Alejandro G. Iñárritu's 21 Grams: my breakdown of the film

My breakdown of Alejandro G. Iñárritu's 21 Grams

I want to share my thoughts on 21 Grams, the 2003 American drama directed by Alexandro Inarritu Gonzales starring Sean Penn, Naomi Watts, Benicio del Toro, and Charlotte Gainsbourg. First, though, I’d like to thank you for watching this video and I’d appreciate if you’d hit the like button at the end and subscribe to my channel for more videos.

Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's 2003 drama 21 Grams is the 2nd film to Gonzales’ and co-writer Guillermo Arriaga’s “Trilogy of Death” series preceded by 2001s Amores Perros and followed by 2006s Babel starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The title of this film comes from an American Scientist named Duncan MacDougall. In 1907 MacDougall wanted to prove that we lose 21 grams at the time of death and that this 21 grams is the soul leaving the body. He weighed 6 bodies at the moment of death and only 1 lost 21 grams, 21.3 to be exact. Needless to say, his test was discounted by the scientific community.

In this film, 21 Grams is a metaphor for all the things that have to happen for 2 people to come together; 21 Grams is about how we are all connected; it’s about water and the many chances that we get to live; 21 Grams is about learning to accept the bad things that happen to all of us. Most of all, 21 Grams it’s about learning to see life as a blessing and not as a guarantee.

Life, death, and rebirth

Everything in nature has an opposite: 2 legs, 2 arms, 2 eyes. There’s light and darkness, hot and cold, weak and strong, male/female, left and right.

In 21 Grams, life and death complement each other. 

For instance, Mary goes to a fertility doctor to have the child of her dying husband; when Michael dies his heart gives Paul a 2nd chance to live; Paul is dying in the hospital when Cristina learns that she is pregnant with his child; and Michael and his daughters are run over and killed by Jack whose birthday happens to be on that same day.

Life creates death and death creates life as Socrates put it, in question and answer form, from Plato’s book Phaedo: 

Question: “Is not death opposed to life?”

Answer: “Yes.”

Question: “And they are generated one from the other?”

Answer: “Yes.”

Question: ”What is generated from life?”

Answer: “Death.”
Question: “And what from death?”

Answer: “I can only say in answer -- life.” 

Question: “Then the living, whether things or persons, Cebes, are generated from the dead?”

Answer: “That is clear,” he replied. 

Water

We’ve all heard the saying: “cleanliness is next to godliness,” right? Nothing feels better than having a clean fresh home, clean clothes, a clean car--but none of these are possible without good clean water. But let’s think of water and clean in another sense. In the Bible, water is used to symbolize death and rebirth in the rite of baptism--death in that the person baptized has all of his or her prior sins erased (or washed) and starts over with a clean slate. This is described as being “born again,” not in the literal sense, but in that the individual has been awakened to a higher realm of consciousness. This is why water, in this sense, is an important thematic element in 21 Grams. 

Let’s start with the characters’ names and how they relate to the film’s plot. Jordan--Jack’s last name--is the river in the Bible that Joshua crosses in leading the Israelites to the Promised Land; the connotation of Jack’s last name also coincides with his character arc. Jack’s “Promised Land” is him receiving a higher level of awareness: 

He starts out believing that God favors him because he got out of prison, stopped drinking alcohol, and turned his life over to Jesus Christ. Religious icons such as crosses fill his truck and home for protection. He and his family attend church regularly; he is even working with a troubled teenager named Nick. But when Jack kills Cristina’s family by running over them in his truck, he undergoes a spiritual shakeup. How could something bad happen to him when he was doing everything right? How could God allow him to get in his truck and kill a man and 2 little girls? Killing Cristina’s family and losing everything humbles Jack and teaches him that doing all the right things (including being a Christian) does not exclude him from all the ups and downs of life. 

Likewise, the death of Christina’s husband and 2 daughters catches her completely off-guard. Prior to giving birth to her 1st daughter, Cristina had kicked her quit using drugs and had become the perfect wife and mother. But losing Michael and her 2 daughters so suddenly is too much for her and she goes back to her drug habit. She then decides to kill Jack instead of moving on with her life and pressures Paul, who has her husband’s heart, to help her. Paul goes back to smoking which ruins his new heart. When all of the dust has settled by the end of the movie, Cristina finds out that she is pregnant with Paul’s baby and winds up in the same position she was in before, when she faced the decision to either stop using drugs or to keep using them and risk losing Paul’s unborn child.

Finally, Paul gets a 2nd chance at life by receiving Michael’s heart. But after meeting Cristina and her pressuring him to kill Jack, Paul goes back to his old smoking habit which makes his new heart go bad. His failing heart is the swimming pool he sits by at the motel; notice that the swimming pool is empty and full of garbage; his decision to help Cristina kill Jack has poisoned Michael’s good heart. Paul doesn’t go through with killing Jack but by this time, Michael’s heart is too far gone to be brought back. 

