The Lizard (1972) poster
1972 · wuxia · shaw-brothers · thief

The Lizard

Directed by Chor Yuen1h 41m1972
  • kinetic

He steals from the rich and gives to the poor! Like Robin Hood, the title hero of The Lizard is a philanthropic thief, except the Lizard makes his rounds in 1930s Shanghai. Corrupt police chief Chen Can (Law Lit) is assigned to bring down the Lizard to appease the sinister Japanese forces, but the Lizard constantly eludes his grasp. Little does Chen Can know that the wily thief actually works for him! The Lizard's true identity is the mousy Cheng Long (Ngok Wah), who dons a mask and takes to the streets to spread his righteous message.

Our read · The Lizard (1972) reads as a neutral, breathless, inventive wuxia · shaw-brothers · thief entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook. Hand-scored on twelve axes of taste — mood, pacing, weirdness, hope, stakes, humour, reality, density, warmth, auteur, intensity, and era — with a derived palette drawn from its dominant cinematography.

Cast
Lo LiehElliot Ngok WahConnie Chan Po-ChuYang Chi-ChingKu Wen-Chung
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The shape of The Lizard

DNA · twelve axes

The reading.

Each axis is hand-scored — not derived from votes or genre averages. The marker shows where this film sits; the gradient fill uses the film's own cinematography palette.

Mood · HeavyCosy
Pacing · Slow-burnKinetic
Intensity · GentleExtreme
Weirdness · ConventionalSurreal
Hope · NihilisticRedemptive
Stakes · IntimateEpic
Humour · NoneBroad
Reality · GroundedFantastical
Density · SparseTwisty
Warmth · ColdTender
Auteur · TransparentSignature
Nearest by DNA

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Geometric closeness in the twelve-axis space — pure DNA distance, not “people also liked.” Distance numbers are listed under each title for sceners who like to know the maths.

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