,470
Has to say you you missed 1
adjective to describe him, Bob,

230
00:13:12,470 --> 00:13:14,270
and it it might be the most
important one.

231
00:13:14,710 --> 00:13:21,680
Powerful My dude Mufune is one
of the most powerful men I have

232
00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:23,360
ever seen on screen in this
film.

233
00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:24,720
What?
Do you mean by that?

234
00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:30,800
He just, I mean, he just exudes
like confidence and strength and

235
00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:33,120
authority proper.
Yeah, authority.

236
00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:37,280
Like like, dude, when he grabs
that shoe and he starts ripping

237
00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,240
into them, he's like, this is a
piece of trash shoe.

238
00:13:40,630 --> 00:13:43,070
It's got this and this and this
wrong with it.

239
00:13:43,070 --> 00:13:45,630
They'll be able to wear it for
two months and it'll break.

240
00:13:45,630 --> 00:13:49,470
And I don't make crappy shoes, I
make incredible shoes and he

241
00:13:49,470 --> 00:13:53,350
kicks him out of his house.
I was just like, oh bro, I'm

242
00:13:53,350 --> 00:13:55,830
100% in.
I was waiting for him to jump up

243
00:13:55,830 --> 00:14:00,710
on his couch and like slap his
neck, but instead he was just

244
00:14:00,710 --> 00:14:03,510
like the most intimidating
person on screen.

245
00:14:03,750 --> 00:14:06,510
One of the things I loved about
this character and the way the

246
00:14:06,510 --> 00:14:10,550
script is written is that.
Even though there is a very

247
00:14:10,550 --> 00:14:14,590
clear bad guy, it does get into
some of those Gray areas.

248
00:14:14,590 --> 00:14:16,550
And you know, Brad, you and I
have talked about the movie

249
00:14:16,550 --> 00:14:19,710
Parasite a couple times on this
podcast now since you saw it,

250
00:14:20,030 --> 00:14:23,390
what, a month or two ago?
And it reminds me of Parasite a

251
00:14:23,390 --> 00:14:25,310
lot.
That's what the the title of

252
00:14:25,310 --> 00:14:29,070
this movie is a reference to
High and low being across social

253
00:14:29,070 --> 00:14:31,910
strata, not just the fact that
this guy's house is up on a

254
00:14:31,910 --> 00:14:33,430
hill.
I guess.

255
00:14:33,590 --> 00:14:35,920
The and and they're they're
searching.

256
00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,040
High and low do you get in low
form?

257
00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:40,560
Do you get a bomb?
The original Japanese title is

258
00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,440
actually Heaven and Hell, and I
think that's really underscored

259
00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:45,920
at the beginning of the movie,
the first time the kidnapper

260
00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,000
calls and he talks about how he
is, you know, it's it's got to

261
00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:50,480
be 100 something degrees down
here.

262
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,560
It's like being in hell, and at
the end of the movie when he's

263
00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:55,320
face to face with Mithune, he
tells him.

264
00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:57,040
I looked at your house like it
was heaven.

265
00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:00,200
And so it it once again
underscores that like.

266
00:15:00,750 --> 00:15:03,190
This guy is in a different
social strata, and I look at his

267
00:15:03,190 --> 00:15:05,710
house on top of the hill as
heaven.

268
00:15:06,390 --> 00:15:08,830
But what I was going to say was,
even though there's a very

269
00:15:08,830 --> 00:15:13,230
clear, obvious bad guy, it is
not lost on anyone in this movie

270
00:15:13,230 --> 00:15:15,590
that these executives are all
terrible people.

271
00:15:15,590 --> 00:15:17,910
Like the they treat Mifune like
trash.

272
00:15:18,390 --> 00:15:20,830
But then they're trying to find
out, the detectives want to

273
00:15:20,830 --> 00:15:24,030
know, does anyone have a grudge
against this guy?

274
00:15:24,350 --> 00:15:27,110
And he goes and talks to some of
the factory workers who work

275
00:15:27,110 --> 00:15:29,310
directly under Mifune's
character.

276
00:15:29,900 --> 00:15:32,940
And IT guy basically says, like,
yeah, he's kind of an ass, like

277
00:15:32,940 --> 00:15:35,580
he's a good boss, but he's got a
temper.

278
00:15:36,220 --> 00:15:41,160
And I love that they don't try
to make any of the quote, UN

279
00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:44,220
quote innocent characters be
completely innocent.

280
00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:46,860
Like, yes, this is terrible that
it's happening to him, but he's

281
00:15:46,860 --> 00:15:49,340
a real person and he has his own
flaws.

282
00:15:49,660 --> 00:15:52,620
And I think that just adding
that wrinkle to the character,

283
00:15:52,860 --> 00:15:55,980
it helped the movie overall and
it helped Nefune's performance.

284
00:15:56,990 --> 00:16:00,070
Yeah, they they even kind of
throw in the nuance of how

285
00:16:00,070 --> 00:16:03,670
public opinion is swayed by his
act of generosity.

286
00:16:04,270 --> 00:16:08,830
And yet you can't always believe
everything that you hear in the,

287
00:16:08,830 --> 00:16:14,230
you know, in the media, that he
is a flawed person and you can't

288
00:16:14,230 --> 00:16:17,910
just trust the media narrative
on all things that you hear.

289
00:16:18,110 --> 00:16:20,590
So he's kind of like, I mean,
honestly, curse.

290
00:16:20,590 --> 00:16:24,230
I was just kind of firing his
gun indiscriminately into the

291
00:16:24,230 --> 00:16:28,600
crowd at this point.
But it doesn't seem scattershot

292
00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:32,760
to, to carry on your metaphor,
like, he is taking aim, right?

293
00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:36,960
And everything that he is
hitting is like very obviously a

294
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,120
specific target.
And he's hitting it in a way

295
00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:41,320
that makes sense within the
story.

296
00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:44,160
And to under score the point
that he's trying to make, I

297
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,480
really think that after watching
this man, like I didn't think

298
00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:49,520
I'd ever say this.
I think this is a better

299
00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:54,160
directed movie than Seven
Samurai was and.

300
00:16:54,780 --> 00:16:57,100
And, you know, I talked about
the geography of Seven Samurai.

301
00:16:57,100 --> 00:16:59,140
I think that's a that's a
separate thing that's like

302
00:16:59,140 --> 00:17:02,060
action scenes, right?
But when I just think about the

303
00:17:02,060 --> 00:17:05,740
way this movie's cut, the
editing of the film, the pacing,

304
00:17:05,740 --> 00:17:09,900
the rhythm and the way that he's
layering in his commentary,

305
00:17:09,900 --> 00:17:13,980
social commentary, I just, I'm
really impressed with this

306
00:17:13,980 --> 00:17:16,660
movie.
Brad, well, I'm curious to hear

307
00:17:16,660 --> 00:17:20,460
what did you think about the
structure of the film in that,

308
00:17:20,980 --> 00:17:24,770
you know, the first hour and a
half of this movie hour and 20

309
00:17:24,770 --> 00:17:27,050
minutes of it is a bottle
episode.

310
00:17:27,770 --> 00:17:30,850
Like, you're just sitting there
in his room.

311
00:17:30,850 --> 00:17:35,450
I think there's maybe 3 cuts in
the first hour and 20 minutes.

312
00:17:35,450 --> 00:17:40,050
Like, who's the cinematographer
on Children of Men?

313
00:17:40,570 --> 00:17:43,810
Oh, like Lubeski.
Yeah, Lubeski needs to take some

314
00:17:43,810 --> 00:17:47,650
notes here because the first
hour and 20 minutes maybe has

315
00:17:48,010 --> 00:17:52,210
three or four cuts in it.
Like like they just sit in the

316
00:17:52,210 --> 00:17:55,500
room and.
It's the Spielberg wonder man

317
00:17:55,500 --> 00:17:58,260
and you can see like he's
pulling back, he's pushing in,

318
00:17:58,260 --> 00:18:01,620
he's he's tilting the camera,
he's panning and he's creating

319
00:18:01,620 --> 00:18:04,980
new shots within one shot.
It's really impressive, yeah.

320
00:18:05,420 --> 00:18:07,700
But I'm curious though, how did
it work for you?

321
00:18:08,300 --> 00:18:12,740
Did it feel jarring when we
switched from pretty steady

322
00:18:12,740 --> 00:18:15,220
camera?
You're in one room, you're

323
00:18:15,220 --> 00:18:18,180
following the characters around,
little side comment.

324
00:18:18,220 --> 00:18:22,260
The blocking of the scenes are
incredible, like the first half

325
00:18:22,260 --> 00:18:24,420
of the film, like where
everybody's standing when they

326
00:18:24,420 --> 00:18:26,780
move, when they stay still, just
so good.

