Lupin (2021) Netflix Series Review
When asked by The New York Times about his dream role in an interview after the runaway success of the show, Omar Sy said, “If I were British, I would have said James Bond. But since I’m French, I said Lupin”.
Lupin is already being called France’s answer to Sherlock. And that’s because the series brings back into the spotlight an archetypal hero whose place in the cultural firmament of France has often been compared to that of Sherlock Holmes for the British. LeBlanc’s books have been adapted into dozens of TV series and movies over the years, even finding a place in Japanese Manga.
This is my Spoiler Free Review of Lupin (2021) Part 1. This is the brand new Netflix show and this is my Netflix Review.
Explain your thoughts on the ending of Lupin, and let me know if you enjoyed Part 1. Comment your thoughts on Lupin!
As a teenager, Assane Diop’s life was turned upside down when his father died after being accused of a crime he didn’t commit. 25 years later, Assane will use “Arsène Lupin, Gentleman Burglar” as his inspiration to avenge his father.
Created by George Kay in collaboration with François Uzan, both the show and the character of Assane take their inspiration from Arsène Lupin, a gentleman thief created in 1905 by French author Maurice Leblanc. Assane’s Senegalese-immigrant father Babakar (Fargass Assandé) gave him a Lupin novel at a formative age, and Assane treats the Lupin stories as his own personal Bible. (In a flashback, he even hides one of the books inside the hollowed-out pages of an actual Bible to get away with reading it at school.) Assane will perform spectacular crimes, and gain revenge against wealthy businessman Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre), whom he blames for Babakar’s death. But he will do it with style, just like his literary hero.
In a television landscape littered with fatally flawed antiheroes, there is something profoundly refreshing about following these exploits of a leading man striving to conduct himself with honour and class. This is a hero dedicated to — of all things — behaving well, and believing that his conduct makes all the difference. It may not, of course. He deals in deceit and his charm is often weaponised against unsuspecting people, and there is naturally no such thing as a victimless crime.
A perfect weekend watch, Lupin is all style, wit, warmth and solid substance. A story about thrilling heists, fathers and sons, (Assane introducing Raoul to Lupin is touching) class and colonialization, Lupin has left us gasping for more.
