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Gondo and Tokura Say Farewell

Following Ginjiro Takeuchi's breakdown, Kingo Gondo leaves the cell to meet with detective Tokura. The two have some final words as they walkout together before the movie ends.

Background:
The ending to High and Low was fairly up in the air until the last moments of production, facing many revisions involving the Gondo and Tokura characters. One of the earlier drafts had the pair walking while Gondo mentions that "Heaven isn't always found someplace up high", before the camera was to pan up to his former house high on the hill, a line and sequence which would have played well on both the original (Heaven and Hell) and international (High and Low) titles for the movie. Another ending had the two walking into the woods before the picture ended, while yet another had the pair shaking hands while Tokura notes the texture of Gondo's hand and relates how this was a man who truly worked his way up before the kidnapper Takeuchi broke him down to his current position.

The one that was filmed, however, was more mundane and quick in its closure of the production. This scene was used for the trailer of the movie, but ended up on the cutting room floor in post production by Akira Kurosawa who felt that the movie's closure was far more powerful with leaving Takeuchi's scream and being dragged off as the final scene.

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