Lupin the III: The Castle of Cagliostro

The Castle of Cagliostro ルパン三世 カリオストロの城Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro, Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro, is the story of master thief Arsène Lupin III, and his mission to rescue a princess and discover where the famous counterfeit "goat bills" are being created.

Summary
Arséne Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen are escaping pursuit after robbing the national casino of Monaco, only to discover shortly after their escape that their entire haul is counterfeit. The bills are of a very high quality and could be none other than the legendary 'goat bills', perfect counterfeits that have been used to rock the economies of nations since the invention of paper money. When Lupin was just getting started as a professional thief, he was almost killed while searching for the source of the goat bills. He decides that it is time to take another chance, and the two head off to the purported source of the bills, the Principality of Cagliostro.

Shortly after arriving, they rescue a young girl from a car full of thugs, only to let her get captured again when Lupin is knocked unconscious after tumbling down a cliff. They later discover that she is Clarisse, princess of Caliostro and is engaged to be married to the Count, the Duchy's regent. The count wants to recover the ancient treasure of the Cagliostro family, and needs the princess's ring to do so; however, it was accidentally left behind with Lupin.

Realizing he will need more help after he is attacked by a group of the count's elite assassins, Lupin calls on his other partner, Goemon Ishikawa XIII, and tips off longtime foe Inspector Koichi Zenigata to his whereabouts. He also find his former lover, Fujiko Mine, posing as Clarisse's lady-in-waiting. Using a party and Zenigata as a distraction, Lupin makes his way to the tower where Clarisse is kept, returns her ring, and promises to help her to escape. She shows doubts in his capabilities, which dismays him, but in the end, he wins her over. The count arrives shortly thereafter with his assassins; Lupin mocks him until he is dropped down a trapdoor into the bowels of the castle.

The count grabs Clarisse and removes the ring, which turns out to be a practical joke left by Lupin. Infuriated, the Count flushes him deeper into the cellars, which are full of bodies of spies who attempted to learn the secrets of Cagliostro and the goat bills. While down there, Lupin bumps into Inspector Zenigata, who was accidentally thrown down earlier. The two reluctantly form a pact to help escape. When count dispatches two elite soldiers with aqualungs to retrieve the ring, Lupin and Zenigata trick them with two skeletons in their clothes. Eventually snagging the aqualungs, Zenigata and Lupin escape the dungeons.

Their escape leads them to the printing presses, where Lupin and Zenigata finally discover the source of the goat bills. Zenigata wants to find evidence, but Lupin points out they must escape first. They set the money and presses on fire as a distraction and steal the count's autogyro. However, when they attempt to return to rescue Clarisse, Lupin is shot and critically wounded. Clarisse offers her ring to the count in exchange for Lupin's life; the count's attempt at betrayal is foiled when Fujiko's quick actions lead to an escape for her, Lupin, and Zenigata.

While Lupin recovers from his injury and plans his next scheme, Zenigata attempts to convince his superiors at Interpol to expose the count and his counterfeiting ring. They do not want to cause an international incident, as many world powers have called on the goat bills, and order Zenigata and his men to pull out of Cagliostro, much to his dismay.

The wedding appears to go on as planned with a drugged Clarisse until Lupin's "ghost" disrupts the ceremony. When the count calls down his guards on the ghost, Lupin, actually disguised as the presiding bishop, manages to make off with Clarisse and both rings. While Jigen and Goemon hold off the count's assassins and Zenigata exposes the count's counterfeiting to the world with help from Fujiko, Lupin and Clarisse flee the count, a chase that ends on top of the castle clock tower. Finally gaining the rings after knocking away Lupin and Clarisse, the count uses them on the clock tower's face as instructed by Lupin, only to be crushed to death by the clocks hands as the mechanisms move to unveil the treasure.

Lupin and Clarisse, who have safely landed in the lake, are able to watch with the others as the lake around the castle drains to reveal exquisite Roman ruins. Declaring this treasure is "too big for his pocket", Lupin and his friends take their leave of Clarisse, now ruler of Cagliostro, as Zenigata chases after them again and Fujiko makes off with the printing plates from the counterfeit money presses. (This summary was taken from Wikipedia)

Influences
Arsène Lupin III is a fictional character in a manga written by Monkey Punch, the pen name of Kazuhiko Kato. Lupin is the grandson of Arsène Lupin, a character in novels written by French author Maurice Leblanc. Leblanc's novels are as well-known in French-speaking countries as the Sherlock Holmes novels are in English-speaking nations.

The manga revolves around a gang of thieves that Lupin III leads. Though the first series was published in 1967, the manga is still being serialized today, though now in its fifth series. It remains quite popular.

As well as directing several TV episodes in the franchise, Miyazaki wrote and directed The Castle of Cagliostro. It was the second anime film to be produced in the franchise, and there were three more following it. However, The Castle of Calgiostro is generally considered the best.

Reception
The Castle of Cagliostro was not initially a box-office success. However, there have been several re-releases of the film, during which it greatly increased in popularity. It was the best-selling anime DVD in May of 2001.

As stated previously, the film was not initially well-received. However, as it was re-released, people began to take notice of it. It has a score of 89 on Rotten Tomatoes, and was once voted "the best anime film in history" by readers of the Japanese magazine Animage.

Stephen Spielberg is quoted as calling Cagliostro, "one of the greatest adventure movies of all time."

Awards

 * Saturn Award Nomination--Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA
 * Ofuji Noburo Award--Mainichi Film Concours

Cast
Japanese:
 * Lupin III - Yasuo Yamada
 * Daisuke Jigen - Kiyoshi Kobayashi
 * Goemon Ishikawa XIII - Makio Inoue
 * Fujiko Mine - Eiko Masuyama
 * Inspector Koichi Zenigata - Goro Naya
 * Count Cagliostro - Taro Ishida
 * Lady Clarisse d'Cagliostro - Sumi Shimamoto
 * The groundskeeper - Kohei Miyauchi
 * Jodo - Ichiro Nagai
 * Gustav - Tadamichi Tsuneizumi
 * Waitress - Yoko Yamaoka

English (Streamline dub):
 * Lupin III - Bob Bergen
 * Daisuke Jigen - Steve Bulen
 * Goemon Ishikawa XIII - Steve Kramer
 * Fujiko Mine - Edie Mirman
 * Inspector Koichi Zenigata - David Povall
 * Count Cagliostro - Michael McConnohie
 * Lady Clarisse d'Cagliostro - Joan-Carol O-Connell
 * The groundskeeper - Mike Reynolds
 * Jodo - Jeff Winkless
 * Gustav - Kirk Thornton
 * Waitress - Juliana Donald
 * Waitress - Juliana Donald

English (Manga dub):
 * Lupin III - David Hayter
 * Daisuke Jigen - John Snyder
 * Goemon Ishikawa XIII - Richard Epcar
 * Fujiko Mine - Dorothy Elias Fahn
 * Inspector Koichi Zenigata - Dougary Grant
 * Count Cagliostro - Kirk Thornton
 * Lady Clarisse d'Cagliostro - Bridget Hoffman
 * The groundskeeper - Barry Stigler
 * Jodo - Milton James
 * Gustav - Joe Romersa
 * Waitress - Bambi Darro