Lupin: Part 1
January 21, 2021 10:52 AM - Season 1 (Full Season) - Subscribe
The adventures of gentleman thief Arsène Lupin inspire Assane Diop (Omar Sy) as he attempts to uncover the truth about a robbery. Lupin is the first French show to make Netflix's top 10 list in the US and is its most popular original show since The Witcher.
I only have 'cereal box French' - is the English dub reasonable, or is it better to go with subtitles?
posted by porpoise at 11:38 AM on January 21, 2021
posted by porpoise at 11:38 AM on January 21, 2021
Why not start with the subs, give them a try? (But if you want a quick comparison, here's the trailer in French and English. My personal impression - strictly of the trailer - is that the English version gives the main character much more of a stereotypically manly, superhero-type voice. The French Lupin sounds more like a regular, potentially vulnerable person.)
posted by trig at 12:14 PM on January 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by trig at 12:14 PM on January 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
I love this show I thought they were going to wrap up this storyline in Part One, but they didn't. I hope they're able to put out Part Two before long.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:26 PM on January 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:26 PM on January 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yes! I'm glad I watched this, it's very entertaining, but I did not realize how much of a cliffhanger the ending of this part would be. I hope Netflix doesn't hold out on us for too long.
Omar Sy is great, and I really enjoy the side characters. Excellent heist shenanigans - the first episode is spectacular, but the subsequent episodes don't disappoint. I like the pace at which they're unspooling the backstory. Definitely requires some suspension of disbelief around the degree our protagonist manages to stay off the radar (thus far) given circumstances, but nothing I'm unwilling to roll with for the sake of the story.
I prefer subtitles generally, but I watched one episode with the English dub and I thought it was fine (episode 3, if anyone cares..). Wanted to recommend it to my sister, whose fiancé does not do subtitles, and I feel comfortable saying the dub is not distracting.
posted by the primroses were over at 3:41 PM on January 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
Omar Sy is great, and I really enjoy the side characters. Excellent heist shenanigans - the first episode is spectacular, but the subsequent episodes don't disappoint. I like the pace at which they're unspooling the backstory. Definitely requires some suspension of disbelief around the degree our protagonist manages to stay off the radar (thus far) given circumstances, but nothing I'm unwilling to roll with for the sake of the story.
I prefer subtitles generally, but I watched one episode with the English dub and I thought it was fine (episode 3, if anyone cares..). Wanted to recommend it to my sister, whose fiancé does not do subtitles, and I feel comfortable saying the dub is not distracting.
posted by the primroses were over at 3:41 PM on January 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
A bit of a mind shift for those of us who grew up on Lupin the 3rd, but oh this is such a well done series. I love the pacing and characterization and the low-key but very cool cleverness... looking forward to 2nd season.
posted by happyroach at 11:49 PM on January 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by happyroach at 11:49 PM on January 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
i totally had no idea who Lupin is, as a pop culture character so I didn't have enough knowledge to see how they've played with them, but Omar Sy really carried the show for me. Oh, and I watched with subtitles, though I did get the dub in the auto-playing teasers, and the voice acting is pretty good! I'm such an anglophonic british commonwealth muslim, that it took me two episodes before I realised his name is a variation of Hassan.
posted by cendawanita at 1:19 AM on January 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by cendawanita at 1:19 AM on January 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
My only awareness of Lupin was Lupin III, an anime character whose first movie, Lupin The Third: Castle of Cagliostro, came out in the late 1970s. It's mentioned in there that he's the grandson of a famous gentleman thief, but the internet wasn't around for us plebs back when I watched it, so I couldn't follow that thread, really, without remembering it the next time I went to a library.
I really really liked this show, and Omar Sy, whom I know from Intouchables, was as excellent in this as in that.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:29 PM on January 22, 2021
I really really liked this show, and Omar Sy, whom I know from Intouchables, was as excellent in this as in that.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:29 PM on January 22, 2021
We watched this over three days and loved it. Omar Sy is fantastic (as he was in Intouchables), and I can't wait for the second part to be released.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:58 PM on January 22, 2021
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 2:58 PM on January 22, 2021
Lupin The Third: Castle of Cagliostro, came out in the late 1970s
Miyazaki's debut film. Great fun.
posted by Grangousier at 4:01 PM on January 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
Miyazaki's debut film. Great fun.
posted by Grangousier at 4:01 PM on January 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
LOVED this. If you liked Leverage, Burn Notice or White Collar this show is for you. It's got the heisty vibes, some serious competence porn and there is some teamy-ness starting to come in as well. I was a bit disappointed about what happened to the journalist because I wanted her to become part of his team. This show has the right kind of twists – the "I had all the pieces right in front of me but still I didn't see that coming" twist rather than the "deus ex machina" twist. Omar Sy is fantastic, but so is the cast surrounding him. Can't wait to see what happens in the next part.
posted by rednikki at 6:34 PM on January 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by rednikki at 6:34 PM on January 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
This is really great, it's clever and doesn't require too much suspension of disbelief. I'm enjoying the lighter tone and yeah, it has a bit of that glee that Leverage, Burn Notice, White Collar had at their best.