327
00:18:27,300 --> 00:18:31,100
But like, did it, did it shake
you at all to like all of a

328
00:18:31,100 --> 00:18:35,020
sudden be on a speeding train
with like a handheld camera

329
00:18:35,020 --> 00:18:37,660
following them down?
You know this tight knit

330
00:18:37,660 --> 00:18:40,000
corridor?
Like, I don't know, it felt

331
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,840
jarring for me.
Did it feel jarring for you?

332
00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:43,480
It.
Didn't really feel jarring.

333
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,280
I could tell that they're trying
to make a narrative shift here,

334
00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:47,960
right?
Like and the camera work

335
00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,400
reflects that and I think the
best way to describe it is to go

336
00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,200
back to the title again.
The first hour of the movie is

337
00:18:54,320 --> 00:19:00,560
they are staying up high and the
the kidnapper is calling them,

338
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,760
he's playing cat and mouse.
And then the second-half of the

339
00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,360
movie, they go on the offensive,
They go down low, they go down

340
00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:06,880
into the city to try to find
him.

341
00:19:07,450 --> 00:19:08,930
And I think that it works really
well.

342
00:19:08,930 --> 00:19:11,490
And it kind of reminds me
honestly of the way that like

343
00:19:11,890 --> 00:19:15,330
Scorsese changes up the rhythm
of Goodfellas towards the end of

344
00:19:15,330 --> 00:19:17,890
the movie when it becomes this
sort of drug fueled thing.

345
00:19:18,090 --> 00:19:22,890
It's not exactly that drastic as
it is in Goodfellas, but I think

346
00:19:22,890 --> 00:19:25,290
that it gives the movie a pace
that it needs because the first

347
00:19:25,330 --> 00:19:28,770
hour, hour and 20 minutes, it
wasn't slow for me.

348
00:19:28,770 --> 00:19:30,570
I'm kind of getting the sense
that it might have been slow for

349
00:19:30,570 --> 00:19:34,080
you, Brad, but I loved that.
It was.

350
00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:38,000
It reminded me so much of, like
Kevin Spacey in Seven when he's

351
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,760
toying with Morgan Freeman and
Brad Pitt and calling them and

352
00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,240
saying like you didn't get my
clues, you know, and the cops

353
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,600
are hiding under the table so
that they can't be seen.

354
00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:49,680
It really is a cat and mouse
kind of thing.

355
00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:53,800
And then when they finally get
up, the energy to go on the

356
00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,640
offensive.
I love that the movie has that

357
00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,480
sort of propulsive energy to go
with them.

358
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,120
It's like the detectives are
finally emboldened.

359
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,880
And then because of that, the
whole movie gets injected with a

360
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:11,120
new sense of purpose and energy.
That it desperately needed.

361
00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:14,400
So it didn't the first part.
Didn't work for you?

362
00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:16,160
Desperately needed?
No.

363
00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:21,880
The first part worked like if I
were to just grade the first

364
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,560
half of the film.
It's not quite half, but we'll

365
00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,360
call it half.
Just grade that.

366
00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,160
I'd probably give it like a 7
1/2 to an 8.

367
00:20:30,890 --> 00:20:34,090
Like solid wellmade.
Like I said, the blocking

368
00:20:34,090 --> 00:20:36,730
especially stood out to me.
A lot of the camera movement was

369
00:20:36,730 --> 00:20:39,770
good.
But once again, and and and I

370
00:20:39,770 --> 00:20:43,450
hate, I hate to score foreign
films sometimes because I think

371
00:20:43,690 --> 00:20:45,930
I think things do get lost in
translation.

372
00:20:46,050 --> 00:20:49,690
And you know, maybe those scenes
are a lot more engaging than

373
00:20:49,690 --> 00:20:53,290
what I am hearing.
But just watching it as a

374
00:20:53,290 --> 00:20:56,330
American who only speaks
English, there was there was

375
00:20:56,330 --> 00:20:58,530
definitely some pacing issues
with the first half.

376
00:20:58,530 --> 00:21:01,990
For me, I wonder how much of it
is like the cultural difference

377
00:21:01,990 --> 00:21:03,710
and how much of it is the time
difference?

378
00:21:03,710 --> 00:21:08,550
Because I don't see movies being
made quite like this 60 years

379
00:21:08,550 --> 00:21:11,030
ago.
And you, you pinpointed the

380
00:21:11,030 --> 00:21:13,150
moment where I really started to
get clicked with me.

381
00:21:13,430 --> 00:21:16,270
And it's that shaky Cam, you
know, the handheld camera on the

382
00:21:16,270 --> 00:21:18,950
train.
Oh dude, it was so good.

383
00:21:19,310 --> 00:21:22,190
It reminded me so much.
And we haven't touched on any of

384
00:21:22,190 --> 00:21:25,110
these filmmakers, but like in
the 1950s, there's a big

385
00:21:25,110 --> 00:21:28,610
movement in French cinema called
the French New Wave and there is

386
00:21:28,610 --> 00:21:33,250
a lot of kind of like hyper
realistic handheld camera.

387
00:21:33,250 --> 00:21:35,090
It looked gritty.
It looked like documentary

388
00:21:35,090 --> 00:21:37,130
almost.
And I think that he gets a lot

389
00:21:37,130 --> 00:21:40,570
from that and he gets a lot from
movies like the original

390
00:21:40,570 --> 00:21:42,930
Manchurian Candidate.
That's a John Frankenheimer

391
00:21:42,930 --> 00:21:47,680
movie and that is like the end
of that movie is very much like

392
00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,520
shaky Cam, super suspenseful.
And so I think that Kurosawa is

393
00:21:52,520 --> 00:21:55,680
borrowing from what he's seeing
from American cinema, from

394
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:57,840
people like Hitchcock when he
made Psycho.

395
00:21:58,000 --> 00:21:59,640
There's a ton of Psycho in this
movie.

396
00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:03,720
And I I just kind of love seeing
it superimposed onto Japan.

397
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,480
But I look more, I look at this
movie more as like a pioneer of

398
00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,760
a certain kind of film and less
as, oh, I think there's

399
00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:13,920
something lost in translation.
Does that make sense?

400
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:17,750
Yeah, no, for sure.
I think what I hear you saying

401
00:22:17,750 --> 00:22:21,030
is that like Blair Witch Project
and Cloverfield didn't invent

402
00:22:21,030 --> 00:22:25,190
the shaky Cam.
What I What I'm saying is Blair

403
00:22:25,190 --> 00:22:27,710
Witch Project owes everything to
hide.

404
00:22:27,750 --> 00:22:31,350
Everything.
Hey, guess what?

405
00:22:32,310 --> 00:22:34,910
What's that dude?
This movie has Takashi Shimura

406
00:22:34,910 --> 00:22:35,830
in it.
Again, Brad.

407
00:22:36,590 --> 00:22:38,990
It barely has him.
The guy that we keep talking

408
00:22:38,990 --> 00:22:43,690
about as Kurasa was most
frequent collaborator, and I'm

409
00:22:43,690 --> 00:22:46,450
really impressed watching these
movies through because, you

410
00:22:46,450 --> 00:22:49,010
know, Ron comes so late in
Kurosawa's career.

411
00:22:49,010 --> 00:22:52,130
I don't know how long Takashi
Shimura lived for.

412
00:22:52,130 --> 00:22:53,530
I don't even know if he was
alive at the time.

413
00:22:53,530 --> 00:22:57,850
But it's really cool seeing that
he had like his own little

414
00:22:57,850 --> 00:23:01,170
troupe of actors and that they
all show up in every single

415
00:23:01,170 --> 00:23:03,490
movie.
It kind of reminds me of when I

416
00:23:03,490 --> 00:23:06,010
was a kid and I would watch like
Westerns with my dad.

417
00:23:06,010 --> 00:23:09,130
And if it was a John Ford movie,
you just knew you were going to

418
00:23:09,130 --> 00:23:11,970
see certain people like Ward
Bond was going to show up in

419
00:23:11,970 --> 00:23:13,400
that movie somewhere.
Yep.

420
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,000
And it's it's like, you know, I
look at certain people in these

421
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,440
movies and I'm like that is the
Japanese Ward Bond.

422
00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:22,880
Like he's he's just showing up
in every single Kurosawa movie.

423
00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:27,240
Yeah, I I recognize one of them
was the the young,

424
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:32,080
impressionable samurai.
The hot samurai, yeah, he he was

425
00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:36,240
in there with a kind of the
cursory character.

426
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,400
Yeah, it it is fun watching
these through and I'm sure this

427
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:43,520
will continue in Akiru.
But it's fun to watch the

428
00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:46,840
characters.
Some of them have bigger

429
00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:49,320
performance in some.
Some of them take back seats and

430
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:51,720
others and it, yeah, it's kind
of fun to.

431
00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:55,160
It almost feels like a theater
troupe that you, you know, local

432
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:57,320
theater troupe you go see every
year and it's like the same

433
00:23:57,320 --> 00:23:59,080
people just take turns being the
lead.

