Rupan sansei: Kariosutoro no shiro

Plot synopsis:
Master thief Arsène Lupin III and his colleague, Daisuke Jigen, flee the Monte Carlo Casino with huge quantities of stolen money. They escape in Lupin's Fiat 500, but Lupin recognizes the bills as distinctively high-quality counterfeits. Deciding to seek out the source, they head to the Grand Duchy of Cagliostro, the alleged wellspring of the counterfeits.
Shortly after arriving, they rescue a young woman being pursued by a gang of thugs, with her and Lupin falling off a cliff while escaping. Lupin is knocked unconscious, and the woman captured, but she leaves him a signet ring. Lupin recognizes the woman as Clarisse, the princess of Cagliostro, who will soon be married to Count Cagliostro, the country's regent. The Count's arranged marriage will cement his power and recover the fabled ancient treasure of Cagliostro, for which he needs both his and Clarisse's ancestral rings.
A squad of assassins attack Lupin and Jigen at their inn but fail to kill them or recover the ring. Lupin leaves his calling card on the back of Jodo, the Count's butler and chief assassin, announcing he is going to steal Clarisse. Lupin summons Goemon Ishikawa XIII to aid their quest to rescue the princess and tips off his longtime pursuer, Inspector Koichi Zenigata, to his whereabouts to provide a distraction. Zenigata's presence and a party give Lupin enough time to sneak into the castle. There he finds his on-off lover, Fujiko Mine, posing as Clarisse's lady-in-waiting, who tells him where the princess is being held. Lupin makes his way to Clarisse and returns her ring, vowing to help her to escape. Before he can act, the Count drops Lupin down a trapdoor into the castle's catacombs, as Lupin had planned. Lupin mocks the Count through the ring he gave to Clarisse – a fake containing a transmitter – and the Count sends three assassins to retrieve the real ring.
Lupin encounters Zenigata, who was accidentally dropped down earlier, and they form a pact to help each other escape. After overpowering the assassins, they escape into a room full of printing presses — the source of the counterfeits. Zenigata wants to collect evidence, but Lupin points out they must escape the castle first. They start a fire as a distraction and steal the Count's autogyro. However, as they attempt to rescue Clarisse, Lupin is shot. Clarisse offers the ring to the Count in exchange for Lupin's life. After securing the ring, the Count's attempt at betrayal is foiled when Fujiko's actions allow her, Lupin, and Zenigata to flee. As Lupin recovers from his injuries, Zenigata attempts to convince his superiors at Interpol to prosecute the Count for counterfeiting, but fearing political repercussions, they halt the investigation and remove him from the case. Meanwhile, Lupin intends to stop the wedding and rescue the princess. He also reveals his reasons for rescuing Clarisse to Jigen, Goemon and her former groundskeeper — as a young girl, she had saved his life during his unsuccessful first attempt to find the source of the counterfeit bills ten years earlier. Fujiko tips off Lupin on a way to sneak into the castle, and forms a plan with Zenigata to publicly reveal the counterfeiting operation under the cover of pursuing Lupin.
The wedding appears to go as planned with a drugged Clarisse until Lupin's "ghost" disrupts the ceremony, and despite the Count's precautions Lupin makes off with both Clarisse and the Count's rings. Meanwhile, Zenigata and his squadron arrive in the chaos and the inspector leads Fujiko, posing as a television reporter, to the Count's counterfeiting facility to expose the operation to the world. The Count pursues Lupin and Clarisse to the face of the castle's clock tower. Lupin is forced to surrender the rings to save Clarisse, and they are both knocked into the lake surrounding the tower. After using the rings to reveal the secret of Cagliostro, the Count is killed by the mechanism unveiling the treasure. Lupin and Clarisse watch as the lake around the castle drains to reveal exquisite ancient Roman ruins — the true treasure of Cagliostro. Lupin and his friends bid farewell to Clarisse, now the rightful ruler of Cagliostro. With Zenigata pursuing them again (for the crime of "stealing Clarisse's heart") and Fujiko fleeing with the plates from counterfeit printing presses, Lupin and the gang drive out of Cagliostro, with the police close behind them.

Tags: romantic, action, entertaining

Review:
Now, I knew this movie was a Miyazaki film, but the fact that I'd never even SEEN or READ Lupin the series made me veeery hesitant to check this movie out.
I didn't expect it to play out like a regular Miyazaki film, but it did in every aspect I can think of: the animation style, the facial expressions, the plot, storyline and script, and the overall feel of the movie screamed Miyazaki.
With world name director Miyazaki (few of his movies rank under 9 even on this database), the highly successful Lupin cast and the angelic Shimamoto as Clarisse, who WOULD believe it failed?
"The Castle Of Cagliostro"(TCOC) from 1979 is the grand debut Hayao Miyazaki, one of the world`s finest filmmakers and a master of anime.
The second big screen outing of Lupin III is already one of the best Anime movies ever made, while rivalling anything Disney or Pixar has to offer.
He's also rather wacky and buffoonish, which makes his antics a joy to watch.Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle), in his movie debut, tones down the out of control wackiness of the Lupin III TV show and gives Lupin a rather decent plot to dig his teeth into.
Only one place in the world is known to make these counterfeits and Lupin's underworld knowledge leads them to the tiny European country of Cagliostro (think Luxemburg, only much, much smaller).Half a moment after crossing the border, Lupin and Jigen are involved in a car chase and rescue the Lady Clarisse from a bunch of goons.
Too many animated movies disorientate the audience with frenetic direction and over-indulgence, but Castle Of Cagliostro works so much better by taking its time and choosing the best angles to cover the action.
His trademark flying machines and overeating scenes make their first big screen appearance here.Far from his typical sub-genre of eco-friendly animation, Miyazaki is obviously a big fan of Lupin and has made a movie that refuses to be missed.
Even Spielberg called CoC "one of the best adventure movies ever." Any fan of Miyazaki should check out this film immediately.One should be aware that the Maurice Leblanc estate doesn't entirely approve of the Lupin III franchise.
The Manga release of this film was entirely re-dubbed in English with Lupin restored but the new Optimum DVD uses the original English voice actors..
There is so much movement (more than some of Miyazaki's later films), and there are some truly incredible "set" pieces (Lupin scaling a sheer castle wall, for instance).
I swear I saw this movie when I was a kid, but I always feel that way when I watch Miyazaki's films.
A roguish thief, Lupin III, attempts to save the Lady Clarisse de Cagliostro from an evil Count, both of them well aware that she holds the secret to a legendary hidden treasure.The animation is, unsurprisingly, much less sophisticated than in the later Studio Ghibli films, or even those released only a few years after such as "Nausicaa".
However, the quality is still very high and Miyazaki's trademark attention to detail, particularly with machines, is noticeable already.The character animation is much broader and more obviously cartoon-like but this matches the very light tone of the film - this is an all-out action comedy adventure, after all!
The details in the film give it a very European feel, from the costumes to the cars (wonderfully animated Fiat 500 and Citroen 2CV), and I was most reminded of Herge's "Tintin" adventure series.This film is good fun, though I did find the pacing a little uneven, and particularly recommended to those who enjoy their animated films a bit simpler and more conventional than most of Studio Ghibli's output..
As it progress, you are brought along to experience the world of Lupin adventure.Its really hard to find fault in a movie that delivers such great feeling.
Rupan sansei:Kariosutoro no shiro-Lupin the third:the castle of Cagliostro in English-is a movie classic,but let's start from the beginning.Lupin the third was created by Japanese mangaka Monkey Punch.After a colossal success on paper,the franchise has moved into three anime series of equal success and it's still present nowadays thanks to the animated movies."Cagliostro" was the first of this new incarnationFirst of all,let's introduce the characters: Lupin III is the Japanese descendant of famous french thief Arsene Lupin,or so he claims to be.The world's greatest thief,he's also a master of disguise.Clownish and bumbling,he's always tracked down by inspector Zenigata,who always fail to capture him.It's not his fault tho,since Lupin also has escape skills of superhuman ability.
Goemon is quiet and silent,and doesn't trust women.Seeing Fujiko,he does have a point,actuallyFujiko Mine:Beautiful and highly skilled woman,she always uses her feminine wiles to their full advantages.She's very dangerous and her only wish is to become richer and richer.Lupin is madly in love with her,which causes him to almost always lose everything he gets.Fujiko is a excellent thief and probably,the smartest of the bunch.Inspector Zenigata:a Japanese Interpol inspector,hes constantly frustrated by Lupin's ability to escape his highly intelligent traps.But he's so devoted to capturing the world's most wanted thief that he never gives up,even tho he always end up at biting the dustOK,you pretty much got it,don't you?The synopsis is as simple as it gets,but what makes Lupin so special is the excellent mix of all those ingredients:exotic places,immense treasures,lovely ladies,lots of well-paced action,incredible escapes and good laughs.But what does this movie do,to reach the Olympus?One word:Miyazaki.
Acclaimed all around the world "the best animation director of all times",he puts his magic into this franchise.If you don't know what magic I'm talking about watch Mononoke Hime or Spirited Away;do yourself a pleasure,watch them.And then you will agree with all the people saying it,including me.He puts the well-working Lupin franchise into a superbly written story,with brilliant dialogs and deep,interesting characters.
The animation is that good.And the pacing?Simply incredible.This is not "The Incredibles",this is not cgi,this is not a 10000000 times already told story.This is great action,great laughs,great direction,touching moments,superb soundtrack...and a final showdown really worth it.
