The Castle of Cagliostro 4K 1979 JAPANESE Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

The famous swindler of the century, Arsene Lupine III, dashingly carries out a grandiose theft worth millions of dollars, after which he learns that the loot in his hands is the most skillful forgery. It was created in the dwarf European principality of Cagliostro, whose rulers for many centuries traded in the production of a variety of counterfeit banknotes. Unaccustomed to losing, Lupine heads to the castle of the princes of Cagliostro, but the search for money fades into the background when he meets the charming princess Clarisse.

Review 4K Movie

Lupine 3: Cagliostro's Castle is Hayao Miyazaki's very first full-length cartoon. Prior to this animation work, the great artist was one of the directors of the series of the same name, as well as the screenwriter for 'Big and Small Panda' and 'Big Panda and Little Panda: Rainy Day at the Circus'. Then he put his talented hand in the creation of another serial cartoon - Conan - a boy from the future, and also wrote the script for the second part of the serial 'Lupine'. Hence his full-length debut about the clever thief Arsen is not surprising at all. Looking through this picture, of course, it is impossible not to notice a rather unpretentious animation drawing. But I would like to note that, firstly, the cartoon dates back to 1979 and looks very impressive for its time, well, and secondly, Miyazaki retained the style of the original cartoon series, which implies a bit unusual for the master - an angular animation drawing. Such an artistic decision does not dominate the picture, and is manifested only in the most specific aspects - for example, in the appearance of the main character, as well as some other characters. And despite the fact that the 'Castle of Cagliostro' is visually somewhat inferior to his subsequent works, in the Hayao collection it differs not only in style and atmosphere, but also in content.

Before us is a fascinating adventure dedy about the kind robber-adventurer Arsene Lupine, who, having stolen a large amount of banknotes, discovers that they are all fake. False banknotes bring the restless swindler to the European principality of Cagliostro, in the castle of which, in his opinion, these fake papers are printed. But on the way to his goal, Arsen meets a charming bride running away from her pursuers. He saves her from certain death in a steep cliff, but, unfortunately, mysterious pursuers kidnap her. Chasing them at full speed, Lupine finds himself near the castle of Cagliostro, and learns that the mysterious fugitive is being brought there. Now in the thoughts of the thief, not only the search for money in the mysterious principality, but also a beautiful bride, whose face he is painfully familiar with. And besides, she accidentally left him her ring, the strange engraving of which disposed to old secrets and secrets. In order to save the girl, as well as to find out the whole truth about Cagliostro, Arsen will have to go through fire and water and the most terrible dungeons! ..

The first full-length film by maestro Miyazaki is far from fantasy fabulousness, deep soulfulness and endless touching, which is observed in the director's subsequent works. The beauty of 'Lupine III' lies in the fact that it allows you to contemplate the master's ability to create not only touching stories, post-apocalyptic parables and fantastic epics, but also simple adventure adventures that carry all the most delicious sides of the genre. In the future, Miyazaki will again return to this in the cartoon 'Porco Rosso', the sequel of which should appear literally this year. But unlike the 'Castle of Cagliostro', the story about the pilot turned into a pig still has fantastic elements, and in style and atmosphere, it differs in many respects from 'Lupine'. And therefore, the culprit of this review can be safely called, albeit an endless unpretentious, but in its way quite original work.

Almost everything is captivating here. And first of all, an incredibly inventively drawn castle with its endless trap rooms, long corridors, the mysterious north tower in which the unfortunate Clarice sits in captivity, with its dark dungeons filled with the skeletons of long-dead treasure hunters, with its labyrinths of sewage canals, the paths of which can lead anywhere, and with a bunch of other details that make this castle somehow unusually mysterious and special. Likewise, the manner of the narration is also impressive - it is absolutely not pretentious and not at all ponderous here, which makes watching the cartoon very easy and fun. Well, the action is quite dynamic, funny and not childishly thrilling, because the dizzying concept of 'Lupine' is a non-stop adventure with various riddles, clues, pursuits and, of course, romance - in short, everything is in the best traditions of the genre! The somewhat outdated animation of the 'Castle of Cagliostro' is practically unobtrusive and looks peculiar, and what is happening on the screen is truly captivating and disposes not only for further revisions, but also for acquaintance with the cartoon series of the same name.

P.S. The debut full-length work of one of the most talented animation directors turned out to be great. The adventures of the thief Lupine are so exciting, amusing and interesting that watching them is no less interesting than the artistic films created in a similar genre. And do not be at all embarrassed by the slightly outdated drawing of the cartoon, because it is in its way original and good in its own way. Already in this, in essence, Miyazaki's first big picture, you can see many amazing details, for which viewers from all over the world fell in love with him.