434
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:03,440
Well, before we go to break,
Brad, I want to ask you, is

435
00:24:03,440 --> 00:24:06,520
there anybody else in this cast
that you'd like to talk about?

436
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,840
Because it is a pretty huge
cast.

437
00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:12,210
There's a lot of people going in
and out of this movie, aside

438
00:24:12,210 --> 00:24:14,410
from 7 samurai.
Well, I guess Ron had like

439
00:24:14,410 --> 00:24:18,530
hundreds and hundreds of extras,
but the sheer amount of people

440
00:24:18,530 --> 00:24:23,050
that are packed into these, you
know, like press press

441
00:24:23,050 --> 00:24:27,850
conferences and the police
headquarters, and I'm just

442
00:24:27,850 --> 00:24:31,650
shocked at how big this cast is.
So who stood out to you, aside

443
00:24:31,650 --> 00:24:32,970
from the few that we've talked
about?

444
00:24:33,770 --> 00:24:37,010
I really liked Kenjiro Ishiyama,
who played Bosun.

445
00:24:37,330 --> 00:24:41,130
He was my favorite.
Dude, he was just such a cool.

446
00:24:41,570 --> 00:24:45,850
Character like, you know, he's
he's in every movie he's I if I

447
00:24:45,850 --> 00:24:49,810
had to pick a Ward Bond, I think
he might be the Ward Bond of

448
00:24:49,810 --> 00:24:53,210
this film.
I love that he has the look of

449
00:24:53,210 --> 00:24:57,530
like, you know, just like a old
angry, bald.

450
00:24:57,570 --> 00:25:00,650
Like he just reminds me of like
the Edward G Robinson of these

451
00:25:00,650 --> 00:25:03,050
movies.
And especially in this movie, he

452
00:25:03,050 --> 00:25:06,010
has this great moment where he's
giving a report on how he went

453
00:25:06,010 --> 00:25:09,290
and interviewed all of the other
executives at National Shoes.

454
00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:11,600
And he's like, yeah, I went and
interviewed those guys.

455
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,440
And then he scratches his head
with his middle finger sticking

456
00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:15,600
out.
Yeah.

457
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,280
And then just in case you didn't
get it, he sat down and he just

458
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,120
goes, what a bunch of assholes,
man.

459
00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,720
I love this guy.
He's the perfect, like, not

460
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:31,360
quite Comic Relief, but jaded.
He's like the Lenny Briscoe, the

461
00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:33,640
jaded New York City cop of high
and.

462
00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:37,920
Low, Yeah, he just, he fits a
role of like.

463
00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,360
The guy that you want to work
directly with, but you would

464
00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:46,320
also hate if he was like, not in
your department, you know what I

465
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:50,160
mean?
Like he he just has a real

466
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,240
outlook on life that not
everybody has.

467
00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,640
And I'm a big fan.
I do love it when directors

468
00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:59,160
absolutely nail the casting of
their detectives.

469
00:25:59,710 --> 00:26:03,750
Like when you look at, you know,
Mark Wahlberg and Martin Sheen

470
00:26:03,750 --> 00:26:07,470
in The Departed, like this guy
fits right in with those type of

471
00:26:07,470 --> 00:26:10,230
guys where it's just if you're
in another department and you

472
00:26:10,230 --> 00:26:12,830
give me any crap, I'm going to
just cuss you out to your face

473
00:26:13,710 --> 00:26:16,070
because I'm trying to protect my
turf here.

474
00:26:16,590 --> 00:26:20,470
You can't say enough for just
nailing the casting of some of

475
00:26:20,470 --> 00:26:23,270
these smaller roles.
Yeah, 100%.

476
00:26:23,710 --> 00:26:27,390
And I I think Speaking of like
just nailing the casting.

477
00:26:27,870 --> 00:26:31,510
You obviously didn't spend any
time trying to cast the whiskey

478
00:26:32,030 --> 00:26:37,230
with the movie, so let's just go
drink the Scotch, which I'll

479
00:26:37,230 --> 00:26:39,950
give you some grace.
We should just keep drinking

480
00:26:39,950 --> 00:26:41,430
Scotch, because Scotch is
delicious.

481
00:26:41,430 --> 00:26:43,310
It's really good.
All right, man, let's get to it.

482
00:26:49,470 --> 00:26:52,110
All right.
So today we are trying Mossburn

483
00:26:52,110 --> 00:26:55,230
Space Side blended malt Scotch
whiskey.

484
00:26:55,700 --> 00:26:58,220
Now you may have heard us talk
about single malt on this

485
00:26:58,220 --> 00:27:00,340
podcast before.
Blended malt is slightly

486
00:27:00,340 --> 00:27:02,020
different, as the name would
suggest.

487
00:27:02,420 --> 00:27:05,220
When you see single malt on a
label, it means that it came

488
00:27:05,220 --> 00:27:09,540
from one single distillery and
it is made entirely of malted

489
00:27:09,540 --> 00:27:12,380
barley.
This is made of malt and it's

490
00:27:12,380 --> 00:27:15,580
blended, meaning that it comes.
It comes from a bunch of

491
00:27:15,580 --> 00:27:18,500
different distilleries.
So this company, Moss Burn you

492
00:27:18,500 --> 00:27:20,620
know, sources a bunch of
whiskey, blends it together and

493
00:27:20,620 --> 00:27:23,220
puts it all out.
It comes from a number of space

494
00:27:23,220 --> 00:27:26,150
side distilleries though.
And in addition to all that,

495
00:27:26,150 --> 00:27:29,790
Brad, they've got this like kind
of complicated diagram right on

496
00:27:29,790 --> 00:27:33,150
the front of the bottle that
talks about the different types

497
00:27:33,150 --> 00:27:35,590
of casks they use to mature
this.

498
00:27:35,630 --> 00:27:40,470
It says that part of it is done
with heavy char heads on the

499
00:27:40,470 --> 00:27:44,270
barrels, part of it's done with
reuse American whiskey barrels

500
00:27:44,270 --> 00:27:47,110
and part of it's done with
Olarosa, Sherry, Butts and then

501
00:27:47,110 --> 00:27:51,070
all blended together at the end.
They're really advertising this

502
00:27:51,070 --> 00:27:52,870
as if it is a super premium
product.

503
00:27:52,990 --> 00:27:54,550
I think I paid like 40 bucks for
it.

504
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,720
So like you know let's not get
ahead of ourselves here.

505
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:02,480
Mossburn, I picked this up off
the shelf on the Ohio last call

506
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:03,920
shelves.
We've been mentioning that a

507
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:05,600
lot.
So this is no longer sold in

508
00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,040
Ohio, but it seems to be pretty
readily available everywhere

509
00:28:09,040 --> 00:28:14,160
else.
It clocks in at 92 proof and it

510
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:17,720
is non age stated, likely due to
the fact that it is a blended

511
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,040
whiskey.
So Brad, let's do it man.

512
00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,000
Let's just dive right in.
What are you picking up on the

513
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,770
nose here?
Yeah, this is a really nice

514
00:28:24,770 --> 00:28:27,130
nose.
It's got barley, it's got some

515
00:28:27,130 --> 00:28:29,850
Peach.
The honey comes through and it

516
00:28:29,850 --> 00:28:33,650
kind of the longer I sat with
it, it had some really nice

517
00:28:33,650 --> 00:28:36,930
floral notes to it.
Nothing that like blew me out of

518
00:28:36,930 --> 00:28:39,090
the water.
I gave it a 7 out of 10.

519
00:28:39,090 --> 00:28:44,570
Here Bob, I drank this whiskey
while watching the movie and I

520
00:28:44,570 --> 00:28:48,170
realized that I took a sip of
the whiskey before I even nosed

521
00:28:48,170 --> 00:28:51,010
it.
Brad So this thing did not stand

522
00:28:51,010 --> 00:28:55,130
a chance in terms of getting a
fair crack, but I took a sip and

523
00:28:55,130 --> 00:28:57,530
to spoil my taste a little bit,
I was like, wow, that's

524
00:28:57,530 --> 00:28:59,930
delicious.
And then I went back for a nose

525
00:28:59,930 --> 00:29:02,970
of it, and maybe it's because I
already had all those notes kind

526
00:29:02,970 --> 00:29:05,890
of on my palate.
It was really hard for me to

527
00:29:05,890 --> 00:29:07,650
pick anything up on the nose
here.

528
00:29:07,730 --> 00:29:10,690
Like, if there's one thing I'm
going to Ding it for, it's

529
00:29:10,690 --> 00:29:14,170
really lacking any sort of
potency on the nose.

530
00:29:14,450 --> 00:29:18,390
It was a lot of ethanol and not
much else and went back for like

531
00:29:18,390 --> 00:29:20,550
a second, third, 4th nosing of
it.