When we hurt others we hurt ourselves

We don’t get away with anything. When we hurt others, everything in the universe aligns itself to keep us from being happy. Some call this God, others call it karma. There are invisible laws within us that punish us when we go against them, rising up like judge, jury, and executioner to torment us.

In 21 Grams, for instance, Paul returns to smoking when he goes in with Cristina to kill Jack. In doing this, he not only hurts himself, he also hurts Michael who continues to live on through the heart his death has given to Paul; likewise, Cristina’s drug habit not only threatens her health but also the life of her unborn child; also, after Jack completes his prison sentence for killing Cristina’s family, he abandons his own family to wallow in guilt by himself in a motel where he goes back to drinking and smoking cigarettes.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people

Life is not fair. Good people die young and bad people die of old age; fit people get cancer; selfish jerks win lotteries and good people die poor; abusers get the best girls and good guys get the cold shoulder; heroes don’t always ride off into the sunset and, contrary to popular belief, hard work doesn’t always pay off. The fact of the matter is that bad things happen to good people, too.

Likewise, in 21 Grams Jack does all the right things

• He attends church
• He has given up drinking alcohol
• He works with a troubled teenager
• He follows the Bible to the letter

And yet, he gets into his truck on a normal day, sober, feeling better about the future and getting a new job after getting fired and, out of nowhere, he ends up running over 3 people in his truck, panics, and leaves the scene of the incident!

     

Same thing with Cristina who also does all the right things by kicking drugs and becoming the ideal wife and mother. Yet, in a single moment, she loses everything!

Taking life for granted

Some things are just too unpleasant to think about. But death is always going to be a fact of life. From the day we are born our days are numbered. But somewhere along the way we forget how to live and settle for being alive. We learn to look forward to and place special value on birthdays, anniversaries, Valentines Days, and Christmases and we learn to take the smaller bits of our lives--the seconds, hours, days, and months--for granted like that old friend who you know will always be there. Then 1 day someone calls you out the blue to tell you your old friend is dead. Such is the case throughout 21 Grams:

When Michael, before being killed, tells his wife that he and their daughters will see her when they get home

When Michael calls Cristina who lets his last phone call go to her voice mail

When Cristina puts off buying the blue shoes her daughter wants

When Mary aborts Paul’s child and then--when he has only 1 month to live--tries to have his child through artificial insemination

When Jack kills a man and 2 little girls driving home to celebrate his birthday

We all put things off as if we can pause life like a television show and come back to it later. In the meantime we miss out on the small moments as if they are not important, as if they are a given, as if they somehow don’t count; they do!

conclusion

21 Grams begins and ends with Paul Rivers in a hospital bed connected to life support, counting each and every breath, marking time and empty space like seconds on a clock, not knowing which will be his last. But, in a sense, Paul is more alive on his deathbed than at any point in the film, even after getting a new life with Michael’s heart. I wonder, how we would live each and every moment of our lives if we realized that each one of those tiny moments had the potential to be our last.

My reaction to the Alita, Battle Angel trailer

My reaction to the Alita, Battle Angel trailer 

In this video I will share my thoughts on Alita, Battle Angel which is slated for theaters in July 2018 co written by James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez and directed by Robert Rodriguez based on the 1990 manga Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro. Alita, Battle Angel takes place in a futuristic wasteland and follows a cyborg girl named Alita whose head is discovered among a pile of garbage beneath a floating utopia called Tiphares. Alita is adopted by a cyber doctor named Ido who gives her a new body but is unable to help her remember who she is. Her only connection with her past is a fighting style called Panzer Kunzt. Over the course of her journey to find out who and what she is she finds herself and, ultimately, love. This is the film Cameron intended to direct before Avatar. In a nutshell, think Mad Max meets The Bourne Identity.

Battle Angel Alita finally!!

Battle Angel Alita at last!!!

Finally, at long long last, we'll finally get the movie that James Cameron made Avatar to prepare for, from the manga series by graphic artist Yukito Kishiro about a cyborg who has no memory of her past except for a deadly fighting style called Panzer Kunst. From seeing the film's trailer, I believe that Rodriguez will pull this off well.

Blue Velvet analysis

One of the greatest films ever that Roger Ebert didn't like! 

Blue Velvet by David Lynch: An analysis of the film

Blue Velvet is a 1986 murder mystery film by director David Lynch about a quiet suburban community whose dark secrets come to light with the discovery of a severed ear. The film stars Kyle McLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, and Dennis Hopper. Blue Velvet received numerous accolades including a Best Director nomination for David Lynch and Best Director and Actor awards for Lynch and Dennis Hopper from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. In this video, I will explore some of the key ideas in Blue Velvet to the best of my ability. Thanks for watching this video and I’d appreciate it if you will like this video and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one. I’ll begin with the Closet. 

