Tintin, du cinéma à la BD par Bob Garcia

Abstract

Reviewed by: Tintin, du cinéma à la BD par Bob Garcia James P. Gilroy Garcia, Bob. Tintin, du cinéma à la BD. Desclée de Brouwer, 2019. ISBN 978-2-220-09615-5. Pp. 276. Tintin fans who share the author's passion for the Belgian cartoonist Hergé (Georges Remi) will be thrilled. Garcia explores the influence of films on Hergé's bandes dessinées. He points out that the latter were inspired at the beginning of his career by ciné-romans, comic-book retellings of silent movies with dialogue provided to accompany the images. In his own stories of the adventures of Tintin, Quick, and Flupke, Hergé revealed his admiration for the heroic antics of such silent movie figures as Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin. The characters they played represented the well-intentioned hero who is pursued and persecuted by villains but who manages to prevail in the end. These triumphs often entail a near superhuman and, at the same time, comic athleticism. Hergé borrowed several of their most amazing stunts, as his own heroes and their companions extricate themselves from the clutches of their evil pursuers. After the creation of talking pictures, he also emulated the verbal and physical agility of the Marx Brothers. Another source of inspiration for Hergé was the cinematic detective story, both silent and speaking. He was especially impressed by the crime-solving talents of Sherlock Holmes in his several incarnations by different actors. Holmes's example of dealing with crime and criminals by intellectual analysis was a model for Hergé's perennial hero. Tintin's official career is that of an investigative journalist seeking the truth about the nefarious activities of malefactors who threaten the liberty and well-being of humanity. Garcia also discusses Hergé's admiration for the films of Alfred Hitchcock and the parallels in their techniques. Both creators emphasized the clarity of a linear story line and sought to get the spectator or reader personally involved. Both explored the irrational side of human nature as displayed in dreams and insanity. Both studied the line separating good and evil. They also introduced an element of humor to relieve tension. In addition to the genres mentioned, Hergé got ideas from cowboy movies, love stories with Rudolph Valentino and Mary Pickford, the Our Gang children's films, and horror movies like The Phantom of the Opera. Garcia points out that Hergé also adopted a number of cinematographic technical procedures, including ellipsis, plunging perspectives, [End Page 270] travelling camera shots, and flashbacks. Hergé was always a man of his time, and the adventures of his heroes mirrored contemporary events. For example, just as outer space travel was a subject of film from its earliest days with Georges Méliès into the contemporary period, so does Tintin engage in voyages to the moon. Garcia admits that some of the similarities he finds between Hergé's books and the movies discussed might be coincidental. Hergé himself made only occasional mentions of films that had an impact on him. More might also have been said about how historical events like World War II and accusations of collaboration made against Hergé led him to redefine his hero's persona and reorient Tintin's heroic pursuits. James P. Gilroy University of Denver (CO) Copyright © 2021 American Association of Teachers of French