532
00:29:20,550 --> 00:29:23,870
I finally started to get some
vanilla extract, a little bit of

533
00:29:23,870 --> 00:29:27,150
cherry and like some melon,
maybe a honeydew or something

534
00:29:27,150 --> 00:29:30,310
like that.
But overall I had to try way too

535
00:29:30,310 --> 00:29:32,870
hard with the nose.
Here I only gave it a six out of

536
00:29:32,870 --> 00:29:35,190
10.
Yeah, and then we get into the

537
00:29:35,190 --> 00:29:38,350
pallet.
For me, the pallet was kind of

538
00:29:38,350 --> 00:29:40,430
the main show here.
There.

539
00:29:40,430 --> 00:29:43,190
The honey came through.
The Peach was sticking around.

540
00:29:43,530 --> 00:29:46,530
I'm with you on the vanilla.
Vanilla definitely came through

541
00:29:46,530 --> 00:29:51,410
strongly and there was like a
butterscotch drizzle, kind of

542
00:29:51,530 --> 00:29:54,570
kind of like what you would have
on a on a soft serve ice cream

543
00:29:54,570 --> 00:29:57,210
cone.
That came through pretty

544
00:29:57,210 --> 00:29:59,250
strongly for me the more I sat
with it.

545
00:29:59,490 --> 00:30:03,690
I thought that this was a really
pleasant, if not super complex

546
00:30:03,690 --> 00:30:06,050
experience that I gave an 8 out
of 10 to.

547
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,680
Do you remember when we were
growing up and like the early

548
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,440
2000s, we're just full of
cucumber melon scented things?

549
00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:15,840
Like everything was cucumber
melon?

550
00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,200
I am not remembering that now,
man.

551
00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:23,920
Listen my my home was full of
bath and body works, cucumber

552
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,400
melon, scented things.
I'm not going to necessarily say

553
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:30,200
that this tastes like that, but
it had the sort of like

554
00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:35,560
artificial melon brightness that
I associate with those like

555
00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,560
soaps and lotions and
everything, and I can't pinpoint

556
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:41,440
exactly what melon it smells
like, but I got a ton of melon

557
00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:43,200
on this.
It was really fruity, really

558
00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,720
bright.
The ethanol does take over about

559
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:49,680
midway through the palate and it
gets really spicy, and then it

560
00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,000
finishes with some almost bitter
oak.

561
00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,800
But I think that from the front
of my palate to the back, this

562
00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,720
was a lot more flavor than I was
expecting from that nose.

563
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,010
I gave it an 8 1/2 on the taste.
Wow.

564
00:31:02,130 --> 00:31:05,250
Yeah, I I think that it's a
solid palette.

565
00:31:05,250 --> 00:31:07,930
It came down a little bit on the
finish for me.

566
00:31:08,290 --> 00:31:10,690
The barley really came through
strong at the end.

567
00:31:10,690 --> 00:31:14,210
I got some clove and black
pepper kind of spiciness going

568
00:31:14,210 --> 00:31:19,290
on and it got kind of like a
sweet mintiness that that was

569
00:31:19,290 --> 00:31:22,090
left on my breath afterwards
that I kind of liked.

570
00:31:22,610 --> 00:31:25,330
I split the difference here I
give it a 7 1/2 on the finish.

571
00:31:25,650 --> 00:31:28,570
I think the finish is a lot
darker than the palette was.

572
00:31:28,850 --> 00:31:32,300
It gets into like an almost
bitter dark cherry for me.

573
00:31:32,660 --> 00:31:35,380
And then it had a sort of
breadiness to it that was almost

574
00:31:35,380 --> 00:31:37,420
like a biscuit.
It was really, really nice.

575
00:31:37,740 --> 00:31:39,900
I wasn't expecting that to be
the finish either.

576
00:31:39,900 --> 00:31:42,460
So you know, from the nose all
the way through to the finish.

577
00:31:42,460 --> 00:31:45,620
This just kind of kept throwing
me curveballs, but in a really

578
00:31:45,620 --> 00:31:49,380
pleasantly surprising way.
I gave it a 7 1/2 on the finish

579
00:31:49,860 --> 00:31:53,020
and then on the balance I'm
going to also give it a 7.5, and

580
00:31:53,020 --> 00:31:56,300
that's mostly because I wish the
nose stood out more.

581
00:31:56,460 --> 00:31:58,860
It really was.
It started in a really low place

582
00:31:58,860 --> 00:32:01,600
for me and then kind of
immediately jumped up on the

583
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:04,320
taste and finish, but I just
kind of wish that some of those

584
00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:06,920
notes were present on the nose
because it was really lacking

585
00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,600
for me.
So just a 7.5 on balance.

586
00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:14,480
Yeah, I I think I'm at the exact
same places you 7 1/2 on balance

587
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:17,880
and so that takes us to our
value category.

588
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,240
Now the best that I can tell is
that online you're going to

589
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,600
spend somewhere from 40 to
$50.00 to get this bottle.

590
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:29,090
So we'll call it 45.
And I think that this is like a

591
00:32:29,090 --> 00:32:34,370
seven out of 10 value at $45.00,
like it's a solid nice

592
00:32:34,370 --> 00:32:37,490
expression of Scotch.
It's at a decent price point.

593
00:32:37,490 --> 00:32:41,090
It's not too expensive and I
this is something that I would

594
00:32:41,090 --> 00:32:42,530
enjoy drinking from time to
time.

595
00:32:43,210 --> 00:32:45,210
Yeah, I think I'll give it a 7
1/2 Brad.

596
00:32:45,210 --> 00:32:48,490
I think this has a lot more
flavor than a lot of blended

597
00:32:48,490 --> 00:32:51,250
Scotch as we've had.
And it's also pretty rare to get

598
00:32:51,250 --> 00:32:54,650
a blended Scotch that is region
specific like this.

599
00:32:55,190 --> 00:32:57,910
So it's kind of like, hey, if
you've never tried a space side

600
00:32:58,230 --> 00:33:01,870
here is generic space side.
And I think it does a pretty

601
00:33:01,870 --> 00:33:05,710
good job of capturing the flavor
of a space side Scotch.

602
00:33:05,710 --> 00:33:08,310
So I think it's a pretty good
value at 40.

603
00:33:08,310 --> 00:33:10,430
Is it the best Scotch you can
get at 40?

604
00:33:10,430 --> 00:33:13,670
Absolutely not.
But for what it's offering, it's

605
00:33:13,670 --> 00:33:17,230
an above average value.
I'm going to give it a 7.5.

606
00:33:18,070 --> 00:33:19,590
Yeah.
And that's bringing my total out

607
00:33:19,590 --> 00:33:23,100
to a 37 out of 50.
And like you just said, Bob,

608
00:33:23,100 --> 00:33:25,580
this is a really solid space
side expression.

609
00:33:25,580 --> 00:33:28,820
Like, it's a little rough around
the edges, but it has a really

610
00:33:28,820 --> 00:33:32,420
solid body that kind of brings
it across the finish line.

611
00:33:32,660 --> 00:33:35,140
I'm also coming out to a 37 out
of 50.

612
00:33:35,220 --> 00:33:39,380
I would recommend buying this
bottle, probably more than I'd

613
00:33:39,380 --> 00:33:41,300
recommend trying it at the bar.
Like.

614
00:33:41,300 --> 00:33:44,420
I just don't think that it's
special enough to merit a poor,

615
00:33:45,140 --> 00:33:48,260
but it's not a bad $40
investment.

616
00:33:48,460 --> 00:33:49,580
I don't know if that makes
sense.

617
00:33:50,300 --> 00:33:53,050
No, it totally does.
Especially because in general,

618
00:33:53,050 --> 00:33:55,370
you know your Scotch is going to
be a little bit inflated at the

619
00:33:55,370 --> 00:33:58,330
bar.
So yeah, I I would say 100% buy

620
00:33:58,330 --> 00:34:01,330
a bottle of this, split it with
a friend, and it'll be well

621
00:34:01,330 --> 00:34:02,930
worth your money.
Or you could drink it while

622
00:34:02,930 --> 00:34:06,050
you're watching high and low,
which is what I did, and it is a

623
00:34:06,170 --> 00:34:09,530
very pleasant experience.
So thank you very much.

624
00:34:09,530 --> 00:34:11,409
Moss Byrne.
Brad, let's get back into

625
00:34:11,409 --> 00:34:14,290
talking about high and low.
Let's get to it.

626
00:34:19,020 --> 00:34:21,420
Alright, everybody.
That was Mossberg and Spaceside,

627
00:34:21,420 --> 00:34:25,739
a whiskey that we drank.
I always love it when you leave

628
00:34:25,739 --> 00:34:27,060
it hanging.
Like I didn't know where you

629
00:34:27,060 --> 00:34:28,980
were going.
And then it turns out you

630
00:34:28,980 --> 00:34:31,300
weren't going anywhere.
That was it, man.

