Onimasa

Acclaimed genre auteur Hideo Gosha (Samurai Wolf, Violent Streets, Tokyo Bordello) broke new ground with this sophisticated tale of an uber-fierce yakuza boss as seen through the eyes of his resilient adopted daughter. Adapting a hit novel Gosha juxtaposed the fiery machismo of his roughneck antihero, played with savage intensity by the brilliant Tatsuya Nakadai, against the strong and often wily women in his life. Everyday gangster tribulations and their attendant intrigue, from dog fights to union busting, kidnapping, prostitution and revenge are the meticulously detailed and gritty backdrop of this sweeping character study that lays bare the volatile mores of early twentieth century Japan. Considered a major watershed of Gosha’s late period, “Onimasa is a great gangster epic, possessing tragic dimension as well as scope and passion” (Los Angeles Times).Japan's Official Submission to the 1982 Academy Awards.