Three moments in blocking in High and Low

The always interesting Cinefix just released this superb analysis of blocking from High and Low.

Thanks Ugetsu, that’s indeed a wonderful analysis!

The first act in High and Low is absolutely stunning in terms of blocking, and a brilliant contrast with the rest of the film, when we finally move outside of the living room. I think later on in the film, the camera becomes generally more dynamic, and the nature of blocking switches to a stronger interplay between the camera and the actor(s), which I think is more typical of Kurosawa, and something that Spielberg really learnt a lot from him.

It’s a pity we don’t have any recordings of the stage plays that Kurosawa directed, I think at the time of the Toho strikes. It would be really interesting to know how he handled blocking on a stage, for genuinely two-dimensional, fixed audience point of views.