Lupin: Adaptations are seldom better executed

The success of George Kay and François Uzan’s mystery thriller series Lupin can be put down to its somewhat meta origin. Maurice Leblanc, French novelist born in the 19th century creates a character called Arsene Lupin, a gentleman thief and detective, which becomes so popular it inspires Japanese manga artist Monkey Punch, Kazuhiko Katō, to create a character called Lupin the Third, the fictional grandson of Arsene Lupin, a whole 60 years later.

This, in turn, spawns not only a successful manga series, but an entire franchise based on the character, inadvertently making the Lupin series on Netflix a more feasible proposition due to Lupin the Third, the fun manga character, elevating, popularising and internationalising the Lupin name.

It’s all the more entertaining to ponder when you consider that for a lengthy period of time the two franchises were in a legal battle with each other due to the use of the name Lupin, though any legal issues dissipated upon the expiration of Maurice Leblanc’s copyright on the name.

The Netflix series has enjoyed both critical and commercial success since its early January release, which is somewhat unexpected all things considered. Members of the audience who delved into the show without having first read the books, the comics, the manga, seen the anime or watched the animated movies, were enchanted by the extremely well-executed first episode, which achieved a particularly impressive feat. It managed to present a neatly-tied, self-sufficient heist story, complete with a fine balance of fun and puzzle solving, while at the same time sowing the seeds for the further unravelling of character-developing mysteries in subsequent episodes.

While the same applies for the more initiated audience members, particularly those migrating from the anime, they will have also appreciated the tone, performance and all-round levity of the introductory episode, elements which carry over to the rest of the series.

Moreover, those who have seen The Castle of Cagliostro, for example, itself based on Leblanc’s The Countess of Cagliostro, will have found the charismatic, humorous protagonist a familiar figure, particularly as the series progresses and Lupin has to think on his feet as he switches from thief to investigator.

This chameleon-like ability of both the protagonist and the series itself to seamlessly flow through tones and settings is one of the show’s true strengths and also one of the reasons the excellent lead actor Omar Sy wanted to get involved. “He’s a character who plays characters. For an actor, he’s the best,” Sy said in a recent interview.

While Lupin as a literary character is often compared or mentioned along the lines of Sherlock Holmes, some iterations have a closer resemblance to a different British fictional character. “The original Lupin was the same as Bond or some of these male characters who were effortlessly successful romantically. I just find it really unattractive the way they sort of accrue girlfriends,” said Kay.

Kay explained that Sy’s true nature fed into how they shaped the portrayal of their own version of Lupin. Sy’s warm nature is mirrored in how Lupin navigates his own world and story, with any cheap womanising removed by the writers in favour of relatability.

“I want to relate to him. I could do that with a person who is wanting to be the best dad and the best man he can be, but is compromised in his everyday struggles. That helps ground a show,” explained Kay.

“Because we can’t relate to the guy who can rob the Louvre without breaking a sweat unless he’s got these kind of everyday, universal problems.”