Stealing Hearts and Growing Up - Nausicaäst #30 - Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro

Lupin III - Castle of Cagliostro analysis & discussion podcast.
Welcome to our 30th podcast on the films by Studio Ghibli! Today we will talk about a franchise film that also marks Hayao Miyazaki's directorial debut. Your hosts on this episode are PlatonSkull, Hipster_Cthulhu, and Nyard.
Discord: / discord
Patreon: / nausicaast
MP3 Download: nausicaast.lib...
Spotify: open.spotify.c...
RUclips: / @nyard
Sources:
Beck, Jerry. John Lasseter to Introduce “Castle Of Cagliostro” at Fathom Events Screenings September 14th & 19th - Animation Scoop. www.animations....
Berton, Gael. The Works of Hayao Miyazaki: The Japanese Animation Master. Third Editions, 2020.
Brzeski, Patrick. “John Lasseter Pays Emotional Tribute to Hayao Miyazaki at Tokyo Film Festival.” The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Oct. 2014, www.hollywoodr....
Cavallaro, Dani. The Anime Art of Hayao Miyazaki. McFarland, 2015.
Greenberg, Raz. Hayao Miyazaki: Exploring the Early Work of Japan’s Greatest Animator. Bloomsbury Academic, 2018. library.oapen.org, doi.org/10.504....
Jordan, Delaney. “If You’re Skipping ‘Castle of Cagliostro’ On Your Miyazaki Marathon, Don’t Talk To Me.” Medium, 13 Jan. 2021, / if-youre-skipping-cast... .
Napier, Susan. Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art. Yale University Press, 2018.
Ornelas, Joseph. “Steven Spielberg Called This Early Miyazaki Film One of the Greatest Action Films of All-Time.” Collider, 18 Aug. 2023, collider.com/t....
“The Castle of Cagliostro.” Ghibli Wiki, ghibli.fandom.....

[@bechetfelix8612]

It's completely coincidental but I like how close this dropped to the release of the 4k restoration of the movie.

[@Crooked_Mantis]

1:14:57 I think you're taking Clarisse's character at face value if you consider her throwing the chair at the window as 'out of character'. Miyazaki shows three times that Clarisse can strive to be an active character and strong in her own right, but she is rarely rewarded for it.
The first instance is the car chase. You might forget a bit with all the action, but Clarisse took the oppritunity provided by having her wedding dress fitted (The One Time She Would Ever Be Permitted Outside The Castle By The Count) to steal a car and make a getaway. We don't know if she's ever driven this fast before, we don’t know if she's driven *at all* before. Clearly she is desperate, and clever, and trying her best to escape. This is the best possible plan at the best oppritunity afforded to her. But her attempts are met with extreme opposition, a car full of men armed with guns and wartime grenades are suddenly hot on her tail. Life does not reward her for her brave escape attempt and soon she is left on foot, which only gets her so far.
Next is the chair moment itself which is in conversation with Fujiko. Clarisse's attempt is with a tool she was given, the furniture of the room she was trapped in, which of course, The Count accounted for. Nothing in that room is strong enough to break the reinforced glass. Thats why Fujiko provides something from beyond Clarisse's prison to free her. It also forms this idea in the minds of the audience that Fujiko is the kind of person Clarisse would like to be, at least in terms of her agency and control over her life. But again, life has never rewarded her attempts to emulate Fujiko. She's been pretty successfully beaten down by The Count, because rarely does he ever slip up and provide her the tools necessary to flee him. She's an elephant tied to the stake, so it's no wonder she comes off so passive and afraid 90% of the time.
But Miyazaki does a beautiful thing by showing us that 10%. That part of her that still tries sometimes, despite how often she is punished for it. And that third time is the reason why Lupin is still alive. Because she risks herself, the most precious of the Count's tools, and ends up buying Lupin a lot of needed time. The Count responds to her success by attempting to erase her mind itself by doping her on drugs.
Clarisse is not weak and she never was. The Count only prefers her that way and sees to it that he gets what he wants. I think the very premise of this plot, and the antagonist necessary to create it, is why Miyazaki was perfectly alright with not making him sympathetic. In order for this plot to work, The Count has to be oppressive in every sense of the word.