Lost in Translation? – Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

Welcome to Lost in Translation? – the Ready Up series where we look at the rocky two-way road of media adapted from video games and games based on films and TV shows, in a bid to decide whether the juice was worth the squeeze, or if what made the source material great in the first place got lost in translation.

Having spent all of our time so far looking at games based on live-actions films and live-action films adapted from games, for this installment of LIT? we’re taking a look at our first anime feature film based on a game series. Released in its native Japan in December 2009 and making its way to the UK in October 2010 with a superb English dub, Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva was directed by Masakazu Hashimoto and featured the voices of Yo Oizumi/Christopher Robin Miller as Professor Layton and Maki Horikita/Maria Darling as Luke. Here’s the somewhat sparse trailer:

By the time the film made it into Japanese cinemas, four games had been released in the Nintendo DS-exclusive series, with Professor Layton and the Spectre’s Call (known in the US as Professor Layton and the Last Specter) being the most recent, released in Japan in 2009, with its English translation hitting the West in 2011. In each game in the series you take on the role of Professor Hershel Layton and are tasked with solving numerous puzzles to progress the plot and uncover a deeper mystery, with high-quality anime sequences furthering the story.

Although not based on one of the Professor and Luke’s adventures directly, the film’s plot fits into the established formula. Receiving a letter from one of his former students, now an accomplished opera singer, the Professor is invited to watch a lavish performance at the prestigious Crown Petone Opera House. Once the show concludes, the true purpose of the night at the opera is revealed – a game is to be played, hosted by a nefarious villain and played by the members of the audience, with the winner promised eternal life.

What it got right

There’s a lot to love about the approach Level-5 took in bringing its beloved series to the big screen. First and foremost, the film was made by P.A. Works, the same animation house responsible for the in-game cutscenes in all of the Professor Layton games. This means that every single visual detail that could make this an authentic representation of Professor Layton and his world is present and correct, from the character design right down to the use of certain props and sly references for eagle-eyed fans to spot.

Another element handled flawlessly in converting the Professor Layton experience from the dual-screens of the Nintendo DS to the big screen are the game’s trademark puzzles. By framing the puzzles as challenges from the villain (whose identity shouldn’t be a surprise to those who are up to date with their Layton adventures), the film gets over the biggest convenient contrivance of the games, where seemingly everyone you encounter has a brain-teaser for you to solve.

The interesting thing with the puzzles offered in the film, which at first are numbered as per the games, is that we the audience are given the opportunity to solve them for ourselves, with narrative devices used as a form of countdown clock, whether they be solving the puzzle before a pack of (possibly robotic) wolves descends upon the protagonists, or forcing a riddle to be solved before a piece of music finishes playing. Thankfully for those of us less adept in our lateral thinking, the film continues during these moments, the colourful cast of characters voicing their thought processes on how to solve the puzzle at hand, with Layton occasionally stepping in with the solution.

Dealing with themes of love and loss, the film has more depth than its simplistic visuals may suggest, though remains a light experience throughout. That a large part of the film’s plot revolves around musical themes is hardly a surprise when the film’s musical score is as wonderful as this, with much of the film’s music directly lifted from the games that inspired it, only this time with the power of a full orchestra behind the notes. A large number of the game’s voice cast reprise their roles for the movie too, which will please fans.

What it got wrong

My only real gripe with the film, and I’m really clutching at straws here, is a short sequence before the film properly begins, whereby the audience is given a quick heads-up that what they’re about to view is based on a videogame, including a mention of how many units the series had sold up to that point. It’s a little odd to be included at all, but thankfully is soon forgotten. Also, the film is arguably a little low on character development for the main characters, but the adventure is so much fun that it’s never really an issue.

The Verdict

Quite simply the most authentic game-to-film adaptation I’ve seen, packed to the brim with subtle nods to please fans, containing spectacular action-packed set-pieces, delicate handling of the prerequisite puzzles, a number of more contemplative sequences to balance everything out – all while working rather well as a stand-alone film for those unfamiliar with the Professor and Luke’s previous cases. Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva is that rarest of beasts – a great movie based on a videogame.