Tintin Forums

…for me, 'The Odessa File'

I thought the Odessa File with John Voigt had some definite Tintin moments, and something of a Tintin-ish spirit to it. At least at times. I don't remember too much of it now, except, when John Voigt was waiting in a culvert to sneak past guards and into a castle, Tintin sprang to mind.

What makes a movie Tintin-like, as opposed to any James Bond or other spy movie? An individual who goes it alone most of the time, and an adventure component, I guess. And not too much violence or sex.

Any other criteria that come to mind, or, movie scenes that remind(ed) you of Tintin?

Well, I think that the French movie Bon Voyage, by Jean-Paul Rappeneau is great contender for if not exactly a Tintin movie, certainly being Hergé-ian. It stars Isabelle Adjani, Gerard Depardieu, Virginie Ledoyen, Yvan Attal and Peter Coyote in a war-time adventure, which starts out as a murder mystery with a visit to a theatre and a wrongful arrest, and leads to car-chases from authorities and the escape of a scientist with a secret weapon. The style of the decor, and the pacing of the adventure both say "Tintin" to me, which is no surprise, given that Rappeneau is a long-time Tintin fan.

Earlier he made L'homme de Rio (titled That Man from Rio in English distribution), which is an unashamed hommage to The Broken Ear, and apparently had long-held ambitions to make a live-action Tintin film.

I've never seen L'homme de Rio - other than a clip of a famous stunt performed by Jean Paul Belmondo, where he is dropped out of the back of a tipper truck over a cliff, and he survives the trio down the hill-side - but it seems to be highly regarded by those who have.

It would have to be said that many have also seen similarities between the Indiana Jones flicks and Tintin, and Belmondo, who stars in it, has said that they "made" Indiana Jones 30 years before Spielberg did, so what goes around comes around...!

Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935) is obviously influential on Hergé's The Black Island, so does that count?