The closet

The closet in Dorothy’s apartment symbolizes the social and moral restrictions we impose on ourselves and restrictions that are imposed on us externally. From the closet looking out, Jeff is able to safely and privately act out his fantasies through Frank who gets off on deviant sex with Dorothy. The closet also represents the outsider’s perspective. To Jeff, Dorothy—from his side of the closet door—looks like a victim; this is how a woman being beaten by a man is perceived in his world. But when Jeff comes out of the closet and into Dorothy’s world, he learns that the world he sees from the closet isn’t black and white. That Dorothy is not a victim but that she is a willing participant. And this is also what turns Jeff on about her. Sandy is also limited by her subjective views of her world. To her, Jeff seems as normal and ordinary as the town of Lumberton until he comes out of the closet when Dorothy brings their secret relationship to the light. 

Dorothy making Jeff strip out of his clothes is also symbolic. His clothes, or outward appearance, is his image and how he wants to be seen by Sandy and others in the community. Dorothy getting him to strip out of his clothes is getting him to reveal who he really is, not only to society but to himself as well. In the perfect and narrow world of Lumberton, Jeff is restricted; but in Dorothy’s apartment where there are no taboos, he is free to be himself. Watching the sadistic things Frank does to Dorothy, he is actually, through Frank, acting out some of his own fantasies which is why he submits to Dorothy’s request to hit her. Their relationship is all about her getting him to come out of the closet, so to speak. 

Lumberton

Lumberton’s squeaky-clean appearance is a mask for drugs, murder, crooked cops, and perverts like Frank and Dorothy. And taking off the city’s mask also exposes Jeff’s secrets as well. But in order for Jeff to expose Lumberton’s secrets he has to let go of all of his inhibitions and the mores of the community he grew up in. Sandy represents this community and also why Jeff can’t reveal his secrets to her but can with Dorothy. This is also why he must go up to Dorothy’s apartment alone; if Sandy had gone up with him he wouldn’t have revealed himself as he does with Dorothy. He would have remained hidden and locked up within himself by the informal norms of his community. This point is demonstrated when Sandy sees Jeff and Dorothy together. He is ashamed and denies Dorothy’s claim that they are lovers.

Voyeurism

Voyeurism is watching and getting off from seeing others experience pleasure or pain. In Blue Velvet, Jeffery plays the role of a detective trying to solve a murder mystery, a mystery which is also tied to discovering things about himself. When Dorothy orders him to strip out of his clothes she is really telling him to let go of his inhibitions. This is why fear is such an important element of the film. What keeps us from expressing ourselves is what we think of other people’s opinions. This is why Jeff feels free to express himself in the privacy and safety of Dorothy’s apartment. This element of privacy and safety is also reinforced by the fact that Jeff sees her at night, night being a metaphor for not only mystery but also for secrecy which is why she calls him her ‘secret lover.’ 

Besides privacy, Dorothy helps Jeff come out of the closet by giving him 2 things, and those 2 things are the proper environment and consent. The 1st is her place which, in this film, seems like a totally different world than Lumberton and its restrictive norms. In her apartment it’s ok for Jeff to admit to things that are taboo in society. The second condition Dorothy provides for Jeff is consent by giving him permission to hit her. The commentary Blue Velvet makes is that we are only as good or as bad as the laws and norms allows us to be. This commentary is also the premise of 2 previous analyses I covered in the film Full Metal Jacket and the 1st episode of Mad Men. 

The 2nd half of Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film ‘Full Metal Jacket’ follows a group of soldiers who are liberated by the battlefield of the Vietnam War and revel in killing. In the 1st episode of Mad Men, bad behavior on the part of White men is proper behavior in the confines of the striptease bar. 

These are some of my thoughts on David Lynch’s 1986 film Blue Velvet. 

The Art of War in Akira Kurosawa's 'Sanjuro'

In this video, I will analyze Akira Kurosawa’s 1962 film Sanjuro through the writings of Sun Tzu and his book ‘The Art of War’. Thanks for watching this video and please subscribe and leave a like at the end.

Sanjuro is told in 2 parts with the main character acting as both a teacher and as a student. In the beginning, Sanjuro acts as teacher to 9 young Samurais. The 1st lesson he teaches them is to not judge a book by its cover. The young samurais are fed up with government corruption and take a petition to weed out wrongdoing to their chamberlain. But when this chamberlain who happens to be ugly rejects their petition, they go to the superintendent whose good looks makes him seem truthful. He instructs all of them to wait for him at a local shrine. Luckily, Sanjuro happens to be sleeping at the shrine and overhears them. He warns the young men that the superintendent is setting a trap to kill them all. At first, they don’t believe him because his socks are full of holes and he looks like a beggar. He tells them to take a peek out the window and when they do they see men with swords surrounding the place. Sanjuro gets them out of this jam by trickery and decides to help them rescue the chamberlain, his wife, and daughter who have been kidnapped by the superintendent. 

The 2nd aspect of the film’s plot involves Sanjuro becoming a student to a  wise soft-spoken woman who teaches him how to conquer his enemies—and even make those enemies allies— without drawing his sword. 

The Art of War chapter 3, Attack by stratagem  using the sheathed sword:

Sun Tzu: 

“In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them. Hence, to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.”

