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That all-time comic-book favourite of French kids, Tin Tin,hits
the big screen, courtesy of Steven Spielberg and his Dreamworks
movie machine..
Since 10th January 1929, when the first story was published in
a Belgian newspaper, roving reporter Tin Tin has prevailed through
thick and thin, to triumph over wrong-doers the world over. Much
to the delight of French and Belgian kids and, eventually, kids
the world over, as his adventures rolled out, translated into
80 languages with more than 350 million copies of the books sold
to date.
The original 1942 story, The Secret of the Unicorn, is now given
the Hollywood treatment. This latest adaption of creator, Belgian
artist Georges Rémi 's favourite hero (he published under
the nom-de-plume: Hergé) , stars Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis,
Daniel Craig. Produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Steven
Spielberg.
TinTin
A firm French favourite fior decades
Tintin, a young journalist, and his dog Snowy, are browsing in
an outdoor market in a European town (possibly Brussels). Tintin
buys a model of a three-masted sailing ship, the Unicorn, for
a good price, but is then immediately accosted by the sinister
Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine, and the mysterious figure of Barnaby,
who both try to buy the model from Tintin, without success. Tintin
takes the ship home, but it is broken during a fight between Snowy
and a neighbour's cat. As it breaks, we see a parchment scroll
slip out of the ship's mast. Meanwhile, incompetent detectives
Thomson and Thompson are on the trail of a pickpocket, Aristides
Silk. Tintin visits Sakharine in Marlinspike Hall, where he learns
that there are at least two model ships.
Later, Tintin is shot at, then abducted by accomplices of Sakharine,
and imprisoned on the SS Karaboudjan. On board, Tintin escapes
and meets the ship's nominal captain, Haddock. Haddock has been
supplied with whisky by first mate Allan, who is working for Sakharine,
and the captain is permanently drunk, and doesn't know what's
happening on board his ship. Tintin and Haddock (and Snowy) eventually
escape from the Karaboudjan in a lifeboat. Sakharine sends a seaplane
to find them, but Tintin is able to capture the plane, and fly
towards the (fictitious) Moroccan port of Bagghar, but they crash
in the desert.
Dehydrated in the heat, and suffering from a sudden lack of alcohol,
Haddock hallucinates, and starts to remember stories about his
ancestor, Sir Francis Haddock(e), who was captain of the Unicorn
during the 17th century. Sir Francis' treasure-laden ship was
attacked by a pirate ship, led by the masked Red Rackham, and,
after a fierce battle and eventual surrender, Sir Francis chose
to sink the Unicorn, and most of the treasure, rather than allow
it to fall into Rackham's hands. It transpires that there were
three models of the Unicorn, each containing a scroll. Together,
the scrolls will reveal the location of the sunken Unicorn, and
its treasure.
In Bagghar, Tintin and the Captain find out that the third model
ship is in the possession of the wealthy Omar Ben Salaad, but
it is encased in a bullet-proof glass display case. Sakharine's
plan is to stage a concert involving famous diva Bianca Castafiore,
the "Milanese nightingale", whose penetrating singing
voice will be able to shatter the glass case, allowing Sakharine's
trained hawk to fly down and steal the third scroll. After an
exciting chase down to the harbour, pursued by Tintin and Haddock,
Sakharine finally escapes with all three scrolls. Tintin chases
him back to Europe and arranges a police reception for him on
the dockside. Haddock and Sakharine, who is revealed to be the
descendant of Red Rackham, eventually replay their ancestors'
swashbuckling sword fight, using dockside cranes, and Haddock
is eventually victorious.
With the three scrolls finally in their possession, Tintin and
Haddock find that the indicated location is Marlinspike Hall,
and that the hall had been built originally by Sir Francis Haddock.
There, in the cellar, they find some of the treasure, a clue to
the location of the sunken Unicorn, and, perhaps, the excuse for
another adventure.
So, can a story originally penned in 1942, still enthrall
the media-savvy kids of today? You judge - see the trailer link
below
To pop up the trailer
- Click the poster above -
Story:
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