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

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

by Anders Høgsbro Østergaard, about Belgian 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 comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...

, and his creation

Tintin Tintin usually refers to: * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), the protagonist and titular character of the series Tintin or Tin Tin may also refer to: Material related to ''The A ...

. The film is a co-production of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The film is based on Numa Sadoul'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'' () 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), Tintin'' magazine and publis ...

'', 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 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'') is a character in the comic book series ''The Adventures of Tintin''. He is Tintin (character), Tintin's best friend, a seafaring captain in the Merchant Navy or Merchant Mar ...

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 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 List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and the opposition he came up against due to Wolff's sacrifice in '' Explorers on the Moon''. 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'' () 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 serialised weekly from August ...

'' 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 service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, 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 broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

DVD releases

In Australia, Madman Entertainment released a DVD version of ''Tintin and I'' in 2007, packaged with '' I, Tintin'', 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 2000s Belgian films {{arts-documentary-film-stub