Tintin Forums

Disappointing - seconds into they mention that Tintin was a racist. Questions about Tintin's sexuality as well.A Few inaccuracies but at least Bob De Moor was mentioned :).
I think the humour failed.
It should've been great. The best bit was meeting Michael Farr on the train. I dont think the documentary was very good at all - I give it a 4/10.
Dom Jolly came into the shop once, but does he really know anything about Tintin?.

I didn't really enjoy it. I couldn't quite see the point of it. Seeing the real life locations was nice but his style didn't really suit. I couldn't find humour in the (badly staged) taking of the dog (you could see the woman waiting for her cue) him urinating up against a fence or searching in bars looking for sailors.

It wasn't as bad as I'd feared, although my expectations were pretty low to begin with.

I mainly found myself wondering who the target audience was. Fans of 'Trigger Happy TV' might have enjoyed his larking about in Brussels, but some of the references - the red Jeep, Ranko at the end, the rose (although that was briefly explained) - would presumably have been lost on anyone not familiar with the Tintin books.

I don't doubt Dom Joly's interest in Tintin at all - he seemed passionately interested throughout the journey. I wonder whether he was 'encouraged' by the production team to broaden the appeal of the film by dressing up as Tintin.

If anyone were to make a follow-up (which I concede is unlikely) I'd vote for a straight documentary following 'The Calculus Affair' in Geneva...

That would be a good way to highlight the trouble Herge went into doing his research but to be of real interest the documentary would have to point out that the search for Calculus and his invention is a reflection of the Cold War and the development of weapons of mass destructions. For Syldavia and Borduria, read East and West Germany or the US and the Soviet Union.

An actual programme by a serious Tintinologist like Michael Farr or Benoît Peeters would be ideal. I know that they have contributed to such projects but I don't know of any full-length documentaries.

Maybe a doc by someone else covering from 1920's to the 40's 40's to the 60's and the 60's to the 80's.Hour long documentary is what Tintin needs I myself would happily make one :D

Having finally caught up with it I found it pretty pretty much as everyone has said: better than expected but... I may have found the 'comedy' asides grating had the documentary been any longer, but as it was neither they nor the programme outstayed their welcome.

Dom himself was an engaging and enthusiast host when concentrating on the subject (although anyone in their 40s is perhaps best rationing the use of the work 'cool'!) it's just a shame the public/media persona had to get air time as well. As a contrast the Jonathan Ross programme about Ditko had Ross taking it totally straight, so far as I recall, much to the show's benefit.

Still, a light enough show for a mainstream channel I suppose, and even the dressing up wasn't as bad as I feared.

Incidentally, you can see 'Kiltoch' castle here.

George

On the plus side, there's bound to be a decent documentary about Tintin when the films come out. Surely?!?!?!?!?!?!

(though obviously Tintin et moi is fantastic)