A new movie starring Denzel Washington is currently dominating the streaming charts. It is a remake of a true classic from Japan.
What kind of movie is it? Highest 2 Lowest is the latest film by American director Spike Lee. Denzel Washington stars in this film, making it their fifth collaboration.
The film premiered at this year’s Cannes Festival, ran in American theaters for a while, and has been available on Apple TV+ since early September.
Currently, Spike Lee’s work is experiencing great success. According to the website flixpatrol.com, Highest 2 Lowest was the most-watched film in 100 countries worldwide. This is not surprising, as Denzel Washington is a popular actor and Spike Lee is a renowned director known for films like Do The Right Thing and Malcolm X.
And the story also entices with an intriguing premise, which is based on a much older film.
A critical situation
What is the film about? Denzel Washington plays the music mogul David King, who lives in a chic New York apartment with his wife and son Trey. One day, Trey is kidnapped, and David receives a ransom demand.
At least, it seems so at first. It quickly becomes clear that it is not Trey who has been kidnapped, but that does not change the gangsters’ demands. David must now decide whether to pay the sum of over 17 million US dollars – otherwise, something could happen to the other boy.
This premise sets the stage for an exciting thriller, which likely attracts many viewers at present. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes rate it at 87%, similar to the audience with 85%. The film is praised mainly as a successful reinterpretation of an old story. Because: Highest 2 Lowest is not original material, but a loose remake of an old Japanese classic.
What is the film based on? It is a remake of the film High and Low by Japanese master Akira Kurosawa. The original is from 1963 and was shot in black and white. By the way, the English title is High and Low – this is what the remake refers to. To this day, the original is considered a masterpiece of Japanese cinema and has lost none of its haunting effect.
Spike Lee has changed some things for his remake. For one, the story does not take place in Yokohama, Japan in 1963, but in New York in 2025. There are also some content deviations, which is normal for a remake after such a long time.
Anyone who enjoyed Highest 2 Lowest should definitely give the old film by Akira Kurosawa a chance. The director is now mainly known for his samurai films like The Seven Samurai or The Hidden Fortress” and this excursion into 1960s Japan is equally fascinating.
Have you seen the remake yet? Feel free to let us know in the comments. Another film from the Asian region fascinates a famous director: “The best stunts ever filmed”: Quentin Tarantino names one of his favorite action films, and of course Jackie Chan is in it