631
00:34:31,860 --> 00:34:33,340
We sure did.
We drank it.

632
00:34:33,820 --> 00:34:36,060
It was good.
It was good.

633
00:34:36,179 --> 00:34:38,540
I liked it, yeah.
You know what I like more than

634
00:34:38,540 --> 00:34:41,500
Mossberg and Spaceside?
Is it 2 facts and a falsehood?

635
00:34:41,900 --> 00:34:46,380
2 facts and a falsehood, Brad.
Is gonna try to stump your ball.

636
00:34:48,739 --> 00:34:54,580
You are right and what is wrong?
2 Facts in a Falsehood 2 Facts

637
00:34:54,580 --> 00:34:57,860
in a Falsehood is the part of
the podcast where Brad tries to

638
00:34:57,860 --> 00:35:01,980
stump me by presenting 3 items
to me as fact about the making

639
00:35:01,980 --> 00:35:05,180
of this movie, one of which he
has made-up Brad.

640
00:35:05,300 --> 00:35:08,780
As promised, I went back and
finally tallied up where I am on

641
00:35:08,780 --> 00:35:12,020
the season and I was pleasantly
surprised because I thought that

642
00:35:12,020 --> 00:35:15,260
I was getting to be like four or
five games under 500 right now.

643
00:35:15,260 --> 00:35:18,650
And I am 9:00 and 10:00 on the
season so far.

644
00:35:19,090 --> 00:35:22,610
Hey, well done.
If I get this one right, I'm in

645
00:35:22,610 --> 00:35:25,850
good shape, man.
I think the goal right now is to

646
00:35:25,850 --> 00:35:29,970
just not be under 500.
Like if I can split with you, I

647
00:35:29,970 --> 00:35:33,930
feel pretty good about myself.
Yeah, I mean, you know, 16 and

648
00:35:33,930 --> 00:35:37,810
16 would be admirable.
I mean, what do you think about

649
00:35:37,810 --> 00:35:41,010
the odds of me winning each week
is only 33%?

650
00:35:41,810 --> 00:35:44,290
Like there's, you know, there's
two facts and only one

651
00:35:44,290 --> 00:35:46,890
falsehood.
So if I can, if I can get it

652
00:35:46,890 --> 00:35:50,170
right, 50% of the time I'm
doing, I think I'm doing well.

653
00:35:50,850 --> 00:35:54,850
I yeah, I mean, I think that
your general movie expertise

654
00:35:54,890 --> 00:35:56,570
gives you a few percentage
points there.

655
00:35:57,090 --> 00:36:03,090
So I finished watching this
movie tonight at 7:35 and we

656
00:36:03,090 --> 00:36:07,370
recorded at 8:00 PM.
And I have these Akira Kurosawa

657
00:36:07,370 --> 00:36:11,150
books that I made really great
use of after I watched Akiru,

658
00:36:11,150 --> 00:36:13,750
which we're recording next week.
And after I watched Ron.

659
00:36:14,190 --> 00:36:18,030
And I was like, man, I need to
open these up and read as much

660
00:36:18,030 --> 00:36:22,270
as I can in the next 25 minutes.
And Brad, I did not read one

661
00:36:22,270 --> 00:36:25,830
word.
So you're really, really

662
00:36:25,830 --> 00:36:28,670
catching me in a rough place
right now.

663
00:36:28,990 --> 00:36:30,830
You could go in for the kill if
you want to.

664
00:36:31,910 --> 00:36:35,230
That is the goal here, and I
will do it by starting off with

665
00:36:35,230 --> 00:36:38,500
fact #1.
Most of the outdoor Yokohama

666
00:36:38,500 --> 00:36:43,100
shots were filmed on location,
with a few exceptions, mostly

667
00:36:43,100 --> 00:36:45,940
due to the abnormally cold
winter that was setting in.

668
00:36:46,300 --> 00:36:48,900
The scene where Gondo
unknowingly meets the kidnapper

669
00:36:48,900 --> 00:36:51,260
on the street had to be filmed
indoors.

670
00:36:52,900 --> 00:36:55,180
Fact #2.
The original script for High and

671
00:36:55,180 --> 00:36:58,660
Low called from a Fune's family
to own a pet dog, something that

672
00:36:58,660 --> 00:37:01,500
would have set them even further
apart from a Japanese commoner

673
00:37:01,500 --> 00:37:03,910
at the time.
Kurosawa refused to have a dog

674
00:37:03,910 --> 00:37:06,350
in the film, however, believing
that it would distract from the

675
00:37:06,350 --> 00:37:09,510
performances.
Fact #3.

676
00:37:09,510 --> 00:37:14,630
Typically for his work with
Kurosawa film composer Masuru

677
00:37:14,630 --> 00:37:18,390
Sato, was generally given about
a week to compose the film's

678
00:37:18,390 --> 00:37:21,270
entire score.
Sato would also reuse some of

679
00:37:21,270 --> 00:37:24,270
the music from High and Low in
the soundtrack he created for

680
00:37:24,270 --> 00:37:30,390
the 7th Godzilla film Abhira
Horror of the Deep, a week for a

681
00:37:30,390 --> 00:37:33,510
whole movie.
Yeah, you know what?

682
00:37:33,510 --> 00:37:35,350
I don't know if we're going to
talk about the score to this

683
00:37:35,350 --> 00:37:37,110
movie at all, but.
Sure.

684
00:37:37,110 --> 00:37:39,310
Sounds like you're about to.
Just just for a second.

685
00:37:39,590 --> 00:37:46,030
I enjoyed how much Kurosawa is
in control of when the music is

686
00:37:46,030 --> 00:37:47,630
on and when it's not.
In this movie.

687
00:37:48,070 --> 00:37:51,630
They do a really great job at
cutting the music out in some of

688
00:37:51,630 --> 00:37:54,350
the most suspenseful parts.
And I'm so glad he did that

689
00:37:54,790 --> 00:37:57,670
because especially at this time,
I think the tendency was to

690
00:37:57,710 --> 00:38:00,350
overdo it on music when you
wanted suspense.

691
00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:04,760
And it is so much more tension
building to just hear the kind

692
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:07,600
of like ambient noise of the
city or whatever.

693
00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:10,520
But maybe it has something to do
with the fact that the guy only

694
00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:13,200
had a week to make the whole
score, so he only turned in like

695
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,240
20 minutes of music, you know?
Unless I'm lying about that.

696
00:38:17,240 --> 00:38:20,600
Unless you're lying, I'm
circling #2.

697
00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:24,320
Not that it sounds false, it
actually sounds like a really

698
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:28,160
plausible answer.
But it just kind of sounds like,

699
00:38:28,200 --> 00:38:30,680
of the three, the one that you
may have made-up the most.

700
00:38:31,870 --> 00:38:34,030
That is, that is the goal of
what you're doing here, Bob.

701
00:38:34,030 --> 00:38:38,190
My gut says two, my head says
three.

702
00:38:39,630 --> 00:38:43,470
I think I'm going to be wrong
regardless, so I'm going to say

703
00:38:45,550 --> 00:38:48,670
two is the falsehood.
Going with your gut, you're more

704
00:38:48,670 --> 00:38:49,710
of a gut guy, Bob.
Is.

705
00:38:49,750 --> 00:38:52,590
Is that true?
Yeah, the Mirror says so.

706
00:38:52,590 --> 00:38:56,630
That's for sure.
All right, locking in #2 is your

707
00:38:56,630 --> 00:38:58,950
answer, man.
I kind of want to lock in three

708
00:38:58,950 --> 00:39:00,270
now.
I'll lock in two.

709
00:39:00,270 --> 00:39:00,990
That's fine.
Sure.

710
00:39:01,630 --> 00:39:05,390
All right.
Bob, you are 100% correct.

711
00:39:08,590 --> 00:39:10,750
I should have known since you're
a dog guy.

712
00:39:10,830 --> 00:39:12,470
I'm a gut guy.
You're a dog guy.

713
00:39:13,950 --> 00:39:16,990
That is true.
I do enjoy my dog, All right, So

714
00:39:16,990 --> 00:39:20,190
I am back to 500 on the season.
We'll see if I can finish the

715
00:39:20,190 --> 00:39:21,790
season out.
What, like 11?

716
00:39:21,790 --> 00:39:24,520
And oh, after this, to be in a
really good spot.

717
00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:27,960
Would be very impressive.
Brad, where do you want to go

718
00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,840
from here, Man?
We've kind of touched on almost

719
00:39:30,840 --> 00:39:32,360
everything I want to say about
this movie.

720
00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:34,840
We've touched on the
performances, the incredible

721
00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:36,600
camera work.
We've talked about its

722
00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:39,680
influences and what it
influenced in turn.

