Onibi: The Fire Within

Onibi: The Fire Within

101 mins | Drama, Crime | April 19, 1997

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.

Onibi: The Fire Within

101 mins | Drama, Crime | April 19, 1997

Onibi: The Fire Within
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.
IMDb rating 6.7
Producers GAGA
Original title 鬼火
Directors Rokuro Mochizuki
Writers Toshiyuki Morioka

Cast

Yoshio Harada

as Noriyuki Kunihiro

Reiko Kataoka

as Asako Hino

Sho Aikawa

as Naoto Tanigawa

Kazuki Kitamura

as Hideyuki Sakata (as Yasushi Kitamura)

Ryûshi Mizukami

as Hanamura

Hiroyuki Tsunekawa

as Satoshi Fujima

Yoshiaki Fujita

as Kinjo

Ei Kawakami

as Yoshida

Seiroku Nakazawa

as Nagashima

Masai Ikenaga

as Kizaki

Eiji Minakata

as Kanigawa

Hajime Yamazaki

as Driving School Teacher

Noriko Hayami

as Toshimi

Eiji Okuda

as Myojin

Ryuji Yamamoto

as Hiroshi Fujima