Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writers: Hayao Miyazaki,
Harauya Yamazaki, Monkey Punch (graphic novel), Môrisu Ruburan (characters)
Starring: Sean Barker,
Dorothy Melendrez, Ivan Buckley, Ruby Marlowe, Sparky Thornton, Richard Barnes
“Lupin the Third: The Castle
of Cagliostro” is the first feature length film by master animation director
Hayao Miyazaki. The Oscar-winning animator directed the first television series
of “Lupin the Third” as well as two episodes of the second series. He then went
on to create Studio Ghibli, responsible for such amazing movies as “Spirited
Away”, “Princess Mononoke”, “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” and “My
Neighbor Totoro”.
“Lupin III”, based on a
Manga by Monkey Punch that follows the adventures of the grandson of Arsene
Lupin from Maurice LeBlanc’s books, is not the strongest hero Miyazaki has
tackled in his career, but he is one of the most popular. He’s a gentleman
thief who is also a detective of sorts. The film is filled with a good amount
of humor and a great deal of action.
The DVD case contains a quotation from Steven Spielberg claiming it as “…one
of the greatest adventure movies of all time.” This quote is not verified,
according to Wikipedia; but the movie is certainly in the same spirit of
Spielberg’s Indiana Jones movies and his recent “The Adventures of Tin Tin”.
The movie embraces the
somewhat chaotic storytelling style of Japanese anime in the 70s and 80s. This
might be jarring for modern American audiences, but if you let the movie be
itself, you can relax into it and enjoy. It also includes the typical opening
and ending title songs of most Japanese anime, a tradition that will seem hokey
to American eyes and ears, but unavoidable with Japanese animation from that
time period. It’s all in good fun, though.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment