Adventures of Arsene Lupin (2004)

I watched "Arsène Lupin" a few months ago, and I am very astonished when I read some opinions here. This movie is... how can I say that ? simply bad ! For the first time of my life I was ready to take my coat and walk out after only 30 minutes. And what a pity ! Because they could play with one of the most popular French character, because it seems they had a big budget to make it (I mean for a French movie), and because they smashed almost everything. OK, Romain Duris was an excellent Arsene Lupin and I must applaud the set decoration and costume design work too. But that's it ! Special mentions for the worst film editing I've ever seen and for an overloaded storyline. Disappointing.

I. Adler

Fmovies: A fan of Lupin ( I read almost all the novels), I entered the movie theater with great expectations and came out with mixed feelings, but with a margin of admiration. That's certainly the best of the cinematic technical renditions of Maurice Leblanc's immortal personnage (the TV renditions are all below standard).But after John Barrymore and Melvyn Douglas, Jules Berry and Robert Lamoureux brought a conception of the main character which is absent from this superproduction. The two guys from Toronto (nice city, I lived there six months) who sent positive comments are mostly correct. The other from Italy is right when he predicts "failure abroad" (this movie is already losing momentum in Paris only a week after its premiere and severe reviews). Now let's be lucid: most of the French movie critics are hopeful future cinematographers, and they react furiously when a newcomer comes up with a movie that reflects a good use of a heavy investment, which was the case with many films by Claude Lelouch, and applies also for ARSENE LUPIN (2004). J.P. Salomé did a fine job with the millions he was able to raise, and most of the actors look real. Too bad Lupin is not one of them; I didn't recognize my Arsene from Romain Duris' impersonation, although he tried hard (and his stunts were Indy Jones, Tarzan and Flash Gordon reunited). To put it simply, the Arsene Lupin standing up on the screen for me had not the class I remember from Maurice Leblanc's sensational novels. I just went across a lengthy interview I made with Claude Leblanc (son of Maurice)in 1992, when he was 90 years old (he died two years later). I'm sorry to say, Romain Duris is no match to the list of the former Lupins (except Charles Korvin, in the last of the three movies made by MGM), including Georges Descrières, classy, but unable to save the TV versions. But how can you concentrate "813" in 52 minutes? And the ending, with Franz-Ferdinand of Austria murdered in front of the Gare de l'Est, is purely ridiculous, almost an insult to the millions of youngsters who were murdered after the Sarajevo catastrophe. J.P. Salomé probably imagined that moviegoers would smile at that: none did, at least in my sparsely populated theater. If he imagined it as a prelude to a new sequel, he missed the point. Too bad, because I generally enjoyed his movie and appreciated the efforts deployed to make it a success. I sincerely wish it good luck. harry carasso, Paris

I guess it's not that easy to make a 1-2 hours script on such a character, but I'm afraid that the choices made by the production were wrong from the start.

This movie tries to depict how Arsène Lupin became who he is. It tries to give some of the keys which lead him to his extravagant life. But even in this attempt, everything is wrong. Arsène does not kill ? OK. But this is given to the viewer as a fact from the beginning. And the whole film tends to push him into criminal revenge for all the bad people he has to suffer from. I mean by this that his character is already forged, so the movie does not hint you how, and, on the contrary, everything that happens to him leads to no consequence about it. Then, what's the point ?

The way I picture Arsène Lupin is as a very smart gentleman. Even if he is nothing but a bad boy originally. This is why the choice of Romain Duris surprises me a lot. He seems like a good actor, but he looks much more as a bad boy than as a smart English gentleman. He's got a forced smile on a tough face, when Lupin always has this mocking smile. I agree though that this point could be discussed for hours as the original book character was a bit of both.

Finally, Lupin's character, even if he's an opportunist guy is very clever and usually thinks ahead a lot. He is not the kind of guy to run straight ahead inside a trap. I would have liked to see more "Ocean's Eleven" in it. In this movie, he is more reacting to the events than making them happen the way he planned it.

