Onimasa

Onimasa
Onimasa
Japanese name
Kanji	鬼龍院花子の生涯
Revised Hepburn
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	Kiryūin hanako no shōgai
Directed by	Hideo Gosha
Starring	Tatsuya Nakadai; Masako Natsume; Akiko Nakamura; Akiko Kana; Mari Natsuki; Kei Yamamoto; Isao Natsuyagi; Tetsurō Tamba; Shima Iwashita
Distributed by	Toei
Release date	1982;
Running time	146 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Onimasa (鬼龍院花子の生涯, Kiryūin hanako no shōgai) is a 1982 Japanese film directed by Hideo Gosha. Based on the novel of Tomiko Miyao.^[1] It was Japan's submission to the 55th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.^[2]

Cast

Tatsuya Nakadai as Masagoro Kiryuin - Onimasa
Masako Natsume as Matsue Kiryuin
Shima Iwashita as Uta Kiryuin
Tetsurō Tamba as Uichi Suda, The Big Boss
Tatsuo Umemiya as Masaru Yamane
Kaori Tagasugi as Hanako Kiryuin
Akiko Kana as Tsuru
Kōji Yakusho as Kondō
Emi Shindō as Emiwaka, 2nd Mistress
Akiko Nakamura as Botan, 3rd Mistress
Mari Natsuki as Akio, Opponent's Mistress
Seizō Fukumoto
Masahiko Tanimura as Shirai Zenhichi
Torahiko Hamada as DR.Katō
Naoya Makoto as Gondō
Ryōhei Uchida as Suenaga
Mikio Narita as Tsujihara
Eitaro Ozawa as Genichiro Tanabe

Production

Originally, the actress and singer Meiko Kaji wished to make a film adaptation of the novel, so she discussed the idea with the producer Goro Kusakabe and the intention of play the main role. Unluckily the president Shigeru Okada rejected the project because he didn't believe Toei, an all-time action genre company, should change so drastically its style even in a time of crisis.

But some time after he took the project, decided to call the director Hideo Gosha, who was living a very bad time in that moment, to be in charge, and the role that Kaji supposed to play was given to the young actress and model Masako Natsume.

Release

Onimasa was distributed in the United States in October 1985 with English-subtitles.^[3]

Awards and nominations

25th Blue Ribbon Awards^[4]

Won: Best Actress - Masako Natsume

References

^ "デジタル大辞泉プラス「鬼龍院花子の生涯」の解説". kotobank. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
^ "List of Japanese films nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film" (in Japanese). Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
^ Klain, Jane, ed. (1989). International Motion Picture Almanac for 1989 (60 ed.). Quigley Publishing Company, Inc. p. 445. ISBN 0-900610-40-9.
^ ブルーリボン賞ヒストリー (in Japanese). Cinema Hochi. Archived from the original on 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2010-01-20.