The pause button in High and Low

High and Low is a film based on the novel King’s Ransom by American novelist Ed McBain. It’s a movie about kidnapping and a mis-assessed situation. See how this subject matter is handled in the hands of one of cinema’s greatest directors, Akira Kurosawa.
This classic movie features one of the great actors of our day, Toshiro Mifune. He plays a wealthy businessman who must work through his moral, ethical, and financial dilemma when his chauffeur’s son is mistakenly kidnapped instead of his own. What a negotiation! And even though the film is subtitled, you will have no trouble following the story.
Notice, first, how the professional negotiator —the senior law enforcement official — begins the process by pushing the pause button. Everybody has to settle down and wait. Next, they gather more information about the boy who was kidnapped and information about the demands. When the phone rings, the professional negotiator dons a pair of earphones and listens. The detectives record the message so they can listen to it again and again. This way, clear communications are ensured. The kidnapper is very bright. He never stays on the line long enough to be traced, and he knows Japanese law, which he cites during the conversation.
One of the detectives calls him the “smartest crook I ever saw.” But they still don’t know much about him and don’t seem to be trying very hard to gather information about him. You quickly note that this lack of preparation —which leads the police to speculate about the kidnapper and his motives — hurts the negotiation because the detectives are acting on hunches that turn out to be wrong. It makes you want to throw your Negotiating For Dummies book at the screen.
You think the movie is going to focus on the hostage situation. Instead, the plot turns to the negotiation between the wealthy industrialist and everyone else in his life as he decides whether to pay the ransom. The movie goes on from there, picking up speed each time one phase of the story ends and a new one begins.