©Courtesy of Toho
Spike Lee, who is currently heading the jury at the Red Sea International Film Festival, took time out to talk to reporters about his upcoming film, Highest to Lowest, which he described as a reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller High and Low. Kurosawa’s film was about a Yokohama shoe-company executive who was victimized by extortionists when his chauffeur’s son was kidnapped and held for ransom.
Highest to Lowest will debut in the summer of 2025. It’s being released by A24, which is partnering on the project with Apple Original Films. The new production will mark Lee’s fifth collaboration with actor Denzel Washington, who will play the lead role of a mogul in the recording industry. Washington had earlier starred in four earlier “joints” by the African American filmmaker: Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game and Inside Man.
Lee called their long-standing partnership “the dynamic Duo of D and Lee,” adding that “We are brothers. … We just do our thing … We are familiar with each other. Also, our families are very tight.”
The prolific director also noted that he’d admired Kurosawa’s work ever since first encountering it as a student. “One of the best things about film school is that you get introduced to world cinema, not just Hollywood,” Lee was quoted as saying. Seeing Kurosawa’s film Rashomon and its structure inspired me to make She’s Gotta Have It. In Rashomon, you have three people who witness a rape, and each gives their own opinion of what happened. In She’s Gotta Have It, Nola Darling has three boyfriends who each see her in a different way. From the very beginning of my career, I was influenced by Kurosawa.”
Spike Lee also indicated that neither he nor Washington had plans of retiring anytime soon. He reminded an audience at the Red Sea festival in Jeddah that Kurosawa had made his last film at the age of 81. “Yeah, I got some time left,” said Lee, who turns 68 in March. He added, “Whether it’s God or Allah, I am blessed. … If you are able to make a living doing what you love, that’s a blessing. … And as I have gotten older, I have realized it was my destiny to become a filmmaker.”
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