The Art of War Chapter 9, The Army on the March

To smoke out the chamberlain’s supporters who remain anonymous, the superintendent comes up with a plan to use the chamberlain’s empty palanquin as bait. The samurais will take the bait by believing they are rescuing their chamberlain and be caught. As planned, the samurai see the empty palanquins and prepare to rescue their chamberlain. Again, Sanjuro is with them and they ignore his warning. He warns them again. They tell him to be quiet and at this precise moment a large number of guards arrive on horseback to assist the superintendent. Sun Tzu:

“If his place of encampment is easy of access, he is tendering a bait.”

The guards are friends of the superintendent and came to escort the palanquins through the woods. Sun Tzu:

“He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them.”

The Art of War CHAPTER 2, WAGING WAR 

Early in the film, Sanjuro and the young Samurais rescue the chamberlain’s daughter and wife and take 1 of Muroto’s guards as a hostage. When the guard refuses to tell them where the superintendent is hiding the chamberlain, Sanjuro orders the samurais to kill the guard. The chamberlain’s wife, however, tells Sanjuro that he mustn’t kill the guard. Sun Tzu: 

“Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy.”

They detain the guard in a closet at Izaki’s house. After being saved again by Sanjuro, the young samurais return to the house and find the guard out of the closet, eating, drinking sake, and wearing Izaki’s best kimono. The old woman let him out the closet, fed him, and gave him Izaki’s kimono. The guard could have easily escaped before the Samurais returned but he stayed their prisoner because the old lady was kind to him and trusted him. Prior to being captured, the guard had heard stories about how cruel the young samurais were and found those stories to be false. After telling the samurais this, the guard finishes his food, his sake, and returns to the closet. Sun Tzu: 

“Captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept. This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one's own strength.” 

Also:

“Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.”

The Art of War Chapter 4, Tactical Dispositions

The daughter of the kidnapped chamberlain, escapes when the guards send her out to bring them more sake. Sanjuro tells the samurais to let the girl take sake to the guards and get them nice and drunk. This will make it much easier to rescue the girl and her mother. Sun Tzu:

“To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.”

The Art of War Chapter 5, Energy 

Sanjuro’s outward appearance is as a peasant and a beggar whose social status and physical appearance cause the samurais to devalue his character and intelligence. Sun Tzu:

“Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline, simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength. Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder is simply a question of subdivision; concealing courage under a show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy; masking strength with weakness is to be effected by tactical dispositions.”

The 1st weakness the samurais must overcome is the falsehood of outer appearances. They disbelieve their chamberlain who is ugly and trust the superintendent who is pleasant looking. Sanjuro reminds the samurais of the chamberlain’s warning: “The worst one is beyond your imagination,” referring to people like the superintendent whose outward appearance is deceptive.

The Art of War Chapter 6, Weak Points and Strong

Sanjuro tells the samurais that the superintendent plans to kill the chamberlain soon and that they should stir up public concern over the chamberlain’s whereabouts. But before the samurai can act on this advice, the superintendent posts a public notice detailing the chamberlain’s crimes which they are actually framing him for. The notice warns the public not to let the chamberlain’s supporters agitate them. By the superintendent remaining quiet, Sanjuro and the samurai can’t make a move without exposing themselves but Sanjuro comes up with a counter move—the superintendent doesn’t know their true numbers and that there are only 9 samurais-10 including himself. Sanjuro, acting as a double agent, warns Muroto that the chamberlain’s supporters number 130 men! Sun Tzu:

“Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.”

The samurais discover that the chamberlain is being held next door to Izaki’s house. Sanjuro goes next door to Kurofuji’s mansion to tell Muroto that the chamberlain’s supporters are at Komyo temple. He happened to be on the 2nd floor in the temple and the supporters are using the temple as their hideout. Muroto and his guards leave but Sanjuro stays behind, claiming to be hungry. Once the mansion is empty, he goes out to the garden and gathers camellias to send down the stream to the samurais—this is the signal to come rescue the chamberlain! Muroto doubles back and catches Sanjuro red-handed. Then, more bad news: Takebayashi runs in to tell Muroto that Sanjuro lied about Komyo temple. Earlier, Sanjuro told Muroto he had witnessed the chamberlain’s supporters from the 2nd floor of the temple; the temple has no 2nd floor! Muroto is pissed! He has Sanjuro tied up and rushes off to bring back their army to help guard the mansion. 

Takebayashi and Kukui are left with Sanjuro who laughs and warns them that the chamberlain’s supporters will storm the mansion and kill them if they don’t see any camellias coming down the stream. Takebayashi and Kukui doubt Sanjuro’s story until Takebayashi peeks over the wall and sees a samurai by the stream, waiting. The door behind the samurai  is jam-packed with samurais (the door is small making them appear more than 9). The old man goes back and verifies Sanjuro’s story. Sanjuro offers them a deal: he’ll give them the signal for 50 pieces of gold. They agree and he tells them not to send red camellias downstream; red camellias mean attack. Instead, he instructs the old men to send white camellias downstream; white camellias mean stop. No camellias mean he’s in trouble! Kukui and Takebayashi dump as many white camellias as they can into the stream. In moments, Ikari and his fellow samurais storm the mansion, rescuing both Sanjuro and the chamberlain. (in this example, Sanjuro plays on the fears of Kukui and Takebayashi that an army will storm the mansion if they don’t get a signal). Sun Tzu:

“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.”