Second ep in and disappointed that there's only five.
I liked the detail where he conditions the nurse beforehand to let him stay overnight.
posted by porpoise at 7:18 PM on January 22, 2021
Second ep in and disappointed that there's only five.
I liked the detail where he conditions the nurse beforehand to let him stay overnight.
posted by porpoise at 7:18 PM on January 22, 2021
Interesting twist in the s01e05 season finale.
Good show, well plotted, looking forward to the follow up.
Liked that the protagonist is finally shown to the vulnerable - and that he's bewitched with fuckups like anybody else. My disappointment with the heist genre is that that "protagonist" gets away with too much (luck, planning, artificial plotting) and this is a great treatment of the genre - setting up the protag being too enamoured with the expectations of a fictional thief/ rolemodel is delicious.
posted by porpoise at 10:46 PM on January 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
Good show, well plotted, looking forward to the follow up.
Liked that the protagonist is finally shown to the vulnerable - and that he's bewitched with fuckups like anybody else. My disappointment with the heist genre is that that "protagonist" gets away with too much (luck, planning, artificial plotting) and this is a great treatment of the genre - setting up the protag being too enamoured with the expectations of a fictional thief/ rolemodel is delicious.
posted by porpoise at 10:46 PM on January 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
This was so much fun. Definitely agree that Omar Sy was also excellent in The Intouchables. He's sadly wasted in a blink-and-miss-it performance in X-Men: The one with time travel.
Before Leverage and the rest was the superior Hustle series (UK. 2004) and The Thomas Crowne Affair movie (1999). The scene in the park with the delivery guys was definitely The Thomas Crowne Affair. The fake wikipedia page, the necklace double/triple-cross, the auction, it all could have been an episode of Hustle. Now I'm super interested in the original books.
posted by jojo and the benjamins at 11:47 PM on January 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Before Leverage and the rest was the superior Hustle series (UK. 2004) and The Thomas Crowne Affair movie (1999). The scene in the park with the delivery guys was definitely The Thomas Crowne Affair. The fake wikipedia page, the necklace double/triple-cross, the auction, it all could have been an episode of Hustle. Now I'm super interested in the original books.
posted by jojo and the benjamins at 11:47 PM on January 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Great point about the Bowler-Hat-Guy scene in 'Thomas Crowne' and the Food-Delivery guys scene! But I loved that it involved a social hack of (absurdities of a) current phenomenon rather than simply paying for something to be staged.
'Hustle' is definitely more polished than 'Leverage' but the later was kind-er.
posted by porpoise at 10:57 PM on January 24, 2021
'Hustle' is definitely more polished than 'Leverage' but the later was kind-er.
posted by porpoise at 10:57 PM on January 24, 2021
One thing I didn't get about the video of Pellegrini making the arms deal -- why didn't Assane post the entire video to twitter, or send the whole thing to every media outlet? I was wondering if I missed a line about Pellegrini's power over the media, or if we were supposed to just assume it given that he was able to ruin Fabienne's credibility.
posted by amarynth at 5:08 AM on January 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by amarynth at 5:08 AM on January 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
Oh, I guess there was Pellegrini's line to Juliette about deleting the video, which I thought was "an old misunderstanding how social media works," but could have been "has the power to get twitter to delete it."
posted by amarynth at 5:36 AM on January 25, 2021
posted by amarynth at 5:36 AM on January 25, 2021
Yeah, the video episode was a little frustrating - he didn't even make a backup?
posted by DowBits at 8:33 AM on January 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by DowBits at 8:33 AM on January 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
Binged this in a night and it was well worth it! I can forgive all the plot holes since Omar Sy is so good, as is the rest of the cast. Can't wait for the next part to come out.
