Infamousta brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

tenshi_ippikiookami Rampo Edogawa is one of the most famous writers of Japan, not winner of any Nobel prize (for that we have the award nominee Yukio Mishima's more than weird cameo in this movie, who also adapts the story) but creator of the most famous Japanese detective, Akechi Kogoro, and father of the ero-grotesque genre in the country."Black Lizard" is one in the series of Akechi Kogoro's novels, and the movie has been able to adapt to the screen the spirit of Edogawa's writing. For that, it would be already an interesting movie, as Edogawa had a knack for the grotesque and bizarre, but the movie is interesting for what it is: a mystery, a battle of wits, with a couple of characters who are a lot of fun to be with: Akechi and the Black Lizard.The story is pretty basic: the criminal "Black Lizard" wants to kidnap a jeweler's daughter, Sanae, and the jeweler contracts Akechi Kogoro to protect her. Cue the Black Lizard trying to kidnap the girl in different and very original ways, and Akechi trying to stop the criminal from doing so.The atmosphere, dark and decadent, the music, the actors way of playing the characters, the 60s Japan, way different from nowadays... Fukusaku does a great job of bringing Edogawa's world to life. The way Akechi and Black Lizard meet and tease each other continuously (this movie is more in the vein of "Columbo", the detective and the criminal meeting throughout the movie and having very entertaining dialogues)... All makes for a very engrossing environment, and a really entertaining time at the movies. As with almost all of Edogawa's characters, the criminal is the most interesting character, and Akihiro Miwa does a great job of making an ambiguous character we care for. Isao Kimura as Akechi just keeps a stoic countenance, impassive and kind of heartless.A very good movie, with a very particular atmosphere and scenery.

The_Void This obscure Japanese thriller would seem to have a very good reputation among cult fans; and while I can see the appeal of the film, I do have to say that I'm surprised by all the praise it gets as aside from the odd memorable moment; the film is a mostly flawed piece. Black Lizard is directed by Kinji Fukasaku; the director who would go on to direct the seminal masterpiece Battle Royale in 2000. The film is basically a heist movie; although it often gets labelled as a comedy and that is mainly down to the thick layer of absurd comedy emanating from the central villain; although anyone going into this film expecting to laugh will be disappointed. The central character is named 'Black Lizard' - a thief with a penchant for jewels. She sets her sights on a diamond named "The Star of Egypt" and in order to get to it, kidnaps the owner's daughter and asks for the jewel in ransom. The detective on the case is named Akechi; and after a card game together, the two develop a mutual respect; and Black Lizard falls in love with the detective.The most bizarre thing about this film is the casting of transvestite Akihiro Miwa in the lead role. Initially, I was sure that the central character was a transvestite; but as the film went on, it seemed to suggest more that the character is actually a woman, although there are some suggestions that maybe that isn't the case. The actor's performance would have been quite good if the character was meant to be a man in fact; but he really doesn't convince as a woman, and while I appreciate the idea of putting him in the lead role; I don't think it was a very good one. The plot has rather a lot to it and moves very quickly considering the running time of the film which is definitely to it's credit; although at times it does move a bit too quickly and the film does not have time to really put forward all of it's ideas. This is mainly at the expense of the characters; as we are not made to care about anyone in the film, which leaves the whole thing feeling a bit cold. There's some good style on display, however, and that's one of the main positives. Overall, this film might be of interest to some but I wasn't very impressed with it!

amnesie I just don't get the positive comments this film gets. I've seen about a dozen Fukasaku Kinji movies, and this by far is the worst in the bunch. I was really looking forward to watching this, as I really enjoyed other films from this director, but this one sadly is a big disappointment.The plot is so incredibly predictable it's almost laughable, and I have no sympathy whatsoever for the main characters, especially the "black lizard" which is one of the worst villains I've seen in a film so far. She's such a cliché she could easily star in an Austin Powers film! Also, the dialogs between the main detective and the "evil-rich-megalomaniac" Black Lizard, which some people seem to appreciate (judging from other reviews on this site), to me sounds empty and lifeless. To sum up: no action, incredibly predictable story, boring dialog, and not enough 60s kitsch to make us forget how bad the whole thing is...If you want to see great Fukasaku films, watch the Yakuza Papers instead!

telematic I watched this movie yesterday after seeing all the great comments from everyone and the high rating, but I must say I was very disappointed. It is not a comedy, it has some funny scenes but it's not a funny movie, the transvestite actor had very little woman skills looking more like a drag-queen, it could have been a lot more specially since it was directed by one of the masters but it failed to deliver. The story had flaws and the only humour in the movie was due to the fact that the characters were stupid. I think this movie should have been a Japanese pink-panther kind of movie.This is the first Kinji movie that I watch and would not recommend. I'll give it 5/10. (not bad but not worth the time if you have other options)