All in all, it's a nice movie with good acting and nice sets (I've been very surprised with the "Place de l'opera" with a 19xx look), but it is not very fair to the quality of the book character.

Adventures of Arsene Lupin fmovies. This is really an amazing film. I watched it only in French with French subtitles as my friends whom i am staying with are French speaking. Like the majority of European films i have seen, it is superior to what has and is coming out of Hollywood. From the start, it is gripping. The audience are taken on a ride of suspense to the last moment. Twists and turns in the plot, unpredictable things happen. The casting is good. I am familiar with Kristen Scott Thomas. I knew she spoke French as i understand she lives there, but her French accent is quite amazing. I could here English accent on some occasions, but it was so subtle that it was hardly noticeable. Her casting in this film was so contrary to type that i had seen in other films. It was so refreshing. The action scenes were again amazing. So well choreographed and still almost believable and realistic. The original idea originates from an animated book, which makes it ambiguous and sets it apart from a lot of other films in the similar genre. Films based upon Comic books are being done to death in Hollywood, and i am trying to avoid them. I am glad that this was made by European Film makers, not Americans, otherwise it would have been almost painful to watch. The romance that develops is another interesting addition to the plot. All of these little things, develop well and come together. The choice of location was again just perfect for the scenes and the setting of the film in the mid to late 19th Century made it quite unique. A very clever film, which is definitely worth watching.

Spectacular production of a novel written by Maurice Leblanc about the character, Arsene lupin, known perhaps to many Europeans and video game addicts, but not much to the rest of the film-going community. Great for Saturday afternoon film going and very much unlike any French produced film I've seen before. Young actor, Romain Duris, does a decent job of portraying Arsene Lupin in his youth and early beginnings as a gentleman thief. It's very difficult to take your eyes off him. He plays the part more as a modern day version of the old-fashioned character - grungy and hairy and all that. Up and coming young actress, Eva Green, plays his childhood sweetheart with just the proper amount of restrain. Overall a finely tuned performance. Kristin Scott Thomas plays the Countess of Cagliostro and outrightly steals the movie. She is no match for the gentleman cambrioleur. Anyone familiar with her other films will not recognize her as the exotic, over-sexed and murderous femme-fatale. It's a multi-dimensional and very soulful performance. The rest of the cast provide superlative work. I'm sure there will be lots of comparisons to Indiana Jones. However, the difference here is the well written and intelligent screenplay. The French has finally come up with their version of an action adventure that everyone can enjoy, but doesn't insult your intelligence.. I didn't think they were capable. A most enjoyable film to watch.

Salomé's "Arsène Lupin" is a great divertissement. Definitely an update of the LeBlanc Lupin, with an eye on Monkey Punch's "Rupan San Se" (and Miyazaki's too, as Cagliostro's grand daughter is one of the characters. Salomé's (and Roman Duris') Lupin is _definitely_ the XXI century Lupin 1st, and in many ways it portrays the character as it should have been, rather than the Casanova softie of the seventies TV show interpreted by George Descrières.

Yes, plenty of suspension of disbelief is needed, and there was enough material here to make at least two slower paced movies, which I would have personally preferred, and which would probably have happened with overseas budgets. And the plot does makes sense (well, most of the time) but it's not for everybody: some attention needs to be paid to the details. Of course this movie won't work in the US: the director does not remind all the time who the characters are with flashbacks and voice overs, so this practice excludes pretty much that 90% of US movie audience which seems to suffer from ADD. Oh, and the bad guy sets a disabled individual on fire and tosses him out of a window, which pretty much guarantees PC police censorship too.

For all the Lupin aficionados, or for people who have just known the manga/anime interpretation of the (grandson) character, this is highly recommended (but you need to be able at least to read French, as that's the only language in the subtitles, which are also a little incomplete). Over 2 hours just packed with action and romance, and good music too.