Onimasa - A Japanese Godfather

Highly Recommended Japanese director Hideo Gosha (1929-1992) specialized in yakuza stories and samurai dramas, and while he isn't quite as well known as, say, directors Kinji Fukasaku or Seijun Suzuki, his films are arguably superior. For one thing they tend to be much more polished and carefully crafted than Fukasaku's and less distractingly pretentious than Suzuki's. And, more to the point ...