Black Lizard — and Blind Beasts and Malformed Men!

Pub date March 18, 2008
SectionPixel Vision

By Matt Sussman

In honor of the inauguration of the new screening series The Revival House, I recently sang the lavender praises of Kinji Fukasaku’s Black Lizard (1968). But when space is limited, you sometimes can’t cram in every tidbit of trivial erratum. That’s what blogs are for, right?

Fukasaku so enjoyed working with Akihiro Miwa that the two teamed up a year later to adapt another Mishima play, Black Rose Mansion (Kuro Bara no Yakata) for the silver screen. Miwa’s talents as a singer — click here to see a clip of her singing in the movie — are more fully utilized in her role as Ryuko, the sultry house chanteuse of the titular posh men’s club.

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Miwa in Black Rose Mansion