The man who directed this movie, Miyazaki, was one of the main animators/ directors of the Lupin III series and is the director of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away and I consider him to be one of the greatest directors of our time.
And main character Lupin, (a.k.a. The Wolf in the English-language release) gentleman thief and part-time hero, is probably one of the most fully realized characters in anime.The animation is beautiful, with a fluidity, complexity, and attention to detail that's uncommon even in contemporary titles (a Miyazaki trademark), despite being somewhat simplistic by today's standards.
Having said that Miyazaki can tell a good story and this is no exception, so enjoy it for what it is and hopefully it will bring a lot of people into an appreciation of the 'real' Lupin.
Another plus is the animation which is obviously of a high standard being Ghibli - this can be missing in some of the Lupin films.Make sure you watch some of the Lupin episodes created by Monkey Punch if you liked this you will surely be a fan ;-).
Specially when this was Hayao Miyazaki's first movie entitled as the director.The movie starts out in Monanco where Lupin(a master thief) and Jigen(a smooth guns man) pull off a robbery at a casino.
This movie proves Castle in the Sky isn't Miyazaki's only film containing an actual villain.
I suppose it is an older movie so the animation is dated by today's standards, but this will likely be the last thing on your mind as you watch the film.
Hayao Miyazaki made this film in 1979; while the animation and story are more a bit more cartoonish than his later works, "The Castle Of Cagliostro" is still a lovely example of quality, escapist film.The story follows the effort of Lupin III( an international cat burglar who is actually a big romantic marshmallow at heart) to rescue a young princess from the clutches of the wicked Count Cagliostro.
It is an extremely entertaining action/adventure film that has a very memorable main character with some hilarious moments, an upbeat Jazz soundtrack and great writing that make it a joy to watch.
The Castle of Cagliostro doesn't really conform to the usual expectations one might have of the great Miyazaki's work, particularly in light of his more personal and celebrated projects like Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away and My Neighbour Totoro.
It is also an important document within the whole world of Manga/Anime, as it represents what some fans consider to be the definitive film adaptation of the long-running and highly celebrated Manga series Lupin III.Although it is true that the film lacks the flair and the individual charm that Miyazaki would develop throughout his later work for his famed Studio Ghibli, we can certainly see his unique style and his intuitive approach to character developing through the high-risk escapades found here.
However, once there, Lupin and his chums inadvertently stumble across a national conspiracy going back hundreds of years, and find themselves having to rescue the beautiful Clarice from the hands of the evil Count de Cagliostro, whilst, in the process, trying to solve the mystery of a hidden treasure dating back to the 15th century!!!Although the plot outline sounds a little confusing (it might just be my poor description!!), the film itself is a great adventure, with Miyazaki showing early signs of his firm grasp of action (it is often said that a certain Steven Spielberg once called Cagliostro the greatest action movie ever made!!), as well as offering many great moments of piercing high-tension.
As always, the director is just as capable of creating great scenes of drama (and even some subtle moments of pathos) as he is at creating the more high-octane moments, whilst always ensuring that the characters are likable and totally believable in what they do.The Castle of Cagliostro may seem a little out of place when viewed alongside the director's more iconic films, though that isn't to say that the film is without merit.
Here Miyazaki shows his depth as a filmmaker, creating a rousing action adventure with great characters, some broad humour and a handful of memorable moments.
It's probably not the best place to start for those new to Miyazaki's work (try Spirited Away or My Neighbour Totoro), but at the same time, it shows his development as a filmmaker, as well as offering a great story, and a more than welcome addition to the Lupin III canon..
the Castle of Cagliostro is great family entertainment, full of fun & action for the whole family (something Miyazaki has proven to be a master of during the past couple of decades).
Coupled with that, I've seen no other Lupin film which comes close, except for 'The Fuma Conspiracy' - it's a shame they're not all up to this standard.Anyone who enjoys a good adventure yarn which is more about the characters than having a complicated plot would probably enjoy this - think Indiana Jones or James Bond but less violent.
I did see another, more recently made, film in the Lupin III series before seeing Castle of Cagliostro, so I did have some idea of the characters.
The Castle Of Cagliostro was the first Japanese animated film I ever saw, and I was hooked onto the craze immediately.
This is the second "Lupin III" movie, and it is also the theatrical debut of Hayao Miyazaki, Japan's premier animator who also directed the critically acclaimed "Princess Mononoke".
A stunning film, "Castle" is another adventure of Lupin III, one of Japan's most beloved animated characters, who has appeared in several animated productions over the course of three decades.
The story of Lupin the notably thief is funny, charming, and full of action, while at the same time retaining the sense of decency of most other films by the director.
Cagliostro Castle is, quite simply, the best animated film ever made.
Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut is wonderfully joyous romp, and is well worth a watch.It's a much lighter take on the classic 'Lupin the 3rd' manga, which may be alienating to long time fans of the series.But replacement of the raunchier humour of the manga with the wonder and energy of Miyazaki is well worth it.It follows Lupin and his friend Jigen's Investigation into a large counterfeiting operation in the small European country of Cagliostro, and their discovery of an evil plot by the country's ruler to steal an ancient treasure from it's rightful owner.The plot isn't particularly complex, the likeable and iconic characters of the Lupin franchise carry it for the 1hr 40min run time.The animation is very simply drawn, but this helps it to be extremely fluid and bouncy.The simple characters aren't much of a problem anyway, they are all iconic and charming enough to the point were it doesn't even matter.The backgrounds and are beautifully detailed, especially the titular castle which is gloriously cliched in a good way.It's many traps, stairwells and towers set the scene for several exciting action sequences, especially the final chase scene (a signature of Miyazaki's works).To conclude, this film is well worth a watch even if its not the most substantial of Miyazaki's films.It's certainly extremely enjoyable and well executed,definitely has my recommendation..
The whole movie fuses the vibes of comedic thrillers of the 70's which doesn't come as a surprise given the film's year of release, but is surprising coming from Hayao Miyazaki.Indeed, the name of the master of animation immediately evokes dreamy imagery and inspirational stories magnificently rendered by the delicacy of hand-drawn animation, but not exactly the kind of ride "Cagliostro's Castle" embarks you on.
There's something very 'Bondesque' in the story with Lupin's gadgets, the car chase scenes, the majestic castle full of trap doors and of course, the Count of Cagliostro who forces a young girl named Clarisse to marry him in order to get a a hidden treasure thanks to some ring-mechanisms.
He's probably Miyazaki's most irredeemable villain, which would have been disappointing if it wasn't for the presence of Lupin's nemesis, Inspector Zenigata.Obviously, their relationship is embedded in the series' previous stories (even the title sounds as if it was written for a sequel) but even without being familiar with the original Manga, we feel there's an interesting parallel between the two men, a flawed law enforcer and an ethical outlaw, so the moment they decide to combine their efforts doesn't come as a surprise and is handled with the perfect mix of action and humor.
In fact, even the film starts with an ambiguous Lupin, he robs tons of money from a casino in an opening sequence that would belong to a great parody movie but once he discovers the money is counterfeit, he heads to Cagliostro, the smallest town of Europe where he suspect the bills come from, he could have spent the bills so since they were undetectable but something seemed to attract him in the mysterious city.The reason comes later and adds to the richness and depth of the character, so don't let the premise of the film fool you, it's still a Miyazaki movie after all.
Miyazaki wouldn't take too much time to join it on the Pantheon of animated masterpieces when he made only five years later, the classic "Nausicaa".But in its own right, and within its average anime looks, "Cagliostro's Caslte" is legitimate action picture with one merit though, to have put Miyazaki in the map of animation, if only for its being the one that started one of the greatest careers and legacies of cinematic animation, this is a film that deserves respect, and as Lupin himself would say : "Chapeau, maître!"..
This movie features Lupin III saving a princess in a castle from an evil count.
It's still great to watch this wonderfully entertaining character, Lupin III, get into all sorts of mischief!
Anyone who wants to watch animated adventure and action with sense,this is film for him!I have never watched any Lupin series before and I am not a fan of anime.My impression about film:cozy,amusing,warm,artistical, for anyone.After watching,I was thinking about it and I can not tell that this is average film for kids.There is interesting relationships between characters and some things are maybe complicated to digest.But you will surely enjoy in film.The characters are colorful and conical drawed.Animation is very good for that budget!And scenery is carefully painted,I feel it.All castle is somehow putted in some logical entirety.The music is,simple said,catchy and cool!
Which makes them so great, but it's nice to have this single film in this style.If you're a fan of Miyazaki, you might have heard about this film already, but I don't think all that many people have actually seen it.
Along the way, there are a bunch of other obstacles to overcome, including bad guys with armored claws, the maze-like corridors of the Cagliostro castle itself, and a counterfeiting scheme.The animation is obviously dated, since the film is over 20 years old, but there are elements of Miyazaki's characters in his later films to be found in the designs of the protagonists and antagonists -- the big, round eyes, wide-opened mouths when laughing and/or shouting, and of course, their ever-changing facial expressions.
In addition, the voice cast is well chosen and sound like they are having a great time hamming it up.All in all, THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO is classic material, as can be expected from the master of Japanese animation.
Great pre-Ghibli Hayao Miyazaki film.
This is a review of the film, Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro.
It is kind of like a more over-the-top James Bond picture, with just as much style and pizazz but with more lovable characters.Lupin the 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro is an adventure film in the best sense, directed by the then unknown Hayao Miyazaki, who went on to receive critical acclaim for films like My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke.
Great Adventure/Action Animation , like a Bond Cartoon....