Tintin et le mystère de la Toison d’Or (1961)
(Fourth or fifth viewing, On TV, May 2021) Revisiting Tintin et le mystère de la Toison d’Or is like diving deep into my childhood – the film was a regular staple of French-Canadian TV (especially at Christmas time) and I found myself recognizing a lot more of the dialogue and plot beats than I initially expected. For Tintin fans, this film is noteworthy for being the first of the two live-action Tintin films of the early 1960s featuring Jean-Pierre Talbot as Tintin and Georges Wilson as Captain Haddock. Both were original stories, inspired by the comic books but not adapted from any specific story. As a middle-aged viewer, what’s most striking about the film is its strong atmosphere, as it takes place in circa-1960 Turkey and Greece, with a largely nautical adventure focused on a ramshackle freighter with a backstory suggesting a wild adventure in a Central American coup d’état. The setting is fascinating in its own right, and it’s still amazing to see how the cartoon characters are instantly recognizable (and believable) with live actors. Some younger viewers may not make sense of Tintin et le mystère de la Toison d’Or, but I liked the revisit a lot.