Lupin Iii The Castle Of Cagliostro (1979)

[Dunstan Jomphe]

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People familiar with my blog know my love for Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) is no secret. It ties with Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984) as my favorite Hayao Miyazaki film, and is among my top ten favorite movies of all time. I've written here and there on it (both on Tumblr and my IMDB account), but I've never really gone into depth as to what makes this movie so special, why it's unjustly ranked as one of Miyazaki's weakest films.

I mainly write this review because I recently had a discussion with an acquaintance at work who admitted to watching all of Miyazaki's film work except for this film. He had no clue what it was about, erroneously described it as "the detective film", and said it "looked stupid" because of the cheap ass cover art for the MANGA release. He is likely not the only one who has avoided Cagliostro for those reasons, and I am here hoping to persuade those few of you not to judge a movie by crappy cover art.

For those not in the know, Lupin III is a long-running manga/anime franchise dating back to the late 60s. It concerns the exploits of the Japanese grandson of literary thief Arsene Lupin and his rag tag gang as they are chased across the globe by Inspector Zenigata, an Interpol detective who's obsessed with bringing Lupin III to justice. While the series has gone into dramatic territory now and then, it's mostly comedic and best described as James Bond meets the Pink Panther meets Indiana Jones. Though the first TV adaptation of the manga was originally unsuccessful due to being too adult, it became immensely popular through reruns and a second series was made, along with the franchise's first theatrical film, The Mystery of Mamo (1978).

After the success of the show and the movie, another film was given the green light. The writer and director was the thirty-eight year old Hayao Miyazaki, and the film was The Castle of Cagliostro. It tanked upon its initial release due to being so far removed from the surreal, seedy, and manic tone of the usual Lupin fare, but over the years audiences have warmed to it and Cagliostro is now rightfully considered an anime classic.

At least, it's considered a classic in some circles. Just as Lupin fans in 1979 were put off by the film's romantic tone, fans of Miyazaki are estranged by how unlike the film is to the likes of My Neighbor Totoro (1988) or Spirited Away (2001). I urge them to put those expectations out of their minds when approaching this film, which is more of a farewell to Miyazaki's early career in television with a few signs of the greater things to come.

Little to no beforehand knowledge of Lupin III is required to understand Cagliostro. It's plot is simple: after stealing bagfuls of counterfeit money from a casino, master thief Lupin (Yasuo Yamada) and laid back crack shot Jigen (Kiyoshi Kobayashi) decide to find the source of these "goat bills", the duchy of Cagliostro. Being Europe's smallest country and looking fairy tale perfect, few know about or suspect the country's dark secrets which involve murder as well as the production of counterfeit cash, both of which Lupin is aware due to a failed attempt at locating the source of the goat bills in his youth.

As they drive into the country, the two men witness a young woman in a bridal gown being pursued by a car full of menacing henchmen. She turns out to be the princess Clarisse (Sumi Shimamoto, who would later play Nausicaa), who is being forced into marrying the current regent, Count Caglistro (Tar Ishida). Unable to resist a good heist or a beautiful lady in distress, Lupin decides to foil the Count's counterfeiting schemes and marriage with the additional help of femme fatale (and his on-off lover) Fujiko (Eiko Masuyama) and the stoic samurai Goemon (Makio Inoue), all the while being pursued by his usual nemesis, the Inspector Zenigata (Goro Naya), who is torn between bringing Lupin to justice and teaming up with him to take down the greater evil represented by the Count.

In her book on Miyazaki's filmography, Helen McCarthy describes the film as a "honeymoon movie", a "consummation" of its director's dreams on the grand scale. I don't think any other movie in Miyazaki's filmography is as fun as Cagliostro. It's got slapstick, car chases (including one of the greatest car chases ever put to film, I might add), ninja assassins, daring escapes, European castles, crashed weddings, and a Hitchcockian climax inside a clock tower for the cherry on top.

As fun as Cagliostro is, there is a bittersweet quality running concurrent to its breeziness. It is equally escapist and elegiac, and the latter trait comes from Miyazaki's portrayal of Lupin as a world-weary gentleman thief who seems like he wants more than just another heist or adventure. At one point, he disdainfully discusses his younger years as a skirt chasing and overconfident fool.

This scene has caused many fans to consider this Lupin to be much older, maybe a bit past his prime. Instead of viewing Clarisse as a potential sex object as he would have in the many television series, he never expects sexual favors in return for his actions and reluctantly decides against returning her clinch at the end of the film, opting for a platonic forehead kiss instead. For some Lupin fans, this gentler rendition of Lupin makes him a less interesting character, but I would disagree. When viewed as character development, this makes him more mufti-faceted and poignant.

Ideas which would be fleshed out in Miyazaki's later work are sketched out here. The relationship between the innocent Clarisse and the worldly Fujiko prefigures similar dynamics between Nausicaa and Kushana in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984), or Fio and Gina in Porco Rosso (1992). Despite being put in distress for most of the film, Clarisse has an inner strength which makes her the prototypical Ghibli heroine (I've already written on her in another article, if you are interested).

Of course, there are some differences with his later work as well. The Count is far from the morally ambiguous antagonists Miyazaki would become known for. He's cruel, murderous, greedy, and absolutely evil. Nuanced and redeemable he is not, but as far as traditional villainy goes, he is threatening and a worthy opponent for our hero. There's also a lot more slapstick than one would associate with Miyazaki, but it's done so well that who cares? And then there's the animation, which, while far from bad, is not nearly as gorgeous as that found in the Ghibli films. Still, it is good enough and the backgrounds are beautiful.

Daniel, did you know about this fan created commentary track for Cagliostro?

-iii-castle-of-cagliostro.html

I've heard that's it's quite informative although I haven't yet listened to it myself.

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