From Kurosawa to NYC with Spike Lee

Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest starring Denzel Washington will be available on Apple TV+ starting 5 September. Lee reimagines Kurosawa’s kidnap thriller High and Low in present-day New York. 

Spike Lee and Denzel Washington Reunite

This urban thriller was screened out of competition at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where Denzel Washington received an honorary Palme d'Or for his lifetime achievement. The project marks the fifth collaboration between Spike Lee and Denzel Washington, following key works such as Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992), He Got Game (1998), and Inside Man (2006), establishing one of the most iconic actor-director partnerships in contemporary American cinema.

From Novel to Kurosawa to Modern New York

Highest 2 Lowest is a reinterpretation of the Japanese film High and Low (1963) by Akira Kurosawa, a major postwar filmmaker whose influence on global cinema has been profound. Kurosawa’s film was itself adapted from the 1959 American crime novel King’s Ransom by Ed McBain (real name: Salvatore Lombino), part of the "87th District" series focused on a fictional police unit inspired by New York law enforcement.

In King’s Ransom, a corporate executive faces a moral dilemma: his son appears to have been kidnapped, but the real victim is his chauffeur's child. He must choose between paying the ransom or saving his company from a hostile takeover.

A Story of Power, Guilt, and Social Divide

Kurosawa transposed this story to 1960s Japan in High and Low (Tengoku to Jigoku, 1963), setting the plot in Yokohama and emphasizing the social divide between a wealthy industrialist (played by Toshiro Mifune) living in the hills and a kidnapper from the slums. The film blends thriller elements with a social drama that explores guilt, honor, and postwar societal rifts in Japan.

Spike Lee's Highest 2 Lowest brings the narrative into present-day New York. The main character, David King, played by Denzel Washington, is a music mogul facing the same moral conflict, now framed by racial inequality, media pressure, and hypervisibility. The central question remains: what is a life worth in a system that ranks people by social status?

Filming took place from March to May 2024 across various New York City locations, including Brooklyn, the subway system, and the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Produced by Apple Original Films, the movie also has the support of Ko Kurosawa, grandson of the Japanese director, who serves as executive producer. The cast includes Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, rapper A$AP Rocky, and singer Ice Spice, making her film debut.

Highest 2 Lowest
Available on Apple TV+ 5 September 2025