723
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:43,640
I'm just, it's funny because
this is a really short episode

724
00:39:43,640 --> 00:39:47,080
right now and it doesn't reflect
how much I want people to go

725
00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:51,080
watch this movie.
But aside from maybe Rashomon,

726
00:39:51,710 --> 00:39:54,950
which I think is a better film
than this, I think I've enjoyed

727
00:39:54,950 --> 00:39:58,270
this movie more than any of the
Kurosawa's that we've done so

728
00:39:58,270 --> 00:40:00,710
far.
Yeah, well, well, tell me about

729
00:40:00,710 --> 00:40:03,070
why you enjoyed it.
Like, what was it about the film

730
00:40:03,070 --> 00:40:06,630
that really drew you in and and
and made you go, Man, I just

731
00:40:06,870 --> 00:40:10,950
want everybody to watch this.
I think that even when you love

732
00:40:10,950 --> 00:40:13,870
classic movies, or let's just
call it what it is, like old

733
00:40:13,870 --> 00:40:18,150
movies, you know, there is a
sense of separation between the

734
00:40:18,150 --> 00:40:20,430
way movies used to be put
together and the way they're put

735
00:40:20,430 --> 00:40:24,180
together now.
And when you're watching

736
00:40:24,180 --> 00:40:27,580
Casablanca, for example, like,
it's not necessarily that that

737
00:40:27,580 --> 00:40:29,940
movie is slow.
It just has a different sort of

738
00:40:29,940 --> 00:40:33,060
rhythm.
And it's the rhythm of 1940s

739
00:40:33,060 --> 00:40:35,340
movies.
And there's something about this

740
00:40:35,340 --> 00:40:42,100
movie from 1963 that feels so of
the moment that I barely had to

741
00:40:42,620 --> 00:40:46,620
filter it through that sort of,
you know, space in time.

742
00:40:47,300 --> 00:40:50,870
And I think that like being able
to put it on and enjoy it as

743
00:40:50,870 --> 00:40:55,070
much as I've enjoyed a movie
like, you know, Zodiac or

744
00:40:55,070 --> 00:40:58,990
Prisoners or like these kind of
modern day detective movies.

745
00:40:59,550 --> 00:41:02,910
I think it says a lot about how
far ahead of its time this movie

746
00:41:02,910 --> 00:41:07,070
was and just how much of a
master Kurosawa was, especially

747
00:41:07,070 --> 00:41:09,510
with the way he allowed his
movies to be edited.

748
00:41:10,470 --> 00:41:13,150
If we were going to recommend
any of these movies so far to

749
00:41:13,150 --> 00:41:16,610
anyone that wanted to get into
Kurosawa, this is probably the

750
00:41:16,610 --> 00:41:19,770
easiest entry point, Brad,
because it feels so familiar.

751
00:41:20,290 --> 00:41:24,570
Yeah, I I distinctly recall you
telling me when I bought 7

752
00:41:24,570 --> 00:41:28,090
Samurai that there's no way I
should start there, that the

753
00:41:28,250 --> 00:41:34,290
best starting point for Kurosawa
was Rashiman and we all know how

754
00:41:34,290 --> 00:41:37,130
that went.
Yeah, I would just just friendly

755
00:41:37,130 --> 00:41:40,410
advice Bob, just you know from a
from a nobody over here.

756
00:41:40,410 --> 00:41:43,410
I'll kind of stand by it just
because it was his first big

757
00:41:43,410 --> 00:41:45,330
breakthrough like
internationally.

758
00:41:45,810 --> 00:41:48,530
And so I always recommend people
start earlier in a director's

759
00:41:48,650 --> 00:41:51,890
chronology, you know, But if
you're looking for like what's

760
00:41:51,890 --> 00:41:55,610
the easiest, what goes down the
easiest, it's definitely this

761
00:41:55,610 --> 00:41:57,730
movie.
Yeah, I.

762
00:41:57,730 --> 00:42:01,810
Think that this is an easy
recommend for me, that there is

763
00:42:02,050 --> 00:42:06,450
just enough suspense in the
first half to keep you through

764
00:42:06,930 --> 00:42:10,690
the the little bit of a slog
that it is, and then the

765
00:42:10,690 --> 00:42:15,130
second-half of the film runs at
this breakneck pace.

766
00:42:15,390 --> 00:42:19,190
I think for me, the the scene
that really stuck out was when

767
00:42:19,190 --> 00:42:22,790
each of the detectives or or
pairs of detectives stands up

768
00:42:23,030 --> 00:42:25,390
and gives their little report of
what they're doing.

769
00:42:25,750 --> 00:42:29,030
Like that was enrapturing for
me.

770
00:42:29,030 --> 00:42:33,350
Like I was completely drawn into
the story, completely drawn into

771
00:42:33,350 --> 00:42:36,150
what he was doing on screen with
the camera.

772
00:42:36,630 --> 00:42:41,070
And it it felt like that's where
you got to see him at his best

773
00:42:41,110 --> 00:42:45,990
with not just directing actors.
But directing a large group of

774
00:42:45,990 --> 00:42:49,830
actors, and we haven't talked
about this a ton on the podcast

775
00:42:49,830 --> 00:42:53,990
yet, I think that one of
Kurosawa's greatest strength is

776
00:42:53,990 --> 00:42:59,550
using a crowd of human beings to
draw the audience's attention to

777
00:42:59,550 --> 00:43:03,230
different places on screen.
Yeah, there are moments in that

778
00:43:03,230 --> 00:43:07,270
sort of report giving scene
where you know, someone will get

779
00:43:07,270 --> 00:43:10,510
up in the middle of his report.
He'll say something like he had

780
00:43:10,510 --> 00:43:13,510
a boy with him under a blanket
in the back seat.

781
00:43:13,550 --> 00:43:16,990
And then you see all these heads
that have just been studying

782
00:43:16,990 --> 00:43:20,430
their notes look up and turn
towards the guy and lean in.

783
00:43:20,870 --> 00:43:23,310
And then you mimic that as an
audience member because you

784
00:43:23,310 --> 00:43:26,470
realize, all right, if all these
cops think this is important,

785
00:43:26,470 --> 00:43:27,910
then I should think it's
important.

786
00:43:28,670 --> 00:43:31,630
The more I think about that
scene, Brad, the more I love it

787
00:43:31,950 --> 00:43:37,030
from a directorial standpoint.
Because if you think about its

788
00:43:37,790 --> 00:43:42,420
usefulness to the movie, none of
what's actually reported in that

789
00:43:42,420 --> 00:43:44,780
room ends up helping the case
any.

790
00:43:45,020 --> 00:43:48,020
Like, they're all chasing their
own rabbits, rails, and they're

791
00:43:48,020 --> 00:43:51,940
doing good detective work.
But you don't know at the time

792
00:43:52,140 --> 00:43:55,060
that the thing that actually
gives the guy away is that they

793
00:43:55,060 --> 00:43:56,940
plant this fake story in the
news.

794
00:43:57,180 --> 00:44:01,180
He burns these briefcases, and
the briefcases contain, you

795
00:44:01,180 --> 00:44:04,020
know, some sort of gas that that
makes a pink smoke.

796
00:44:04,420 --> 00:44:06,860
And then someone sees the pink
smoke and they go, OK, there's

797
00:44:06,860 --> 00:44:08,860
where the guy's burning it and
that's how they find him.

798
00:44:09,240 --> 00:44:12,560
And so the stuff that came 40
minutes before in this big

799
00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:15,600
report giving scene actually
didn't really help them catch

800
00:44:15,600 --> 00:44:19,440
the guy any.
And yet, because you don't know

801
00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:23,520
that you are giving equal weight
and equal importance to every

802
00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:26,920
single person that's standing up
and giving a report about where,

803
00:44:27,160 --> 00:44:29,280
you know, what leads their
following and where this guy

804
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:31,960
could be.
And when someone would get up

805
00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:35,110
and give a really short report
and say, like, we don't have a

806
00:44:35,110 --> 00:44:37,670
suspect yet, I'm hoping to have
a report to you by tomorrow.

807
00:44:37,670 --> 00:44:40,030
I'm like, oh, that's going to be
where it comes from.

808
00:44:40,070 --> 00:44:42,230
I'm so smart.
I'm going to remember that later

809
00:44:42,230 --> 00:44:43,990
on.
And none of it ends up

810
00:44:43,990 --> 00:44:46,390
happening.
And I think that if a studio

811
00:44:46,390 --> 00:44:49,630
executive was giving notes on
that script, he would be like,

812
00:44:49,630 --> 00:44:51,910
cut this whole scene out because
it doesn't actually play into

813
00:44:51,910 --> 00:44:55,070
what happens any.
But that's the brilliance of it.

814
00:44:55,150 --> 00:44:58,110
And I think that that's part of
what makes this such a great

815
00:44:58,110 --> 00:45:02,310
movie is that Kurosawa knows,
even though it doesn't influence

816
00:45:02,310 --> 00:45:07,140
the outcome, you as an audience
member need to feel like you are

817
00:45:07,500 --> 00:45:09,820
putting the pieces together just
like these guys are.