And also: 

“Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.” 

The Art of War Chapter 7, Maneuvering

recap:

The superintendent deceives the samurais by 1) being physically attractive since beauty is generally associated with virtue; 2) making the samurais believe that he sympathizes with their petition after the chamberlain, who is very ugly (a characteristic generally associated with evil) turns down their petition to weed out corruption

Sanjuro’s appearance is also deceptive: he begs for food, has holey socks and wears raggedy clothes—in other words, his appearance  stereotypes him as someone of little character, pride, organization, or intelligence. When the samurais offer him a bag of gold for saving their lives, he takes 1 gold piece and gives the bag of gold back to them. And when Muroto offers him a well-paying job, he turns it down even though he begs for food. Sun Tzu:

“In war, practice dissimulation, and you will succeed.”

The meaning of Two-Face in The Dark Knight

In this video, I will analyze the Dark Knight, the 2008 film by Christopher Nolan based on the DC Comics' Batman co-created by Bob Kane and Milton Finger. Thanks for watching and I would appreciate if you would like the video and subscribe to my blog for more videos like this one.

Batman and Joker’s similarities

Fear

Bruce Wayne takes the form of his fear of bats and uses this fear against the mob in this film.

The Joker’s face paint, like Batman’s mask, inspires fear in those who see him. The Joker, Batman, and Dent—after half of his face is burned off—are feared because they operate outside of the rules. Batman is freed from moral and civil restrictions when his parents are murdered because of his fear of bats. Criminals fear him because he is not bound by any laws and will resort to any means to stop them even if this means violating the rights of those he protects (such as when he applies Fox’s sonar concept to every cell phone in Gotham). Harvey Dent admires Batman’s ruthlessness and supports him, even insinuating that Gotham do away with democracy—like the Romans did—and allow 1 man run the entire city. 

The Joker, like Batman, is feared and describes himself as chaos. But unlike Batman, the Joker sees nothing redeemable in humanity and wants to destroy everyone, good and bad. The mob doesn’t fear Dent because they know that they have rights and that he is restricted by the rule of law.

Scapegoat

The government in this film is characterized as hypocritical and appears good only because of the sacrifices of Batman, a vigilante and outlaw who chooses to be a scapegoat in order to protect the idea that the system is not only good but that it actually works. The only thing keeping society from going to Hell is the belief that we, whom Dent represents, are better than the people we call criminals and put in jail who, like Batman, are also scapegoats in the film. This hypocrisy expresses itself when Dent, as DA, interrogates one of Joker’s henchmen after the assassination attempt on the mayor. Dent takes the man to an undisclosed location, flips a coin, and threatens to shoot him. Luckily, Batman catches the coin and stops Dent from undermining all of the work he did on the right side of the law. Batman could shoot this man and get away with it because he is already an outlaw and has already given up on the system; but Dent can’t because he is Gotham’s White Knight and last anchor of virtue in a system that is almost totally corrupt as witnessed by all of the corrupt cops in the film entangled with Maroni.

Gordon also uses Batman as a scapegoat, particularly in the scene where Joker is being interrogated. Gordon, who represents law and order and who is sworn to uphold the Constitution, leaves the interrogation room to allow Batman to play “bad cop” and physically abuse the Joker in a scene which, in real life, is clear-cut brutality and illegal. Batman, the scapegoat, does the dirty work. Also, when Gordon fakes his death and the cops stop by his home to tell his wife, she even lays all the blame on Batman and not the cops who bring her the bad news. Batman is also present to make sure that he takes the blame and not the cops. But throughout the film, those who use Batman as a scapegoat take all the glory for the work he does. At the end of the film, he takes the blame for all the people Harvey Dent murders.

The Dark Knight

Harvey Dent is called Gotham’s White Knight but when he gets half of his face burnt off, he becomes the Dark Knight. Deep down, Dent knows that his hands, as Gotham’s DA, are tied in fighting the mob because there are too many dirty cops mixed up with them. This is why he admires Batman’s methods and uses the analogy of the Romans suspending Democracy and allowing 1 man to run the city. The irony in this is that Batman admires him. In Dent, Batman sees a hero who can fight crime following the rules. This works in the short term but not over the long haul which is why Dent says “You either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain,” a statement foreshadowing his moral turnaround.

Chaos

The Joker tells Harvey Dent that people revert to the dark side when normalcy is thrown into chaos. Both he and Batman are who they are because of trauma. Batman operates outside the law which is why he wears a mask. The coin that Dent gives Rachel has identical sides which represents order and control. This is why Dent tells Rachel when giving her this coin that we make our own luck. And when she dies in the warehouse explosion, Batman finding this double sided coin at the site of Rachel’s death represents the end of the order and control holding Dent’s dark side in check. This is what the Joker means when he tells Dent in the hospital that he only wanted to show Dent, in killing Rachel, the futility of making plans. The coin with opposite sides represents conflict and how life, death, good and evil are determined by chance, random or unaccountable events disrupting the natural order. 

