From the Queue: 'Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro'

by Brian Kesler

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the great storytellers; his imagination is unsurpassed. Films like 'Spirited Away,' and 'Ponyo' have taken us to worlds and introduced us to characters and creatures nobody but the brilliant mind of Miyazaki could dream up. He got his start directing the third movie in the 'Lupin the Third' series. In Japan, 'Lupin the Third' is unimaginably popular, and it has been for over forty years. It started as a manga (comic book) series, which was a spin-off of a series of novels, and has been translated into several films, animated and live action, four television series, yearly television specials, video games, and even a musical.

In this 'Lupin' film, we have the great high-strung action of the manga series intertwined with the visual imagination of Miyazaki. Lupin is the world's greatest thief, a cocksure goof off who likes to send a calling card to warn the owners of desired items of his intentions to rob them. He does this to make the attempt more challenging and fun for him and his sidekick, Daisuke. This time, his victim is the evil Count Cagliostro, who is holding a beautiful princess captive in a tall tower and plans to use her to discover the secret treasure of the Castle of Cagliostro. Lupin wants the treasure, and the girl.

From its very first moments this movie is an electrifying adventure. The great advantage of animation is that impossible situations can be realized and believed: When Lupin drives his little yellow car up a steep, rocky cliff to surpass the enemy, or when he looses his grip as he's climbing the castle wall and runs down the wall to keep from falling to his death, or in my favorite scene, when he and the count sword fight while maneuvering through the gears of an enormous clock tower. The final sequence, in  which the princess is cornered and must sidle along the minute and hour hands of the clock may remind some viewers of a more recent film, 'Hugo.'

I haven't seen the other 'Lupin' films, or any of the television series, but I'd imagine this is the best, if not only for Miyazaki's great talent at realizing the intricacies of his mind, limited only by holding true to the nature of the original work. This film seems like your run of the mill 1970s action flick, but the story maneuvers and twists in ways you'd never have guessed. That unpredictability, that constant discovery and total immersion is, I've decided, the cause of great admiration for Japanese storytelling in the United States. It is so unlike American storytelling, which almost always follows a pattern. Miyazaki is the pinnacle Japanese storyteller, along with Kurosawa. His films remind us what storytelling was invented for in the first place: Distinct and lively characters set against the backdrop and a plot of pure imagination.