The recurring theme of race in French society is quite interesting. The NPR podcast Rough Translation covered Blackness in France in the episode "We (Still) Don't Say That".
posted by invokeuse at 11:05 AM on January 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
The recurring theme of race in French society is quite interesting. The NPR podcast Rough Translation covered Blackness in France in the episode "We (Still) Don't Say That".
posted by invokeuse at 11:05 AM on January 25, 2021 [2 favorites]
Part 2 will air this summer. Netflix announced it on Twitter, no specific date yet.
posted by amarynth at 7:39 AM on January 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by amarynth at 7:39 AM on January 31, 2021 [1 favorite]
Absolutely loved this, from the first episode which felt like a film, makes sense after reading a Guardian interview with Sy and the director, Louis Leterrier:
“We made the series with the mechanisms of cinema and the mechanisms of cinema are that of technique,” he [Sy] says. “We have a Hollywood director who brings their touch to French television, allowing us to tell this story in this way, and that plays a big part.”
posted by ellieBOA at 11:46 AM on January 31, 2021
“We made the series with the mechanisms of cinema and the mechanisms of cinema are that of technique,” he [Sy] says. “We have a Hollywood director who brings their touch to French television, allowing us to tell this story in this way, and that plays a big part.”
posted by ellieBOA at 11:46 AM on January 31, 2021
This was great fun! We gave episode 1 a try and ended up binging the whole thing in one sitting. We started with the dub and switched to French w/subtitles after about 2 minutes.
The plot hole that left us scratching our heads at the end: the assassin was picked up/arrested, cleared, released, and still managed to get to Raoul for the cliffhanger?
Didn't matter, still great fun and eagerly awaiting the second part. Renewed a desire to travel to France someday, maybe.
posted by jquinby at 8:14 AM on February 7, 2021
The plot hole that left us scratching our heads at the end: the assassin was picked up/arrested, cleared, released, and still managed to get to Raoul for the cliffhanger?
Didn't matter, still great fun and eagerly awaiting the second part. Renewed a desire to travel to France someday, maybe.
posted by jquinby at 8:14 AM on February 7, 2021
The plot hole that left us scratching our heads at the end: the assassin was picked up/arrested, cleared, released, and still managed to get to Raoul for the cliffhanger?
To me it seemed as though the assassin was just held at the local small town police station where he was taken off the train platform, not taken all the way back to Paris. I thought that particular train stop wasn't too far from Lupin and his family's final destination, so it didn't seem too much of a stretch that he could have gotten there quickly after being released (because the crooked police superintendent called the small town police station from headquarters in Paris, and intervened).
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:03 PM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
To me it seemed as though the assassin was just held at the local small town police station where he was taken off the train platform, not taken all the way back to Paris. I thought that particular train stop wasn't too far from Lupin and his family's final destination, so it didn't seem too much of a stretch that he could have gotten there quickly after being released (because the crooked police superintendent called the small town police station from headquarters in Paris, and intervened).
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:03 PM on February 7, 2021 [2 favorites]
Still no release date for part 2 beyond summer 2021, but Netflix has released a teaser trailer (link to English dub trailer on youtube). It is mostly quick cuts and dramatic music. Won't talk about it further in case people think trailer discussion is spoilers ; I am bad at knowing what people consider a spoiler.
posted by the primroses were over at 6:19 AM on March 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by the primroses were over at 6:19 AM on March 12, 2021 [2 favorites]
There's a date now: June 11, 2021.
Trailer here.
posted by Sunburnt at 6:21 PM on May 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
Trailer here.
posted by Sunburnt at 6:21 PM on May 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
> There's a date now: June 11, 2021.
That's today! 🎉
posted by Pronoiac at 4:01 PM on June 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
That's today! 🎉
posted by Pronoiac at 4:01 PM on June 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Yup, we did too!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:59 AM on June 12, 2021
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:59 AM on June 12, 2021
I feel like we need another post for the second half, but I too must acknowledge that we watched the first episode of the second half on Saturday evening, then the other four on Sunday. The ending felt a little rushed, but overall my review is "like BBC Sherlock except good" I think
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:14 PM on June 13, 2021
posted by DoctorFedora at 8:14 PM on June 13, 2021
I watched this over the weekend, and man. It is just so great. A real joy, and I can’t wait to watch part 2.
Also to the points about subtitles / dub above, for anyone who hasn’t watched yet: I watched in English with English subtitles and I found the language of the dub more lively than the subtitles, and the voice acting is mostly quite good. Strong vote for dub for non-Francophones.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:27 AM on June 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
Also to the points about subtitles / dub above, for anyone who hasn’t watched yet: I watched in English with English subtitles and I found the language of the dub more lively than the subtitles, and the voice acting is mostly quite good. Strong vote for dub for non-Francophones.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:27 AM on June 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
Just watching this now, 3 shows in, and I love it so far. Really enjoying the puzzles (like the q-tip dipped in coffee to highlight words in a book) and how clever Assane is. I enjoyed how the first episode just drops you right in the middle of his plot, leaving you scrambling to try to figure out what's going on, and then feeds you little flashbacks one at a time until you have several aha moments.
posted by the webmistress at 10:15 AM on November 20, 2021
posted by the webmistress at 10:15 AM on November 20, 2021
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posted by amarynth at 11:11 AM on January 21, 2021 [5 favorites]