Film: Tintin And The Mystery Of The Golden Fleece
Release date: 18th October 2010
Certificate: PG
Running time: 98 mins
Director: Jean-Jacques Vierne
Starring: Georges Wilson, Georges Loriot, Jean-Pierre Talbot, Milo, Charles Vanel
Genre: Adventure/Drama
Studio: BFI
Format: DVD
Country: France/Belgium
With the impending Hollywood version of Tintin, helmed by industry giants Spielberg and Jackson, on the horizon, set to re-ignite worldwide interest in the Belgian boy detective, canny studio execs have wasted no time in releasing to DVD the two lesser known live action versions from the 1960s, one of which is Tintin And The Mystery Of The Golden Fleece. Comic book creator Herge (who reputedly hated the well loved animated series) allegedly gave his seal of approval.
Tintin And The Mystery Of The Golden Fleece sees Tintin, his long time companion Captain Haddock and his faithful dog snowy travel to Istanbul to collect an old ship which has been bequeathed to Haddock in his old shipmate’s will. They arrive to find the ship – The Golden Fleece - a dilapidated wreck, but none-the-less of extreme interest to a local businessman, who offers Haddock increasingly extravagant bids to buy the wreck for “sentimental reasons.”
Suspecting the ship to hide treasures beyond its broken-down appearance, they decline his offers and decide to keep the ship. Aided by a scurvy crew, they set sail to Athens, following a stipulation of the will to deliver some carpets, and along the way have to dodge several mysterious attempts on their lives. Helped at points by their friends Professor Calculus and the twins Thompson and Thompson, they travel around Europe attempting to solve the mystery of the strange old boat...
You would think it would be hard to go wrong with the thoroughly likeable character of Tintin, but somehow the irrepressible boy/man with the blond quiff made flesh is here a slightly creepy incarnation. The actor inside the blue jumper and plus-fours is Jean-Pierre Talbot, who – so the story goes – was spotted as a Tintin look-a-like whilst teaching fitness on a beach in Belgium, and was subsequently introduced to Herge who gave his approval. Talbot brings to the table the peculiar addition of deft martial-arts abilities, and, like many things about this film, it just doesn’t feel right. Seeing Tintin effortlessly dispatch bad-guys with Bruce Lee-like dexterity is a somewhat disturbing image.
Everybody tries their best with the wooden dialogue and flimsy set pieces, and nobody tries harder than Georges Wilson as Captain Haddock - Wilson’s performance is nothing if not energetic and committed, but someone should have told him that louder doesn’t necessarily mean funnier, and after half-an-hour his manic screaming at the top of his lungs barely raises a smile. It’s not long before his antics become outright annoying.
Where The Golden Fleece succeeds in spades is in nailing the iconic imagery. You can’t deny that – down to Tintin’s blond quiff, Haddock’s bushy beard and Calculus’s green suit - Vierne has nailed the look and feel of Herge’s world perfectly, and anyone remotely acquainted with the original comics will have a great time spotting all the familiar characters. Even Tintin’s faithful fox terrier Snowy is a dead ringer, although sadly the dog’s dry monologue from the comics has been jettisoned for this re-telling.
Tintin And The Mystery Of The Golden Fleece would have worked fine as a twenty minute cartoon, but in its conversion to the big screen most of the magic from Herge’s original comic has been sadly sucked out. The plot, such as it is, appears to have been made up on the fly, and is little more than a thin excuse to have Tintin and his companions travel seemingly at random from location to location around the Mediterranean on the flimsiest of pretexts. Often the story grinds to a halt entirely and we are treated to unrelated, often surreal, ‘comedy’ interludes which are clearly nothing but filler. Also thrown into the mix are a few scenes involving animals, which are slapstick verging on cruelty, and come across as seriously unfunny.
It didn’t work in 1980 for Popeye when Robin Williams tried his hand at the cartoon-to-live action game, and it doesn’t work for Tintin. Sadly, despite Herge’s endorsement, Vierne’s attempt to bring the well-loved young reporter and his canine companion to the big screen is less French farce and more French flop. Except for some fun reminiscing with the strong imagery, this is one for diehard Tintin fans only. LOZ
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