Hideo Gosha's Onimasa (1982) comes across as Japan's answer to The Godfather, while it doesn't quite live up to that billing-it was a very interesting film. Tatusya Nakadai always puts in a lively performance-this time as a chivalrous yakuza boss with several mistresses and the focus of this film is a girl he take sin as a daughter from a poor family. She has a very strong will and soon becomes his favorite because of her grit and strong will. She insists on being educated and becomes a teacher and eventually takes up with an intellectual and is the de facto narrator of the story of the rise and fall of Onimasa. The story is set in the Taisho era and the set designs ad to the overall impression of the film. I can't help but think the dog fighting scenes earlier in the film would have caused a certain amount of controversy in America. Overall it was a entertaining film.
Review of Onimasa
