Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro (Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro)
Hilal - ages 13+
Hayao Miyazaki / Feature Narrative / Japan / 1979 / 100 min / Colour / HDCAM
In Japanese / Arabic, English subtitles
Interests: Animation
No Premiere
Synopsis
Special Screening - Focus on Anime
The second film based on a famous monkey Punch manga that also inspired two successful TV series, ‘Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro’ marks the theatrical debut of legendary director Hayao Miyazaki.
After opening with a pyrotechnic heist sequence in Monaco, the action moves to the idyllic country of Cagliostro, where an evil count is holding a beautiful princess captive. With the help of his usual partners-in-crime, his former girlfriend, and his longtime nemesis Inspector Zenigata, Lupin – always the gentleman thief (here more refined than the brazen manga character) – will solve the mystery of Cagliostro’s hidden treasure and free the damsel in distress.
Rife with slapstick and mayhem, this early film already reveals the hallmarks of Miyazaki’s style – keen attention to detail (a phenomenal mix of classical architecture and high-tech modern elements full of secret weapons, mysterious dungeons and claw-fingered ninja-like assassins), and use of surprising camera angles, especially in the spectacular car chases featuring Lupin’s signature Fiat 500.
‘Akogare no Paris’ (‘the Paris of our dreams’) is a Japanese phrase that refers to the capability of manga animators to re-imagine a location in an original mix of real and fantastical elements that defy architectural, historical, cultural and geographical boundaries. In this feast for the eyes, Miyazaki serves up the Europe of his dreams.
About the Directors
Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo in 1941. He directed his first feature film in 1979. His lengthy career in animation includes the films ‘Laputa: Castle in the Sky’ (1986), ‘Princess Mononoke’ (1997) and ‘Spirited Away’ (2001), an international phenomenon that broke every Japanese box-office record, won the Golden Bear at the Berlinale and received an Oscar in 2003.
Credits
- Director
- Hayao Miyazaki
- Screenwriter
- Hayao Miyazaki, Haruya Yamazaki
- Producer
- Testsuo Katayama
- Editor
- Masatoshi Tsurubuchi
- Music
- Yuji Ohno
- Cinematographer
- Hirotaka Takahashi
- Production Company
- TMS Entertainment Co. Ltd.
- Cast
- Yasuo Yamada, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Makio Inoue, Eiko Masuyama, Goro Naya, Sumi Shimamoto, Tarō Ishida