Synopsis
A detective tries to outwit a jewel thief who has kidnapped the daughter of a jeweler to get to an exquisite diamond.
Black Lizard
1968 ‘黒蜥蜴’ Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Cast
Akihiro Miwa Isao Kimura Jun Usami Toshiko Kobayashi Mitsuko Takara Tetsuji Hattori Kyōichi Satō Ryuji Funakoshi Sōnosuke Oda Tadayuki Okamoto Isamu Shimizu Yoshio Naka Ryuta Shimizu Ryûsuke Kita Jun Kashima Ryokutarô Hanai Toshiyuki Watanabe Teruko Higa Midori Kashiwagi Keiko Shirakawa Kenji Sonoda Akio Kashi Kosaku Yamada Akie Kokubu Kōsaku Yamayoshi Tsubaki Yunji Maki Izumi Hideaki Komori Shuichi Oki Show All…
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Alternative Titles
Le lézard noir, Kuro tokage, Kurotokage, El lagarto negro, Черная ящерица, Le Lézard noir, 검은 도마뱀
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Theatrical
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Japan
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Japan
31 Jul 1968
- Theatrical
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A pure queer pulp fantasy. Fukasaku's trademark hyperactive camera usually works to create a sense of tense realism, but here, it just accentuates the film's Fujicolor comic book energy, coming off like a cross between Suzuki and Franco. He's clearly drawing from the Nikkatsu NewAction well (Hasebe's Black Tight Killers in particular), but giving those disposable youth movies a darker, artier twist. Love the Aubrey Beardsley-themed club and LOVE Akihira Miwa's amazing performance as Black Lizard. Why is this still stuck in VHS purgatory??
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Action! - The Way of the Yakuza: The Turbulent Battles of Fukasaku
After turning up the comedy in his previous film, Fukasaku dives headfirst into the surrealism that has always been present in his work.
However, never before has it been quite as obvious as it is in this film, which often falls somewhere between "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (without the musical) and a Lynch film. Not only does Dowaki's cinematography, aided by Uraoka's editing, create an ethereal atmosphere, which is heightened by Maruyama's otherwordly portrayal as the Black Lizard. He possesses and lends such sassiness to the character, but the way she moves, her gestures, and the entire setting make it feel as if it is not set…
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After all, I have no true identity.
Black Lizard is nothing short of miraculous. It's every at once, from a tragic romance between an upright police detective and a master criminal whose gender is as fluid as her identity, to a wild action movie featuring kidnappings, hordes of henchmen, and a snake-throwing assassin, to a deranged fantasy highlighted by costumed little people and once-living "dolls," preserved in a warped sort of human zoo, all for the pleasure of their pleasantly unhinged master, the Black Lizard herself.
As the Black Lizard, famed singer and drag performer Akihiro Maruyama (who I think uses he/him pronouns, so that's what I'll use here — please let me know if that's incorrect, and I'll fix…
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True love transforms you forever.
There’s a lot to talk about here - the lush earthy color scheme (with occasional neon pop), the ever-shifting queer romance power dynamics, the fact that Black Lizard herself might be one of the best antagonists (if we can even call her that) ever, those damn location title cards (!!!) - but I woke up this morning still thinking about the hyper-kinetic car chase in the middle. It’s nothing but jittery camera and quick cuts that capture the feeling of how you have to be right on the edge of completely losing control in that scenario at any moment. Then again, that could be a great metaphor for the entire movie: you’re barely in control once pure emotion takes over, so just grab onto the wheel and try to make sure nobody runs you off the track.
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I loved the Mishima philosophical musings about beauty and violence and death and power grafted onto the pulp skeleton of a flamboyant female super criminal and the master detective determined to take her down. The sets, featuring some Aubrey Beardsley artwork and all sorts of comic book rainbow-vomit hues, charmed me as much as Akihiro Maruyama's performance as ultra-thief Black Lizard. A man in drag plays a very feminine glamorous role with zero winking at the camera? In 1968? IN JAPAN? Somebody slap me because I think I slipped into a Mishima fever dream.
Black Lizard feels director like Kinji Fukasaku (of Battle Royale and Battle Without Honor and Humanity fame) tapped Mishima's skull and splattered his raw thoughts onto…
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beauty is mutable. you can freeze it, preserve that moment, but that traps you just as permanently. the only option is to transform along with it.
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Campy crime musical with human dolls and clever schemes. I want a reptilian name.
Pride count: 26/30
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Everything Everywhere All At Once in a drag queen jewel heistess’s hazy den of iniquity.
Sensationally colourful.
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Other than Tora Tora Tora, this was probably the last major Kinji Fukasaku movie I still needed to see. I’d seen the ‘62 Umetsugu adaptation, but unsurprisingly, Fukasaku’s film leans more heavily into the ero-guro perversion of the Edogawa Rampo story. This version is very arch and playful in tone, a descendant of Fritz Lang’s Dr. Mabuse films and earlier Feuillade serials with Black Lizard as the mastermind. The stunt casting of famous drag queen Akihiro Maruyama (still going at 86!) as Black Lizard works beautifully, my favorite moment is her absolute delight at being pursued by the famous Detective Kogoro Akechi. Not one of Fukasaku’s best, but a fascinating diversion into Rampo land.
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In love, we are all thieves. A direct hit of cool, classy camp and a glowing entry in the MCU (Mishima Cinematic Universe). Every scene is either brimming with deft cartoonish excitement or this sense of heightened poetry, characters will deliver soliloquies on the allure of crime under the oppression of nightfall and then in the next moment will take off some wacky disguise. I could watch a hundred movies just like it.
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"The white sheet of tedium suddenly smolders to reveal the profile of crime."
My only exposure to the dialogue here is via subtitles, but from what I could tell the writing was delightfully poetic (at the very least, the translator was having fun), but above and beyond that, Black Lizard is primarily compelling to me as a text about alterity and queerness.
Adapted from a play by Yukio Mishima, the story revolves around the eponymous Black Lizard, a criminal mastermind hellbent on turning the most beautiful specimens of humanity into dolls for her collection. The Black Lizard is played by the famous drag queen Akihiro Miwa (in drag for the whole performance, except arguably when the character disguises herself in…
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