818
00:45:09,820 --> 00:45:12,860
And so that's a super necessary
scene as a result.

819
00:45:13,580 --> 00:45:18,460
Yeah, I mean the the goal is not
to just capture him, you know,

820
00:45:18,460 --> 00:45:22,620
as a filmmaker, his goal isn't
to get the audience member to

821
00:45:22,620 --> 00:45:27,100
the satisfying conclusion alone.
It's to involve them in the

822
00:45:27,100 --> 00:45:30,260
hunt.
And a huge part of the hunt is

823
00:45:30,260 --> 00:45:32,100
having certain leads that pan
out.

824
00:45:32,430 --> 00:45:34,710
And other ones that don't, you
know, I I think you're being a

825
00:45:34,710 --> 00:45:37,150
little harsh on the detectives
here, Bob.

826
00:45:37,550 --> 00:45:41,310
Like some of the the leads that
they get, you know, bring them

827
00:45:41,310 --> 00:45:44,190
to the point where they find the
drug addicts who have overdosed

828
00:45:44,190 --> 00:45:46,590
in the whole.
That leads them to having the

829
00:45:46,590 --> 00:45:49,750
media using the media for their
advantage to find the killer.

830
00:45:49,750 --> 00:45:52,110
And so there's certain things
that pan out, but you're right

831
00:45:52,110 --> 00:45:53,710
in saying that not all of them
do.

832
00:45:53,710 --> 00:45:58,390
And that genuinely adds to the
feeling of authenticity that

833
00:45:58,390 --> 00:46:01,680
this film gives you.
And like, I think the other

834
00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:06,880
thing that's really cool is like
the level of talent it took to

835
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:10,200
do police work before there was
technology.

836
00:46:10,760 --> 00:46:13,240
And and by technology, I mean
like computers.

837
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:19,080
So, like, police work before the
1980s and 1990s was really,

838
00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:22,680
really hard and you had to do
crazy things like say, hey.

839
00:46:23,020 --> 00:46:26,300
We're going to put this pink
chemical or this chemical in

840
00:46:26,300 --> 00:46:30,020
here that will turn pink if it's
burned, but it'll smell horrific

841
00:46:30,020 --> 00:46:32,540
if it gets wet.
And we're going to try to cover

842
00:46:32,540 --> 00:46:35,180
all the bases of what he might
do with the briefcases.

843
00:46:35,180 --> 00:46:39,420
And it's things like that where
you're like, man, human beings

844
00:46:39,420 --> 00:46:43,340
were fun fact, really, really
smart back in the day.

845
00:46:44,100 --> 00:46:48,540
And before we could ask ChatGPT
how to catch a killer?

846
00:46:49,740 --> 00:46:52,020
I'm sure it would have an
incredible answer.

847
00:46:53,390 --> 00:46:57,150
Brad, what did you think of the
decision to colorize the smoke

848
00:46:57,150 --> 00:46:59,750
when the pink smoke came out?
It's the only color element in

849
00:46:59,750 --> 00:47:04,150
this whole movie.
I man, it's fine.

850
00:47:04,150 --> 00:47:05,950
Like, I didn't think it was
great, you know?

851
00:47:06,070 --> 00:47:10,910
Yeah, it's one of those things
where I think that something

852
00:47:10,910 --> 00:47:16,390
like Schindler's List red coat
has a much deeper emotional

853
00:47:16,390 --> 00:47:20,020
impact.
Than the smoke coming out pink.

854
00:47:20,020 --> 00:47:22,900
Like, I think that they could
have pointed at it and been

855
00:47:22,900 --> 00:47:26,620
like, ah, the pink smoke, there
it is and it would have been

856
00:47:26,620 --> 00:47:30,060
totally fine.
Yeah, I think that it felt more

857
00:47:30,820 --> 00:47:33,620
attention catching than it
deserved to be.

858
00:47:34,380 --> 00:47:37,300
Now you watched this movie with
a group of friends, right?

859
00:47:37,300 --> 00:47:39,460
Because you texted me and said,
hey, I'm having some guys over,

860
00:47:39,460 --> 00:47:41,460
we're all going to watch high
and low tonight.

861
00:47:42,180 --> 00:47:45,820
Yep, that is the truth.
What I mean to your knowledge,

862
00:47:45,900 --> 00:47:49,820
what was their experience with
foreign films in general or like

863
00:47:49,820 --> 00:47:53,100
their knowledge base of foreign
films and what did they think of

864
00:47:53,100 --> 00:47:57,460
this movie?
So one of my friends fell asleep

865
00:47:57,460 --> 00:48:00,020
halfway through and left because
he was very tired.

866
00:48:01,060 --> 00:48:04,820
And I I told him later I was
like, well, I understand why you

867
00:48:04,820 --> 00:48:07,620
fell asleep in the first half,
but boy, let me tell you what

868
00:48:07,620 --> 00:48:11,020
you missed out on, right?
First off, we haven't even

869
00:48:11,020 --> 00:48:16,160
talked about.
The drug scenes, like the end of

870
00:48:16,160 --> 00:48:20,600
this film takes a wild twist.
I was going to say if this movie

871
00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:23,760
falls off a Cliff anywhere, I
think the last half hour is

872
00:48:23,760 --> 00:48:26,800
where I I think it kind of
started to fall apart a little

873
00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:29,160
bit.
For me, yes, it's so tightly

874
00:48:29,160 --> 00:48:31,520
wound.
And then you follow the killer

875
00:48:31,520 --> 00:48:36,120
and I will say the way they
frame and shoot the the

876
00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:40,420
kidnapper with the sunglasses.
One of the coolest looking

877
00:48:40,420 --> 00:48:43,340
decisions I've ever seen it like
if they're always illuminated by

878
00:48:43,340 --> 00:48:44,900
something, I don't know how he
did it.

879
00:48:46,020 --> 00:48:49,060
I just don't know that we needed
to spend 25 minutes wandering

880
00:48:49,060 --> 00:48:51,700
around a flop house with this
guy.

881
00:48:52,020 --> 00:48:54,340
We could have had that
abbreviated just a bit.

882
00:48:54,940 --> 00:48:57,820
Yes, yes.
But getting back to to my

883
00:48:57,820 --> 00:49:02,860
friends, Bob, you're friends who
do not hang out in a flop.

884
00:49:02,860 --> 00:49:06,850
House No, they sure.
Sure don't, Bob.

885
00:49:08,170 --> 00:49:12,490
One of my friends is like
probably more experienced in

886
00:49:12,490 --> 00:49:14,090
foreign cinema than you might
be.

887
00:49:14,090 --> 00:49:16,850
Bob.
He, he's got a very, very

888
00:49:16,850 --> 00:49:19,530
expansive filmography under his
belt.

889
00:49:20,090 --> 00:49:25,650
And then my other friend is 22
and has seen some foreign films,

890
00:49:25,850 --> 00:49:30,130
enough to appreciate this.
And I think that we all walked

891
00:49:30,130 --> 00:49:34,530
away, just basically with a
similar opinion of like.

892
00:49:35,250 --> 00:49:39,410
Man, this movie is just really
entertaining.

893
00:49:40,090 --> 00:49:44,170
Like it's it's not.
I think a lot of times you think

894
00:49:44,170 --> 00:49:50,010
about foreign cinema and you
hear people like Bob say words

895
00:49:50,010 --> 00:49:53,970
like the French New Wave and how
advanced they were and how they

896
00:49:53,970 --> 00:49:57,730
change the cinematic landscape.
And when you hear things like

897
00:49:57,730 --> 00:50:00,330
that, you don't think about
films like High and Low.

898
00:50:00,810 --> 00:50:03,050
Like, sure, High and Low did
things that.

899
00:50:03,470 --> 00:50:07,750
Probably weren't being done too
often in in other movies in

900
00:50:07,750 --> 00:50:10,510
Hollywood at the time.
But at the end of the day it's

901
00:50:10,510 --> 00:50:15,030
just a really fun movie and and
it it doesn't rely on being you

902
00:50:15,030 --> 00:50:19,310
know brand new and have all
these new crazy techniques and

903
00:50:19,310 --> 00:50:22,030
lighting and and sound design
and all these things.

904
00:50:22,030 --> 00:50:27,230
Like, no, he just tells a really
compelling story and he has a

905
00:50:27,230 --> 00:50:29,590
great body of camera work to go
behind it.

906
00:50:30,440 --> 00:50:32,600
All right, Brad, I think that
it's time for us to get into our

907
00:50:32,600 --> 00:50:36,520
final segment of the day, which
we call, Let's make it a double.

