Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece

I had never heard of this 1961 film before seeing it at the 2016 Edinburgh International Film Festival. It is not based on one of Hergé's books, but the storyline - involving a trip to İstanbul, a dilapidated boat, a South American revolution and hidden treasure - contains elements that will be familiar to anyone who has read a couple of them. It also has a definite 'feel' of 1960s films about it.

With any comic book adaptation the main issue, of course, is how close to the source material are the characters? As everyone's favourite boy reporter (sorry, Jimmy Olsen!), Jean-Pierre Talbot is game as tuppence, leaping about rocks and boats like a mountain goat, acquiting himself well in two choreographed fight scenes (even if he does seem to enjoy them more than Tintin should) and, in stripping down to a pair of tiny blue swimming shorts, showing far more skin than his pen-and-ink counterpart ever did. As Captain Haddock, Georges Wilson I found less impressive - although that may be because whenever I read one of the books Haddock always sounds, in my mind, like human foghorn Brian Blessed. Other characters appearing from the books include Professor Calculus, ineffectual policemen Thompson & Thomson (with a 'p' and without), Nestor the butler and, of course, Snowy the dog (who spends lots of his time being cradled in Tintin's arms then suddenly dropped on the floor, poor animal). Barring Tintin's blond (instead of ginger) hair, they are all styled to look very much like Hergé's illustrations - and that creates an unexpected problem, because when only they are on screen the viewer does not notice anything unusual about them, but when sharing space with characters created especially for the film, who have not been so styled, they look by comparison cartoony and unreal.

Still, this is an enjoyable film - enjoyable enough, indeed, that I shall forgive the glaring continuity error where, early in the film, Tintin says he never touches alcohol, then at the end of the adventure is seen knocking back a glass of champagne...

This is easily the best of the two live-action Tintin adaptations(the other being TINTIN ET LES ORANGES BLEUES which was ok, but nothing special). For the uninitiated, Tintin is the well known Belgian comic book character created by Herge. Every French-speaking child and most European children have grown up following his many comic book adventures. The film is not an adaptation of a Tintin story but this does not matter greatly. Instead we have an exciting adventure that sees Tintin and Capitaine Haddock travel to Turkey to claim a boat(the Toison D'or)that the good captain inherited from a friend. The intrigue starts at this point as numerous people want the boat for some mysterious reason. Jean-Pierre Talbot is perfectly cast as Tintin. Not only does he resemble the character physically but he shares the enthusiasm and athletic agility of his comic book counterpart. Georges Wilson is also good as Capitaine Haddock(gruff and a little silly). The beautiful sun-drenched Turkish and Greek locations are a delight to look at and the story moves along at a good clip. Milou the dog is also quite good. What more can one ask for? An excellent film for the young and young at heart.

I have been a fan of Tintin for almost all of my life, having read every book (including Tintin in the Land of the Soviets, Tintin in the Congo, and Tintin and the Alph-Art). While I did enjoy the Spielberg/Jackson film, it lacked the proper feel of a Tintin album. There was too much action and too many special effects, despite having great talent. That is where this movie, Tintin et le Mystere de la Toison d'Or (Tintin and the Golden Fleece) succeeds, and does so dramatically.

The plot is simple, and familiar to those who have read Tintin before. A friend of Captain Haddock, Paparanic, dies, and leaves in his will a ship named the Golden Fleece. Tintin and Captain Haddock go to Istanbul to collect it. But it's a rusty old bucket, as Haddock might have said, and he plans to sell it. A man named Karabine claims he is an old friend of Paparanic and offers a small fortune for the boat. Tintin is suspicious and declines the offer. Then the threats come and it seems that a group of people will stop at nothing to have the ship in their hands. The ship, Tintin reasons, must be hiding something, and he intends to find out.

Firstly, the characters. Jean-Pierre Talbot is, essentially, Tintin. He embodies the character perfectly and brings the athleticism and energy needed for the role, natural considering he was a personal trainer at the time. Captain Haddock, played by the well-known, BAFTA-nominated Georges Wilson, may have one of the most unreal beards in the history of film, but that is part of the charm. He also is cast superbly, with the gruffness needed for the role and also the heart of Captain Haddock (as evidenced by the scene where he speaks to the portrait of his dead friend. Calculus has very little to do but makes the most of his screen time with a nice invention and a connection to the ship's parrot, and Thomson and Thompson, incognito, have a few good scenes, and also fit the role perfectly. One cannot forget Snowy, who is ideal and looks perfect. The casting is so excellent it feels like the characters walked of the pages of Herge's albums. The rest of the cast includes, Dario Moreno, the Turkish singer, as one of Paparanic's old shipmates, and, happily, Marcel Bozzuffi as the secondary villain, who you may recognize from The French Connection, who has a very nice fight with Talbot.

