A languid pirate, a chaotic bandit, and two rich kids walk into WWI. Nobody leaves unscathed.
In 1913, laconic sea captain Corto Maltese, adrift in the Pacific, gets rescued by his bandit friend Rasputin who's taking two rich shipwrecked teens to an island where his boss the Monk will hold them for ransom. WWI complicates things.
Direction
Languid pacing lets Hugo Pratt's ligne claire aesthetic breathe beautifully.
Acting
Richard Berry's world-weary Corto — smoking, shrugging, devastating.
Production
Rare faithful adaptation of a comics legend most Americans have never heard of.
Director
Liam Saury
Richard Berry
Corto Maltese (FR)
Patrick Bouchitey
Rasputin (FR)
Barbara Schulz
Pandora Groovesnore (FR)
Luca Ward
Corto Maltese (IT)
Ennio Coltorti
Rasputin (IT)
Stefano Crescentini
Cain Groovesnore (IT)
Giorgio Locuratolo
Cranio (IT)
Stefano Mondini
Il Monaco (IT)
Loris Loddi
Capitano Slutter (IT)
Enrico Di Troia
Tarao (IT)
Teo Bellia
Rinaldo Groovesnore (IT) / Oceano Pacifico (IT)
Laura Boccanera
Pandora Groovesnore adulta (IT)
Vittorio Guerrieri
Marinaio Neozelandese (IT)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hugo Pratt's Corto Maltese comics are considered sacred in Europe — this 2003 adaptation was the first animated version approved by Pratt's estate before his death in 1995.
The film deliberately used two voice casts (French and Italian) because Corto himself is canonically of mixed heritage — Maltese father, Spanish-Romany mother — and speaks multiple languages.
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