Onibi: The Fire Within
1997·Japan·101 min.
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After spending over half his life in prison, ex-hitman Kunihiro is determined to go straight. But the shortcomings of the new gangs mean that he is soon having to call on his old-school yakuza talents. And when he falls for Asako, a beautiful piano player, she unknowingly ignites a fire within Kuni that will immolate everything and everybody around him. Regarded by many as his masterpiece, Onibi has all the hallmarks of a Mochizuki film, with the gangster elements tightly compressed and controlled to allow space in which a subdued romance can bloom. Coming from a background in porno cinema, this master of sexual relations injects a fresh passion and tension into the macho world of the yakuza film.
DirectorRokuro Mochizuki
ScreenwriterToshiyuki Morioka
MusicKenichi Kamio
CinematographyNaoaki Imaizumi
CastYoshio Harada·Reiko Kataoka·Sho Aikawa·Kazuki Kitamura·Ryuushi Mizukami·Hiroyuki Tsunekawa·Ryûji Yamamoto·Yoshiaki Fujita·Ei Kawakami·Seiroku Nakazawa·Masai Ikenaga·Eiji Minakata·Toshihiro Kinomoto·Hajime Yamazaki·Yukio Yamanouchi·Noriko Hayami·Eiji OkudaShow all
Original titleOnibi (Onibi: The Fire Within)