Alexander says: “People often think first of Kurosawa’s samurai films, but this contemporary story is one of his best. Based on an American detective novel — one of Ed McBain’s ‘87th Precinct’ series — it grabs you from the start and never lets go. Kurosawa’s use of widescreen black and white photography was never more brilliant, and it stars the two titans of Japanese cinema — Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai.”

Police prowl through the seedy underbelly of Yokohama after a wealthy man (Toshiro Mifune) becomes a victim of extortion in this thrilling tale of kidnap and intrigue.