The Joker also says that people are only as good as society allows them to be. Harvey Dent’s White Knight image is intact as long as he, as Gotham’s DA, operates within the rule of law. Dent proves the Joker’s point by abandoning the law and resorting to unethical and illegal means to find out who set Rachel up to be killed. In real life, this is also true as our behaviors and attitudes change as the laws and norms change. We operate within the context of what is and what is not politically correct. Behaviors and attitudes that are or not acceptable in 1 time or place change in another time and place. For example, the 2nd half of Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film Full Metal Jacket shows how the soldier’s behaviors and attitudes are affected by the Vietnam war where soldiers openly say and do things that they can’t say and do in polite, politically correct society. Another example is the 1st episode of Mad Men. A young ad man named Pete Campbell openly harasses a woman in a striptease bar where this type of behavior is condoned and even encouraged. The stripper is a metaphor for Pete shedding the moral  and civil restrictions of polite society. 

Choice

Choice is a cyclical` theme throughout the movie. The more obvious examples involves the scene where the Joker gives Batman the choice to rescue Harvey Dent or Rachel; the other example is when the Joker gives the passengers on the ferries the choice to blow each other up. This theme of choice in this film is an analog of Harvey’s habit of basing his decisions on the flip of a coin. Chance is also analogous in this film with chaos and fear. When Rachel is killed and half of Dent’s face is burned off, he chooses to “flip” and be like Batman and the Joker for whom there are no rules. The hospital blowing up represents the death of Harvey Dent and the birth of two-face.

Akira Kurosawa's 'High and Low'

High and Low is a 1963 film directed by Akira Kurosawa and starring Toshiro Mifune. Mifune’s character is Gondo, a shoe executive who is forced to choose between personal success and honor, controlling stock in a shoe company and paying a huge ransom to a kidnapper for the life of his chauffer’s son. Either way, Gondo loses, but the decision is still a difficult one to make. This summary is detailed and is not recommended to those who feel it may take away from seeing the actual film. Thanks for reading and I’d appreciate it if you’d leave a like and a comment:

High and Low by Akira Kurosawa

Mark 8:36 "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

Executives of National Shoes meet with Gondo, a fellow executive, in his home to discuss making cheaper shoes that are more profitable. Sales are flat because the shoes they make now are too durable. Gondo believes that their shoes should be well-made. The other executives think the president of the company is too old fashioned and they want to buy out his stock. They want Gondo to join them in this; he has 13%. But if he does join them, they will only make him the company’s Executive Director but not its President. 

Gondo is loyal to the old man’s commitment to quality. He also believes that durable shoes are more profitable than flimsy shoes the long run. His fellow executives disagree and leave in anger. 

Outside, they plot. Why was Gondo confident enough to throw them out of his house? The executives promise Gondo’s accountant, Kawanishi, partnership in the company in exchange for his help in finding out what Gondo's plans are. 

Meanwhile, Gondos’ son, Jun, and Shinichi, the son of his chauffeur, are playing cowboys and Indians (Jun is playing the Cowboy). Gondo tells his son that he has to attack or be attacked. 

Gondo knows his fellow executives want him out but he is ahead of them. Gondo’s wife tells him that “Success isn’t worth losing his humanity.” 

Gondo gets a call from the Osaka hotel, hangs up the phone, and orders Kawanishi to go to the Osaka Hotel right away. Gondo is tense and his wife asks him If everything is all right. The phone rings. Again, Gondo answers it. His face relaxes. He tells the party on the other line that it’s within his limit and that he’ll be sending a deposit tonight. Gondo hangs up the phone and it rings again. He answers it and smiles. He hangs up the phone and toasts a glass of wine with his wife—the deal is set! His share, he tells her, isn’t 13%; it’s 47%! He is buying controlling interest in the shoe company. He took loans out on their home and raised 50 million yen to get this deal. He put up everything they own to get this deal!

Aoki, his chauffeur, comes in and asks for his son Shinichi. The phone rings and Gondo answers it. The man claims that he has kidnapped Jun and demands 30 million yen by tomorrow. Gondo agrees to pay without hesitation and stops Kawanishi from calling the police as doing so will endanger Jun’s life. Jun comes in from outside in his cowboy costume. Gondo is relieved, thinking the call was a prank. But where’s Shinichi? Jun tells Gondo that they switched roles but Shinichi never came back. Aoki goes outside screaming for his son. Gondo calls the cops who arrive in a furniture truck disguised as delivery men. 

Inspector Tokura orders his men to tap Gondo’s phone. Gondo wants to publicize the kidnapper’s mistake but Tokura believes that doing this will endanger Aoki’s son. Gondo doesn’t believe they will hut Aoki’s son but Tokura insists on Shinichi’s safety 1st and catching the kidnapper 2nd. 