908
00:50:36,800 --> 00:50:39,960
We're near the end of the
episode, so thanks for listening

909
00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:42,960
to the film and whiskey show.
Let's pair another film with

910
00:50:42,960 --> 00:50:44,400
this one, even if it's
struggling.

911
00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:46,840
It's a final segment of the day.
Now let's make it a double.

912
00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:49,640
Let's make it a double is the
part of the podcast where we

913
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:53,200
pair this movie up with another
one to make the perfect double

914
00:50:53,200 --> 00:50:55,440
feature.
Brad, I'll let you go first.

915
00:50:55,440 --> 00:50:57,040
Man.
What do you think you would pair

916
00:50:57,040 --> 00:50:59,730
this movie up with?
And I was, I was kind of

917
00:50:59,730 --> 00:51:01,730
struggling a little bit to find
something.

918
00:51:01,970 --> 00:51:05,010
The the movie I'm going to pair
it with is a little more

919
00:51:05,930 --> 00:51:10,250
traditional, a little more for
lots more forward momentum.

920
00:51:10,570 --> 00:51:12,690
But I think I'm actually going
to pair this with North by

921
00:51:12,690 --> 00:51:17,010
Northwest.
I think that both of them make

922
00:51:17,010 --> 00:51:22,810
for really fun kind of crime
caper, trying to figure out the

923
00:51:22,810 --> 00:51:25,170
mystery of what's going on type
of films.

924
00:51:25,510 --> 00:51:28,110
And you know, very different
plots, very different

925
00:51:28,110 --> 00:51:30,030
motivations for the main
characters.

926
00:51:30,310 --> 00:51:32,590
But I I think it'd be a fun
night to watch this.

927
00:51:32,630 --> 00:51:37,030
And North by Northwest, I think
for the first time, I was really

928
00:51:37,030 --> 00:51:40,390
swayed by things I was reading
because, you know, at first I

929
00:51:40,390 --> 00:51:43,710
saw that this movie is very
similar to David Fincher's

930
00:51:43,710 --> 00:51:45,990
Zodiac, which is a movie I
absolutely love.

931
00:51:45,990 --> 00:51:47,950
And I was like, Oh yeah, I'll do
Zodiac.

932
00:51:48,270 --> 00:51:50,710
And then as you were talking
during this episode about like,

933
00:51:51,070 --> 00:51:55,360
you know, the dad kind of being
this bumbling detective himself

934
00:51:55,360 --> 00:51:58,040
and trying to take matters into
his own hands, I was like, that

935
00:51:58,040 --> 00:51:59,720
reminds me of the movie
Prisoners.

936
00:52:00,600 --> 00:52:02,880
I don't know if I'm going to go
with either of those movies.

937
00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:04,160
You know, we talked about
Parasite.

938
00:52:04,160 --> 00:52:06,640
That's another option we could
we could pick for this movie.

939
00:52:07,400 --> 00:52:10,240
I'm going to pick a movie that I
watched for the first time last

940
00:52:10,240 --> 00:52:15,600
week, Brad, And it is the 1967
Best Picture winner in the heat

941
00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:19,560
of the night.
And I freaking loved that movie

942
00:52:19,600 --> 00:52:23,330
and it's the reason I'm picking.
It is because again, for a movie

943
00:52:23,330 --> 00:52:30,090
that is 5556 years old now, it
has such a modern storytelling

944
00:52:30,730 --> 00:52:33,770
pace and rhythm to it.
The editing is super modern.

945
00:52:33,970 --> 00:52:37,210
It has its moments where you can
tell that it's a late 60s movie.

946
00:52:38,010 --> 00:52:42,850
But overall 67 is really
regarded as like the first year.

947
00:52:43,210 --> 00:52:46,210
There's a great book that was
written about it called like, I

948
00:52:46,210 --> 00:52:48,530
think it's called like Cinema at
the Revolution or something.

949
00:52:48,910 --> 00:52:50,790
It's about like five or six
different movies that came out

950
00:52:50,790 --> 00:52:54,590
that year that really changed
American movies forever.

951
00:52:54,990 --> 00:52:57,870
And you can see how this is one
of those movies and it just

952
00:52:57,870 --> 00:52:59,590
reminded me so much of high and
low.

953
00:52:59,630 --> 00:53:02,710
They both feel like movies that
were made at least 30 years

954
00:53:02,830 --> 00:53:05,350
ahead of their time.
So I can't recommend highly

955
00:53:05,350 --> 00:53:08,990
enough go watch these two
fantastic murder mystery

956
00:53:09,310 --> 00:53:13,070
detective movies in high and low
and In the Heat of the night.

957
00:53:13,770 --> 00:53:15,970
Well, Bob, we got some great
recommendations on board.

958
00:53:15,970 --> 00:53:18,490
What say you?
How about we give this thing a

959
00:53:18,490 --> 00:53:20,170
score?
Yeah man.

960
00:53:20,170 --> 00:53:23,250
I think that I was at a nine and
a half for most of this movie

961
00:53:23,410 --> 00:53:27,450
and then over the last 25
minutes it lost a lot of steam

962
00:53:27,850 --> 00:53:30,690
to the point that I was about to
come down to an 8 1/2 on it.

963
00:53:31,330 --> 00:53:33,690
I think I'm going to split the
difference and give it a nine.

964
00:53:33,890 --> 00:53:36,290
This is one of those movies that
I can kind of cut it a little

965
00:53:36,290 --> 00:53:38,810
bit of slack because it is 60
years old.

966
00:53:39,520 --> 00:53:42,640
And would we have trimmed some
of the fat off of this in the

967
00:53:42,640 --> 00:53:45,080
intervening 60 years?
Yeah, probably.

968
00:53:45,320 --> 00:53:47,920
But I think you get high marks
for being one of the first to

969
00:53:47,920 --> 00:53:52,680
ever do it.
And I see the the influence from

970
00:53:52,680 --> 00:53:55,720
this movie all over the place
and I got to reward that a

971
00:53:55,720 --> 00:53:57,640
little bit.
I enjoyed the hell out of it.

972
00:53:57,640 --> 00:54:01,400
It's a nine out of 10 for me.
Yeah, I think I'm, I'm pretty

973
00:54:01,400 --> 00:54:03,480
close to you.
I'll, I'll give it an 8 1/2 out

974
00:54:03,480 --> 00:54:06,680
of 10.
I I think that the the pacing of

975
00:54:06,680 --> 00:54:08,920
the second-half of the film is a
lot better.

976
00:54:09,480 --> 00:54:12,600
I think that the train scene is
incredible.

977
00:54:12,640 --> 00:54:17,960
Like it's it's simultaneously
frenetic and yet like calm and

978
00:54:17,960 --> 00:54:21,680
measured and everybody knows
where they are and the geography

979
00:54:21,680 --> 00:54:24,560
is well said.
I think that Kurosala just

980
00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:29,760
overall has a masterful command
of his actors and the script and

981
00:54:29,760 --> 00:54:32,200
the camera.
And I I think he just does a

982
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:36,120
really, really great job here at
making an incredibly

983
00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:38,250
entertaining film.
Well, there you have it.

984
00:54:38,250 --> 00:54:42,490
We are coming out to an average
of an 8.75 on High and Low, but

985
00:54:42,490 --> 00:54:43,930
we'd like to know what you
think.

986
00:54:44,330 --> 00:54:46,730
Obviously somebody out there is
watching this movie because it's

987
00:54:46,730 --> 00:54:50,410
in the top 100 on IMDb.
Have you seen High and Low?

988
00:54:50,410 --> 00:54:53,330
What do you think of it?
You can let us know on Facebook,

989
00:54:53,530 --> 00:54:58,530
Twitter, Instagram, TikTok,
YouTube at Film Whiskey.

990
00:54:59,220 --> 00:55:00,620
Or you can jump on to The
Discord.

991
00:55:00,620 --> 00:55:04,340
We are on Discord every single
day talking to you guys, the

992
00:55:04,340 --> 00:55:06,300
fans of the Film and Whiskey
Podcast.

993
00:55:06,580 --> 00:55:09,140
So if you want to join the
conversation, you can head on

994
00:55:09,140 --> 00:55:11,940
over to Discord through the link
at the end of every single one

995
00:55:11,940 --> 00:55:14,780
of our show notes.
Brad, next week we are finishing

996
00:55:14,780 --> 00:55:19,610
out our five Kurosawa film
retrospective with his 1952

997
00:55:19,610 --> 00:55:22,130
drama Ikiru.
I'm really excited for you to

998
00:55:22,130 --> 00:55:24,690
watch that one cuz I don't know
what you'll think of it as you

999
00:55:25,010 --> 00:55:27,730
as has been the case throughout
this series so far.

1000
00:55:28,090 --> 00:55:32,010
So join us for Ikiru next week.
But until then, I'm Bob Book.

1001
00:55:32,490 --> 00:55:34,890
I'm Brad G and we'll see you
next time.