It is one thing to have perfect characterizations, but the Golden Fleece succeeds where almost all other Tintin movies have failed by capturing the spirit of Tintin. Spielberg and Jackson had the right ideas in mind (particularly, I think, Jackson) but the action is too over-stated and the movie as a whole opts for grandness when subtlety would have done much better. The climactic crane fight at the end of that film was fine when assumed as a modern-day version of a sword fight, but Tintin's villains were not brought to justice by shipyard equipment or the equivalent; they were captured by gunpoint, traps, or by sheer coincidence. The same goes for the rest of Spielberg's creation. Laying waste to a city is surely not Tintin's style. Tintin and the Mystery of the Golden Fleece is so much better because it understands this and seeks to make itself like a Tintin album. The story is light yet intimate, well-paced and simple, and virtually eliminates all exposition (although for the mass of people who were assumed to never have read Tintin before, Spielberg had to accommodate, naturally). Most importantly, the direction is absolutely dynamic. The camera-work is exactly as it would be in a Tintin book. It is again simple, with little weight, and to the point. There is little trickery, little grandiosity, unless it is necessary: as Herge did with his landscapes, so Istanbul is portrayed from overhead for a while, but even then non-pretentiously. Although the movie lacks some subtleties that only Herge could have created, it ticks all of the other boxes. Thankfully, an excellent release came out on DVD not too long ago. The picture is very clear, clearer than any other version I have seen. And the sound is better, which is just as well because the music is also fantastic in this. This is a must-see for any Tintin fan, casual or Tintinologist. Also worth watching is the slightly less excellent sequel, Tintin et les Oranges Bleues (Tintin and the Blue Oranges), also with Jean- Pierre Talbot.

Original plot inspired on the popular and famous comic books by the genius Herge . Since his creation in 1930 with ¨Tintin in the land of Soviets¨ the success has been unstoppable . Within the next 80 years Tintin became one of the most popular European comics of the 20th Century, due to its well-researched plots, appealing characters, humor, political thrillers, & real world settings. The tale is ordinary Tintin album , with adventure in exotic places, in this case Turkey and Greece . For those of you not familiar with Tintin, let's just say that every Belgium kids and most European children under the age and grown-up have been excited by his comic book adventures for over half a century . This time our friends go to Turkey and Greek islands where take place several adventures . The picture will appeal to the fans of the popular animated hero named Tintin and his faithful sidekicks as well as the comic-books nostalgics . Our friends Tintin , Haddock , Tournesol and the butler Nestor are living at the palace of Moulinsard when the captain receives a letter. As Tintin and captain Haddock along with the Dupont brothers (In Spain are named Hernandez and Fernandez) travel in Turkey , Greek coast and Meteor monastery when Temistocle Paparanic, an old friend of Captain Haddock, dies and he inherits Paparanic's ship, called "La Toison d'or" and now his old shipmate is to attempting get hold of it. Tintin (Jean Pierre Talbot who looks exactly like him) and Haddock (Georges Wilson who bears remarkable resemblance and perfect performance) travel to Istanbul to pick it up, only to encounter that its a worthless-looking wreck. However, soon a certain Anton Karabine (Demetrios) offers him a lot of money for it. When Haddock refuses to sell , he's nearly murdered . Tintin and Captain Haddock try to discover what is so desirable about their old and apparently worthless ship. After a while, the truth comes out and battling over-the-top bad guys

This is a funny , light , adventure comic book adaptation with hilarious moments here and there . It has Tintin and his inseparable friends captain Haddock , absent-minded professor Tournesol , the botcher Dupont brothers taking on , as always, against stupid enemies , and ruthless and mean international delinquents . This live action movie of the popular "Tintin" comic-book magazine brilliantly captures the outrageous adventures, tongue-in-cheek, satire, comedy ,taking the characters and some elements from original stories . Although contains some silly scenes and a medium budget , however being better developed than subsequent entry titled ¨Tintin and the blue oranges¨ . This amusing movie is accompanied by lively musical score with a catching leitmotif on the start and the ending. Full of humor , it's a funny entertaining for kids and grown-ups . Entertaining screenplay isn't based on the known comics by Herge but originally written by Forlani . Based on the unforgettable characters created by "Hergé" born under the name Georges Remi on May 22, 1907 in Brussels, Belgium. As a child, Herge had a gift for drawing but never had any formal training in the visual arts. He attended both school and the boy scouts during the World War 1 and post-World War 1 era. After he finished school Herge published his first ever cartoon: "The Adventures of Totor". 1929, Herge introduced a cartoon about a traveling Belgium reporter (Tintin) accompanied by his fox terrier (Snowy) traveling the Soviet Union. By 1930,Herge published the very first Tintin book: "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets". After that , followed a weekly magazine in 1946 . Later on , it's published successful comic books as ¨Cigarrettes of pharaoh, Treasure of Rackam the Red ,Tintin and the scepter of Ottokar¨. Tintin soon became Herge's "ligne Claire" (French for clear line) legacy. The later adventures of Tintin involved other locations of the world from China ¨The blue Lotus¨ all the way to America as ¨Tintin in America¨. After completing 23 books, Herge passed away on March 3, 1983, leaving "Tintin & the Alpha-Art" (The 24th book) unfinished. Under Belgium publisher Raimond Leblanc's guidance, the boy reporter became the hero of a weekly children's magazine, with Hergé as the artistic director and magnificent creator of the immortal personage . Later on ,Raymond Leblanc produced the following films: ¨Tintin in the lake of Sharks¨ and 1970 ¨Tintín in the temple of the sun¨. The picture will appeal to Tintin comic-books buffs. An agreeable , funny adaptation from a great comic book.

This is the sort of children's story - and yeah, okay, father's story too - that you can sit and watch with the kids time and again. The music especially is truly memorable. We love this film and now my kids are showing it to their friends and they love it too.