Synopsis: Why do the Adventures of Tintin continue to fascinate its readers even in adulthood? Hergé, the Belgian creator of Tintin, tried himself to answer this question in a unique interview that has never been published before in its full length. Hergé explains how the Adventures of Tintin are profoundly connected to the tensions and conflicts during the 20th century and to his own life, as well. This documentary film is an autobiographic journey of the life and the brilliant work of Hergé – in his own voice and on the original tape.
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Tintin et moi 8.25

‘Tintin et moi’ is a documentary on the life of Hergé, but mainly in correlation with his most famous creation, Tintin. Very little is discussed about his early life or anything that doesn’t actually relate in some fashion to his oeuvre.

The director, Anders Østergaard, had interviewed his idol some 30 years prior, but the resulting book had been massively edited by Hergé himself. The original recordings had never been released, and they are the basis for this new audio-visual biography.

I knew very little of the auteur, who died when I was too young to understand the impact of his passing on. I had read and re-read his books voraciously, but didn’t quite grasp the meaning of Hergé’s death; I didn’t know that this meant the end of the road for the adventures of Tintin.

Tintin, however, lives on even today, with a new feature-length film based on the original books having just been released. I remember being told that Hergé had forbidden new books being published after his death; he had wanted to maintain the integrity of the world and characters that he created.

He did the right thing. He protected his legacy where others did not, and in doing so he permitted all his fans to continue cherishing their fondest memories, unblemished by blasphemous sell-outs and cash-ins. Sure, Tintin is still a money-making gargantuan, but it’s still firmly rooted in its origins: Hergé himself.

I was very surprised to discover the troubles that Hergé faced in his life. While not momentous by some standards, this film makes him appear as a man with good intentions caught in a few wrong turns that were out of his control. It also portrays him as a rigid man with a credo of loyalty and perseverance.

It’s all apparently rooted in his Boy Scout background, but he was also influenced by the Reverend Wallez, who had a very strict sense of morality. He hired Hergé to create Tintin as a tool for him to attract the youth to his religious right publication Le Petit Vingtième.

Hergé said that he did the first few stories for laughs, and it’s quite apparent. Then he became political, however, criticizing the German invasion of Europe. Apparently, this was a key reason why Le Petit Vingtième was closed down by the Nazis during their occupation of Belgium – despite Wallez’ sympathetic views.

Hergé would later end up being associated with more Nazi sympathizers simply by virtue of working for a newspaper, which were then all under the control of the Nazis. Immediately upon the British liberation of Belgium, he was arrested for his alleged views – as were all other newspaper people.

And yet, many years prior, he had begun to be more sensitive to the way Tintin’s more political adventures were viewed. With ‘Le Lotus bleu’, for instance, he began to approach his material in a more critical way thanks to a new friend, Chang, who taught him much about the east; thus, he tried to avoid caricatures and prejudices.

Still, personally hurt by the criticism, he morphed his Tintin books (he also penned other series!) into apolitical escapist adventures, including treasure hunts and the fantastic. They would change again later, as he tired of the grind and wanted to explore new things in his life.

He began to travel. He never travelled in his early years, but, being a perfectionist, he would research everything to the finest detail and cut out pictures from magazines and papers – keeping them as reference material in order to achieve a high degree of realism. In fact, many of the locations that he has drawn can still be found untouched today.

‘Tintin et moi’ features a mix of audio recordings, video footage, stock footage, live shots, slightly animated ones, still pictures, and bits from his books. It all made for a truly enjoyable documentary with much to see and hear; it was hardly static, unexciting.

In truth, the material contained within could have been crammed together and blitzed across the screen in 20-25 mins or so. But Østergaard put together much more than a mere compilation of raw data: he created a fascinating portrait of a pop culture icon – one who was also a human being with foibles and complexities.