Police talk to Aoki who’s a widower. The kidnapper calls. Police listen. The kidnapper knows he has the wrong boy but he wants the 30 million yen anyway. Gondo says he won’t pay; the kidnapper laughs and hangs up. Gondo can’t believe this; the kidnapper just wants to humiliate him into throwing away his hard-earned money. Jun, his son, cries because he feels responsible for Shinichi’s disappearance. Gondo’s wife speaks up; she wants him to pay the ransom for Shinichi because he was going to do so when he thought the kidnapper had their own son. Gondo’s accountant, Kawanishi, is running out of patience because he doesn’t believe there’s any sense in paying the ransom because the boy is probably already dead.

As Kawanishi is about to leave the phone rings and Gondo calls out for Kawanishi to come back. The kidnapper allows Shinichi to speak with his father and Aoki breaks into tears. Kidnapper hangs up. Aoki begs Gondo to get his son back. Gondo paces the floor with Aoki on him like a cheap suit. Gondo finally stops and tells Aoki that he can’t do it. Then, he tells Kawanishi to postpone the flight to Osaka. 

Police close the curtain and stay the night. 

The next day, Gondo is still resolute on his position to not pay the ransom. If he does he’ll lose everything. His wife wants him to pay the kidnapper. He reminds her that she is spoiled to the good life he provides for her. He could someone blackmail him now? Gondo's frustration is all over the place. He gives the check to Kawanishi and orders him to take to go to Osaka and buy the stock. Kawanishi refuses to take the check because Gondo will be hated for not paying the ransom for Shinichi. Kawanishi believes that life is more important than money.

Whoa! Now, Gondo is really confused. Just last night, Kawanishi didn’t give a damn about Shinichi and wanted to close the Osaka deal right away. Kawanishi tells Gondo that the shoe company executives offered him a deal and Gondo throws Kawanishi out of his home. Aoki comes back in crying and apologizes for asking Gondo to pay the ransom. After all, Shinichi is a smart boy and can take care of himself. Aoki says this before going off to a corner to cry. The police feel sorry for Gondo.

The phone rings. The kidnapper orders Gondo to open the drapes so that he can see in the house. The cops lie on the floor and Gondo opens the drapes. 

Gondo agrees to pay the ransom but wants to see the boy to make sure he is ok. The kidnapper says he’ll think about it and hangs up. 

Gondo calls the Bank of Tokyo and tells manager to send him 30 million yen right away. Aoki falls to his knees. 

The police check the pay phones in the area. They listen to recorded tapes calls for clues. Kidnapper calls and instructs Gondo to bring suitcase on bullet train. 

On the bullet train, the cops whisper amongst themselves about their respect for Gondo. The PA calls for Gondo to take a phone call. It’s the kidnapper; he has the boy at the foot of the Sakowa river. He orders Gondo to look out the window and to throw the suitcase out in between stops so he can’t be caught by the cops. 

Police snap a picture a man and a boy standing by the Bridge as the train passes it. Gondo pushes the suitcase out the widow and someone picks it up immediately. Gondo and cops get off at the next stop and find Shinichi alone by the bridge. The cops feel sorry for Gondo and vow to catch the kidnapper. They walk the area around Gondo’s house for clues. Kidnapper sees Gondo and his unselfish deed on the front page of the paper; he’s a hero! 

At police HQ, cops study film they shot from the train. A woman with a large hat has Shinichi by the bridge. Cops ask Shinichi if he remembers anything. Aoki yells at Shinichi to remember. Gondo stops Aoki from yelling at boy. 

Bankers visit Gondo’s house to let him know that they expect their money on time. Meanwhile, the police examine map of area around Gondo’s house. They narrow down where kidnapper lives. 

Tokyo, Osaka,and Nagoy are the only places to call train from.

At police HQ, investigators review the evidence they have collected so far:

Detectives go to a railroad station near Yurakucho, Tokyo but no one there remembers a man using the phone there last night; as for the ether, the suspect is probably in medicine. Ether is also used in repair shops; a farmer noticed a gray car. Eighteen similar cars has been stolen in the last month. But 1 of the cars was stolen just before the case broke! None of the 1,000 yen notes have turned up yet. People report seeing dozens of men with boys Shinichi’s age; a turnpike toll collector tells cops that in 1 car he happened to see a boy under a blanket with a toy rifle and a cowboy hat. 

Detectives interview employees of the bullet train to see if there were any grudges among them. Bos’n, a senior detective, interviews the executives at National Shoes to see if they held any grudges against Gondo. The executives openly express their resentment towards Gondo for trying to go behind their back to take control of the company; none of them, however, will admit to holding a grudge against him. Detectives interview a line worker who thinks Gondo is a fine boss to good workers despite his temper. Detectives, under Inspector Takura, discuss results of meeting.

Case seems impossible to break. Inspector Takura reminds detectives of Gondo’s pain. Division 3 calls Takura to let him know that they found the stolen car!

Back at police HQ, detectives listen to the taped phone conversations between kidnapper and Gondo. The sound of a passing train can be heard behind the kidnapper. The train is near his hideout! Detectives find a specialist in the area who tells them that the train on tape is the Enoshima trolley.

