The cunning detective Akeichi must foil a kidnapping plot orchestrated by the notorious jewel thief known as Black Lizard.
Acting
Machiko Kyō devours scenery as the gender-bending Black Lizard.
Direction
Inoue's expressionist shadows meet kabuki dramatics.
Costume
Black Lizard's wardrobe: camp iconography before camp had a name.
Director
Umetsugu Inoue
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Yukio Mishima himself adapted his own 1934 novel for the screen, reportedly thrilled by the theatrical excess.
Machiko Kyō's performance as a female actress playing a man playing a woman made this an underground queer classic decades later.
JP
