Gebeka Films and Studio Canal are producing a feature length animated film based on the Corto Maltese graphic novels by Hugo Pratt.  The 92-minute traditionally animated feature film is set to debut on September 25 in France.  No U.S. release has been set for the Corto Maltese film, which director Pascal Morelli is filling with anime-style flourishes.  Extremely popular in Europe, the Corto Maltese books have had relatively little exposure in the U.S., though many artists, like Frank Miller, love Pratt's work for its narrative flow and Caniff-like use of dramatic lighting effects.

 

Set in the Far East in the period immediately after World War I, the animated Corto Maltese film makes great use of the exotica from Pratt's far-flung adventures, including the always fascinating character of Rasputin as well as the ruthless villain Kolchak and his incredibly intimidating armored train.

 

While Corto Maltese: La Cour Secrete des Arcanes, as the film is known in France, may never get a theatrical release in the U.S. (unless it does very well in Europe), it should eventually become available here on video and it should have a definite appeal to anime fans as well as comic fans who like action/adventure type material.  In many ways Hugo Pratt's Corto Maltese adventures are the comic book equivalent of the novels of B. Traven, the reclusive author who penned The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and perhaps the French-made Corto Maltese film will eventually open American eyes to one of the great graphic achievements of the twentieth century, the graphic novels of Hugo Pratt.