''Tintin and I'' (French: ''Tintin et moi'', also known as ''Tintin and Me'') is a

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

documentary by Anders Høgsbro Østergaard, about

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

writer-artist Georges Remi, better known as

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...

, and his creation

Tintin Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to: ''The Adventures of Tintin'' * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series ** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...

. The film is a co-production of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The film is based on

Numa Sadoul Numa Sadoul (born 7 May 1947, Brazzaville, French Equatorial Africa (now Republic of Congo) is a French writer, actor, and director, who has been a resident of France since 1966. Biography Numa Sadoul was born on May 7, 1947, in Brazzavill ...

's revealing interviews with Hergé from the 1970s, and goes into detail about Hergé's life and how the success of Tintin affected it. The film is based strongly around Hergé's experiences and state of mental health leading up to the writing of ''

Tintin in Tibet ''Tintin in Tibet'' (french: Tintin au Tibet, link=no) is the twentieth volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. It was serialised weekly from September 1958 to November 1959 in ''Tintin (magazine ...

'', often heralded as Hergé's most personal album. The history of Tintin is examined through Hergé's life and the way that he was affected by the growing popularity of his character.

Theme

The underlying theme of the film is the way that Hergé's private life affected his work; for example,

Bianca Castafiore Bianca Castafiore (), nicknamed the "Milanese Nightingale" (), is a fictional character in ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. She is an opera singer who frequently pops up in adventure after adventure. ...

is a subconscious (or perhaps conscious) reflection of Georges' first wife, Germaine, and the way that

Captain Haddock Captain Archibald Haddock (french: Capitaine Archibald Haddock, link=no, ) is a fictional character in ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. He is one of Tintin's best friends, a seafaring pipe-smoking ...

responds to her reflects the way Georges often felt towards his wife. Specifically, the mothering instinct that Germaine had toward him is shown most explicitly in ''

The Castafiore Emerald ''The Castafiore Emerald'' (french: link=no, Les Bijoux de la Castafiore) is the twenty-first volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. It was serialised weekly from July 1961 to September 1962 in ...

''. The subject of religion is also discussed, including Georges' gradual disillusioned view of the

Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and the opposition he came up against due to Wolff's sacrifice in ''

Explorers on the Moon ''Explorers on the Moon'' (french: link=no, On a marché sur la Lune; literally: ''We walked on the Moon'') is the seventeenth volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. The story was serialised we ...

''. The influence of Chang on Georges' work is also highlighted, using reconstructed footage and actual archive footage of their meeting in 1934.

Format

Technically, the film employed a choice of graphic effects to "re-animate" video footage of Hergé speaking, to match up with the audio being played (from the interviews conducted with Sadoul). Panels from the albums were also animated to allow movement through them, the plane crash from ''

'' and the Shanghai street scene from ''

The Blue Lotus ''The Blue Lotus'' (french: link=no, Le Lotus bleu) is the fifth volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper for its children's supplement , it was ...

'' both being used in such a manner. Interviews are reconstructed using actors, but the viewer never sees their faces; hands and arms are used, holding the albums, flicking through them, drinking tea and the like.

Broadcast

The film has been broadcast in the UK on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

and in the US on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

DVD releases

In Australia, Madman Entertainment released a DVD version of ''Tintin and I'' in 2007, packaged with ''

I, Tintin ''I, Tintin'' ( French: ''Moi, Tintin'') is a Franco-Belgian film which premiered in the Paris cinema as a feature presentation in 1976. It is made in semidocumentary style and mixing interviews with ''The Adventures of Tintin'' creator Hergé w ...

'', an interview with Gérard Valet, a short film called ''The Secret of the Clear Line'' and a menu-based Hergé biography.

References

External links

* 2003 films Documentary films about comics Tintin films Works about Tintin Best Documentary Bodil Award winners Best Documentary Robert Award winners {{arts-documentary-film-stub