Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro; animated adventure, Japan, 1979; D: Hayao Miyazaki, S: Yasuo Yamada, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Sumi Shimamoto, Makio Inuoe, Eiko Masuyama
Master thief Lupin III and his colleague Daisuke Jigen manage to rob a casino and escape, but once in the car, they realize the entire stolen money is counterfeit, and therefore worthless. In order to discover the counterfeiters, the two of them drive with their car to the Duchy of Cagliostro, the smallest country of the UN. On the road, Lupin spots a girl, Clarisse, being chased by a group of criminals, and tries to save her, but unsuccessfully, since they are able to kidnap her. But Clarisse left Lupin a ring and he remembered that she is the princess who saved his life many years ago, so he decides to rescue her when he finds out the evil Count of Cagliostro is keeping her locked in his castle to forcefully marry her. Together with inspector Zenigata, Lupin rescues Clarisse and discovers the ancient town, while Cagliostro gets killed.
"The Castle of Cagliostro", the first feature length anime film directed by Hayao Miyazaki and the best achievement where the character Lupin III appeared in, is a thoroughbred example of a swashbuckling adventure with aesthetic explorer spirit and mood, as well as a mild touch of fantasy. The opening 25 minutes are the highlight, humorous and amazing thanks to three moments — 1) Lupin in his car throwing out bundles of worthless counterfeit money on the road; 2) in the opulent Duchy of Cagliostro, Lupin and Daisuke change the tire of their car on the meadow, spot a woman in a wedding dress fleeing in a car, passing by them, and then another car with criminals chasing her, so the two just instinctively go to save her without knowing any context; 3) a Cagliostro soldier places a cigarette towards the laser movement detectors in the garden that active and light said cigarette—those are three phenomenal sequences that ignite a huge creative lift-off, but after them, the movie runs out of steam, inspiration and ingenuity, and the remaining 70 minutes are just your standard Lupin adventure on autopilot. There are action and explosion scenes, but nothing ever comes close to that playfulness in the opening act, as the rest settles only for ordinary plot points running on a predictable narrative treadmill. Miyazaki still displays an elegant narration and simple crafting that combines fun, drama, adventure, archetype about heroes—the whole story is basically a knight saving a princess in distress—and wonderful animation. The eclectic finale is slightly unsatisfactory and the humor understated, yet "Cagliostro" remains a very good anime with all the future Miyazaki elements in raw form (for instance, Clarisse looks almost exactly like "Nausicaa").
"The Castle of Cagliostro", the first feature length anime film directed by Hayao Miyazaki and the best achievement where the character Lupin III appeared in, is a thoroughbred example of a swashbuckling adventure with aesthetic explorer spirit and mood, as well as a mild touch of fantasy. The opening 25 minutes are the highlight, humorous and amazing thanks to three moments — 1) Lupin in his car throwing out bundles of worthless counterfeit money on the road; 2) in the opulent Duchy of Cagliostro, Lupin and Daisuke change the tire of their car on the meadow, spot a woman in a wedding dress fleeing in a car, passing by them, and then another car with criminals chasing her, so the two just instinctively go to save her without knowing any context; 3) a Cagliostro soldier places a cigarette towards the laser movement detectors in the garden that active and light said cigarette—those are three phenomenal sequences that ignite a huge creative lift-off, but after them, the movie runs out of steam, inspiration and ingenuity, and the remaining 70 minutes are just your standard Lupin adventure on autopilot. There are action and explosion scenes, but nothing ever comes close to that playfulness in the opening act, as the rest settles only for ordinary plot points running on a predictable narrative treadmill. Miyazaki still displays an elegant narration and simple crafting that combines fun, drama, adventure, archetype about heroes—the whole story is basically a knight saving a princess in distress—and wonderful animation. The eclectic finale is slightly unsatisfactory and the humor understated, yet "Cagliostro" remains a very good anime with all the future Miyazaki elements in raw form (for instance, Clarisse looks almost exactly like "Nausicaa").
Grade:+++
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