"The Black Lizard"
1968
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku

A hilarious caper movie written originally for the stage by Yukio Mishima; the plot concerns a female jewel thief who kidnaps nubile youths and ferries them to a glitzoid secret island. There she turns them into naked love statues--one of them bizarrely played by Mishima himself. Miss Lizard is portrayed by the transvestite actor Akihiro Miwa, who flounces around in an impossible collection of boas and chokers and turns every flourish of her cigarette holder into an over-the-top arabesque. Called "a tale of love, passion, greed and necrophilia" by the New York Times, and "Naughty Japanese noir. Like something by Almodovar or John Waters" (Village Voice). Japanese with English subtitles.  90 minutes.