Courtesans & Criminals: The Underworld of Hideo Gosha – Film Movement (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Japan, 1982 (Onimasa), Japan, 1987 (Tokyo Bordello)
Director: Hideo Gosha (Both Films)
Cast: Tatsuya Nakadai, Masako Natsume, Shima Iwashita, Nobuko Sendô, Tetsurō Tamba, Tatsuo Umemiya, Kōji Yakusho (Onimasa), Yûko Natori, Rino Katase, Jinpachi Nezu, Sayoko Ninomiya, Mariko Fuji, Mikio Narita, Naoto Takenaka, Sô Yamamura (Tokyo Bordello)

Release Date: December 4th, 2025
Approximate Running Times: 146 Minutes 47 Seconds (Onimasa), 133 Minutes 59 Seconds (Tokyo Bordello)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono Japanese (Both Films)
Subtitles: English (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $44.98

Onimasa: "Matsue is the adoptive daughter of the Kiryuin House, a small yakuza clan in Shikoku. Onimasa, their leader, is the last heir to a family of samurai. He is hard in business but respected by the poor because of his fairness. Matsue lives in the middle of this society, between gang wars and rivalries among the chief's mistresses. But when Onimasa takes a chivalrous attitude and finds himself on the side of train workers on strike, it annoys the Great Godfather of the island. The story starts in 1918, ending with the nearing of the Second World War." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Tokyo Bordello: "A ruined businessman was forced to sell his daughter, Hisano, to a brothel in Yoshiwara, the largest red-light district in Tokyo. After several months of training, she tries to flee Yoshiwara when the time has come for her to take her first customer." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5 (Onimasa), 4.5/5 (Tokyo Bordello)

Here’s the information provided about Onimasa's transfer, “4K restoration from the original 35mm negative.”

Onimasa comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 34.7 GB

Feature: 31.9 GB

Here’s the information provided about Tokyo Bordello's transfer, “HD restoration from the original 35mm negative.”

Tokyo Bordello comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 33.8 GB

Feature: 30.9 GB

Both films look excellent; flesh tones look healthy, colors look correct, and image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and there are no issues with digital noise reduction. Both discs are mislabeled and contain the film that is opposite of what is indicated on the packaging.

Audio: 5/5 (Both Films)

Each film comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in Japanese with removable English subtitles. Both films' audio tracks sound excellent; dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well-represented.

Extras:

Extras for Onimasa include a video essay by TokyoScope author Patrick Macias (12 minutes 34 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles) and an audio commentary with Japanese cinema scholar Jasper Sharp.

Extras for Tokyo Bordello include a video essay by Patrick Macias (12 minutes 43 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles) and an audio commentary with Jasper Sharp.

Other extras include a spot gloss slipcover (limited to 2,000 units) and a 16-page booklet with cast & crew information for both films, information about the transfers, and an essay titled Escaping the Flames written by Hayley Scanlon.

Summary:

Hideo Gosha directed Onimasa and Tokyo Bordello. He is most known for directing samurai films; notable films include Goyokin, The Wolves, and Hunter in the Dark.

Onimasa: Onimasa, the last heir of a samurai family and the leader of the Kiryuin clan, finds himself in a power struggle with his rivals when he takes the side of train workers on strike.

Onimasa was a pivotal film for Hideo Gosha and Toei, the company that produced it. While both were known for their male-driven jitsuroku eiga, a film like Onimasa would make the dramatic shift to putting the focus on the female characters. Onimasa is also significant for Hideo Gosha in another way; it was his first of three adaptations of a Tomiko Miyao novel; the other two films are Yôkirô and Oar.

Despite the significant role of women in the story, Onimasa, the protagonist, embodies the essence of masculinity. He’s a fearless character who gains respect because of his fairness and only uses intimidation when there are no other options. That said, he’s surrounded by three women of note: his wife, Uta, whose impulse is in her decision-making; his adoptive daughter, Matsue, who respects all that Onimasa has done for her; and his biological daughter with a mistress, Hanako.

