Arsène Lupin

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 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

First of all, the 2 hours movie is enjoyable,, at least until the last hour.. Things start good ,, the build up,, the story line,, the characters.. all good. Then they stat the main adventure of the "treasure" thing! . Anyhow it keeps getting better.. then... then... all of the sudden, things change... and that's the second half.

In the second half you don't know what the hell is happening! he loves this, then sleeps with that and loves her, she betray him, then not, then yes, then back to the first, then his father, then the treasure, then the woman, then the father, the witch, the crosses.. OMG .. it just kept going on and on!!! Every time you think this is the final scene they start a new thing, so there is a moment where you just don't give a damn about the story you just watch a twist after twist. No honestly, you will think the movie ended several time then!! Voilaaa.. it's on again!!

That was crazy, enjoyable, fun yea.. but too much that I feel I got old now!!

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.

Romain Duris, the little schoolboy from l'Auberge Espagnole, in the skin of the "Gentleman Cambrioleur" is a little more than I could take. I could not recognize the man from "L'Aiguille Creuse", "Le Mystérieux Voyageur", "Le Collier De La Reine" and "La Comtesse De Cagliostro" which are the stories mixed in together in the movie. Some characters are reinvented or mixed in with different concepts which are too much to swallow. Why not sticking to the story if you're not going to make t better?

There is however good playing, Kristin Scott Thomas is awesome as the countess. And even though Arsene lacks the class and style one is entitled to expect, Romain Duris have some very good moments.