Detectives take Shinichi to the bridge where they found him to try to help him remember a clue.  Later, Aoki takes his son out in the car to look around the area on their own. Shinichi finds a tree he remembers peeing by. 

The detectives drive around looking for Shinichi and his father and get a call from the crime lab letting them know they found fish oil, blood and mackerel scales on the stolen car. Car was at the Koshigoe Market near the trolley.

While cops are at market interviewing a fish vendor, a car goes by and hits a pothole that splashes mud, blood, and fish scales on the cops—they are getting closer! The vendor tells them that the trolley goes under a nearby cliff that offers a view of Enoshima island where Gondo lives!

Aoki drives around with Shinichi still trying to get the boy to remember something that can help the investigation. Bos’n and fellow cop go to cliff to compare their map of Enoshima to their vantage point—both match!

Shinichi recognizes a tunnel. Bos’n driving 1 road and Aoki on another road just miss each other at an intersection! Bos’n returns to Koshigoe to get Aoki to show them kidnapper’s hideout. Shinichi and Aoki get out car to look around on foot. Cops find them and they find the cops! Aoki bursts into tears; he thinks everything is his fault. 

Shinichi recognizes a small villa the kidnapper took him to. Here, they find a couple dead from a heroin overdose

Police headquarters:

Police hold a press conference. The man and woman they found at the villa died from a heroin overdose. The heroin they used was 90% pure; by comparison, regular heroin is only between 70-75% pure. A note by the bodies said: “Bring us stuff or we’ll spend money and not do what you say anymore.”

Cops also recover some of the marked money Gondo paid the kidnapper at the scene, 2,500 $1,000 yen notes. The dead couple were caretakers of the villa. The Inspector tells the press to keep a lid on it. He wants the kidnapper to think the junkies are alive so that he can try to go back to the villa and kill them. 

The executives of National Shoe voting Gondo out makes the front page of the paper. The kidnapper dumps all the money out the briefcase when he sees a picture of it in the paper.

Police go by Gondo’s place to get him to claim the 2.5 million yen they recovered from the dead addicts. Kawanishi asks Gondo to maintain an honorary post at the company to counter negative public opinion. Gondo rejects this offer and kicks Kawanishi out. 

Aoki shows cops picture Shinichi drew of the kidnapper. Shinichi looks out the window and calls everyone’s attention to a plume of pretty pink smoke. The cops treated the briefcase with a chemical that would create pink smoke if burned. 

Bos’n checks out local incinerator. Old man there remembers someone bringing a box for him to burn. 

Bos’n stops by hospital and sees man with scar on his left hand, the same hand wrapped in bandages that Shinichi drew. The young man’s name is Ginjiro Takeuchi. He had taken 3 days off work during kidnapping; his apartment faces Gondo’s house; one of the pay phones is near his apartment; he’s a medical student; his name is on the medical report of the couple they found at the villa that OD’d on heroin—Bingo!

Inspector wants suspect to reconstruct his own crimes. Their plan is to buy purchase heroin from Takeuchi on behalf of the dead couple they found at the villa. When he delivers the dope to the dead couple they’ll nab him. 

Takeuchi waits at shipping harbor to kill time. When he leaves, hobos and other random characters follow him. 

Cops radio Inspector Tokura to let him know that Takeuchi purchased a bouquet from a florist. Takeuchi stops by a pay phone then ducks into a nightclub. He sticks a red flower in his shirt pocket and sits at bar. He is wearing sunglasses. He blends into the crowd of dancing people. 

Cop radios inspector that Takeuchi is at ‘Dope Alley.’ 

The narrow alley is clogged with addicts. Takeuchi walks through a tangle of arms. He looks them other until he finds a woman by herself (this is how he found caretakers at villa). 

Cops are confused and don’t understand why Takeuchi would go to addicts before getting dope. 

Takeuchi takes the girl into a motel. Inspector thinks Takeuchi uses addicts for guinea pigs.

Woman OD’s, still clutching the hypodermic needle.

Takeuchi re emerges on the streets. Cops watch him from unmarked police car. 

Gondo looks at women shoes in a storefront window. Takeuchi approaches him for a light and follows him. Cops go to villa and cut the radio up loud as if the addicts are inside partying. When Takeuchi knocks on the door and says “I got the stuff,” The cops come out. He runs but they catch him. He opens his hand and drops the dope. 

The cops recover most of Gondo’s money. Men from the bank prepare Gondo’s home and possessions to be auctioned off. 

The front page of the paper reads: “Kidnapper gets death sentence.”

Gondo visits Takeuchi in jail. Gondo is making shoes again, has his own company, and is determined to build it up like National Shoes. Takeuchi refuses a priest and refuses to apologize. He’d always look with envy from the window of his cold apartment at Gondo’s big house high up on the hill. He wants Gondo to see that he isn’t afraid to die. Takeuchi cries and complains about the Hell his life has been. He cracks and the guards take him away from the glass and back to his cell.