All around, the cast are excellent in the roles, especially Tatsuya Nakadai (The Human Condition), whose portrayal of Onimasa serves as this film’s anchor. His performance embodies all the qualities typically associated with a yakuza boss, yet it also reveals a sense of humanity that adds greater depth to his character than is often found in similar roles. The most notable performance is Shima Iwashita's (The Demon) portrayal of Uta, a character that greatly diverged away from the type of roles she had played up to that point. That said, she delivers a remarkable performance that would forever reshape her career and the type of roles casting directors would offer her.

Cast in the role of Matsue is Masako Natsume, and she delivers a performance that perfectly captures her character's desire to please her adoptive parents while trying to forge a life outside of the family clan. It should be noted that Nobuko Sendô (Childhood Days) portrays Matsue as a young girl, and she delivers an equally compelling performance. Familiar faces round out the rest of the cast: Tetsurō Tamba (Three Outlaw Samurai), Tatsuo Umemiya (Graveyard of Honor), and Kōji Yakusho (Cure).

While not as prevalent as in other yakuza films from this era, moments when action and carnage appear in Onimasa are skillfully crafted and highly impactful. The main action set piece is saved for a bloody finale where Onimasa confronts a rival who's been the source of his trouble head-on, and the most brutal moment when it comes to carnage is a dogfighting sequence. The narrative is flawlessly constructed, and it does an exemplary job conveying characters' highs and lows. At almost 2 ½ hours in length, things move rather quickly, and there is never an issue with building momentum. Ultimately, Onimasa is an extraordinary film whose characters drive the story and whose fates stay with you long after its final image has faded offscreen.

Tokyo Bordello: A businessman who's incurred an insurmountable debt sells his daughter to a brothel in Tokyo's infamous red-light district.

Tokyo Bordello is based on a novel written by Shinichi Saitô that revolves around characters living in Yoshiwara, a red-light district established in 1617 that came to an end in 1958 when Japan outlawed prostitution. Although Tokyo Bordello uses Yoshiwara as the backdrop for its unfolding story, it is not a historical account except for one aspect: its finale, in which Yoshiwara suffers extensive damage from a fire.

Set in the 1910s, Tokyo Bordello is a period-set melodrama with exemplary production design. Its opening setup does a phenomenal job introducing the main players by giving them an ample amount of time to flesh out their individual stories. When it comes to pacing, things move at a leisurely pace that, fortunately, never affects any momentum.

Considering the subject matter, Tokyo Bordello is rather tame; it does not focus as much on the sex aspect of prostitution; instead, it shifts the focus to the other aspects of its characters' lives. The women in the Tokyo bordello endure difficult lives, and the film does not shy away from portraying the mental toll inflicted on them. Notably, the most erotic moment occurs during a lesbian sequence in which the protagonist is seduced by another prostitute, ultimately leading to a strong bond between them.

The cast are all excellent in the roles, in particular, Yûko Natori’s (Crest of Betrayal) portrayal of Hisano, a woman who came from an affluent background and was sold into prostitution. She perfectly transforms from a naive, frightened young woman into someone who’s confident and finds pleasure in the work she does. Another performance of note is Rino Katase (Yakuza Ladies) in the role of Kikugawa, a woman who escapes Yoshiwara after being married only to return when another woman steals her husband.

Although the visuals let the characters take center stage, there are a handful of striking moments, notably the finale, where flames engulf Yoshiwara. Another striking moment is a scene where a prostitute who’s lost her mind lies on the ground next to a goldfish flipping outside of its bowl. No matter what genre he worked in, Hideo Gosha's instincts as a filmmaker always elevated whatever film he worked on. Ultimately, Tokyo Bordello is an engrossing melodrama set in Yoshiwara that quickly grabs your attention and stays with you.

Courtesans & Criminals: The Underworld of Hideo Gosha is an excellent release from Film Movement that gives both films solid audio/video presentations and insightful extras. Highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer