The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)

This review/personal recounting of a filmwatching experience hybrid was written after watching The Castle of Cagliostro with one of my college roommates during the fall semester of our sophomore year. My overall rating was 3 stars out of a possible 4. On my scale, 3 stars qualifies as "good."

This is definitely one of the most entertaining movies I have ever seen, and I would even venture out and say that I love this film. My roommate said something after the film, more or less along the lines of "I don’t think I have been let down by one of Miyazaki’s movies. I don’t think he has ever made a bad movie." Well, I would have to agree with them on that one, even with my exposure to Miyazaki’s work being much less significant than to an aficionado like my roommate. This movie had so much to it: so much plot, so much action, so much comedy, a fair portion of romance. This also had one of the single greatest scores I have ever heard to a film. I truly did have a blast with this movie.

So with this raving, you may find yourself asking, ‘Wait! What? How did it get a measly three star rating?’ Let me tell you why. Firstly, this is a high three star movie; one that is very near a three and a half star movie, but lacks just enough to hold a three star rating. This is essentially my identification with an 8 on IMDb.

My problems lie in the maturity of the movie. I do not mean maturity based on whether the humor was too adult or too elementary. I mean maturity as in how well-developed a plot is and the state of the plot when you are first introduced to the characters. As I was informed before sitting down to watch this movie, it is based off of a manga. Miyazaki even made television series on these characters. Due to the inception of the movie’s characters, a common viewer like myself is unaware of the ties that several of these characters have to each other. Throughout the movie, they [the characters], especially Fujiko, discuss things that seem to bear meaning, but only to those who are already familiar to the story and characters. Another hint at this is the character of Gaemon. He is the samurai that Jigen calls in to help he and Lupin with the penetration of the titular castle. There is clearly more to Gaemon than meets the eye, and this is never delved into during the character’s screen time, which is much too brief regardless. With his skill, you are left to wonder about his beginnings, which is fine and I enjoyed thinking about. But I suspect that contemporary viewers who saw this when it came out or later in time and were familiar with the source material already knew the backstory to this character. This is what bugs me about the character; I would not have minded if I was left to decide his past and role in the present, adding and subtracting from my theory as the character was revealed through conversation and action by the course of the plot and story. Regrettably, this is not the case.

The other maturity issue lies with some parts of the plot not being as fully developed as others. I suppose this is unavoidable when you are a movie that has so many characters, so much unexplained backstory, and so much flash with not enough substance. (I can’t remember the exact phrasing of the idiom, so I’ll roll with what I've written.) This substance remark is not to say that the events of the movie are unnecessary, just that some could have been better explained or at least given a remote explanation.

If I had to point out any other issue beyond the awkwardity within the movie, it would be the handling of the opening and closing scenes. They both bear strong resemblances towards a television episode picking up from "to be continued…" and leading into "to be continued…" I don't necessarily disagree with this choice. However, it does serve as further proof that this is a movie aimed at those familiar with its source material, rather than universally accepting its audience no matter their personal knowledge of the Lupin the Third franchise.

But through the eyes of a cinemaniac who wishes to put the critic's lenses aside for a moment, I loved The Castle of Cagliostro. It enticed me, thrilled me, confused me, excited me, creeped me out, and was overall a very pleasurable moviewatching experience. I look forward to watching this movie again and immersing myself further into Hayao Miyazaki's filmography. As I noted to my roommate as the film had just begun, "you can always tell a Miyazaki film by the rolling foliage in some of the wider, more encompassing and encapsulating shots."

You may wonder why I am talking about this at the very end of the review, and my reasoning is simple. Miyazaki has an auteur's touch, a certain aspect that is so clearly him, like Wes Anderson and his two-dimensional, vibrant sets. This is one of the joys of watching Miyazaki, this little touch that occurs in all of his movies I’ve seen: Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and The Wind Rises. To me, this alone is enough of a reason to want to watch his movies. This is what I truly enjoy about cinema. The mark that certain directors can put into their work that makes it them, that makes it clear that this is their thing, and they are putting it out there for those that really love film, to notice and enjoy. For Miyazaki, it’s something as simple as green, rolling, hand-drawn foliage, and for me at least, that’s enough.