March 1, 1963 — Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low premieres in Japan.
“Let me tell you one backstage story about that ending scene. Actually I shot another scene after the confrontation between Toshiro Mifune and Tsutomu Yamazaki in the prison. We shot some long footage showing Tatsuya Nakadai and Mifune walking while thinking about Yamazaki. The two were full of unhappy feelings, despite having succeeded in their mission. To take this scene, we had made a huge set. They were about to part and they felt his shadow behind them. They couldn’t forget him. We had spent about two weeks on this scene. But I felt that the scene between Yamazaki and Mifune in the jail is really the end of the picture… At the time Yamazaki was cut off, and Mifune’s face remained reflected in the glass, I knew that I had said all I wanted to say. So I cut off all the remaining scenes, which were superfluous. My assistant art director scolded me. [Laughs]” — Akira Kurosawa
“People say [my eyes] are expressive but I’ve never tried to use them that way. They are just the gateway to my internal feelings. Kurosawa used to tell me, ‘Wherever you are, there is light coming from your eyes.’ And that’s a very good thing for an actor, I say.”
Tatsuya Nakadai
Born December 13, 1932
