[Movielog 2009] 1. Tintin: Solens Tempel

[awahlbom]

1. Tintin: Solens Tempel (Tintin et le Temple du Soleil, 1969)

This is the animated feature adaptation of the book, which differs considerably from both the book and the early 90s TV series. I presume that most people are somewhat familiar with Tintin, so I probably won't have to recap the plot in its entirety; after the events of The Seven Crystal Balls are dealt with in 15 minutes, it follows Prisoners of the Sun quite closely. The only things added are Thomson and Thompson (who do absolutely nothing for the plot and are not even comic relief; in the book they went home to Belgium after they lost track of Calculus in Callao) and the daughter of the Great Inca, who pleads for Zorrino's life.

As a movie it's a matinée adventure, nothing more. What I really dislike about this particular release, though, is the treatment of the film:

1. It's possible that the old dub is still bound up by copyright and couldn't be included here, but I didn't like the new voices very much. Also, the translation doesn't follow Swedish Tintin traditions: Professor Bergamotte (who was called "Tarragon" in English) is called "Birnbaum" here, as he was in German.
2. The sound mix is a minor disaster: all dialogue is in the left channel. Really bad! (What's more, the packaging claims it's in mono. Not really, no; it would have been better if it was.)
3. Parts of the transfer, particularly the scene where the Pachacamac leaves the port of Saint-Nazaire, seem to have been made from a quite worn, scratched and dusty copy of the film reel.
4. What really upset me, though, was that the two beautiful songs written by Jacques Brel, prominently mentioned on the back of the sleeve, have been cut completely. (I know they were in the old dub; they're included on the Swedish soundtrack album.)

A decent movie marred by a sub-standard release. A slight disappointment, to be honest: even if the film is by no means the masterpiece I dimly remember from when I was five, it deserves to be treated with more respect than this. If I had been responsible and had a free hand, I would at least have included the whole film without cuts, with the 1971 dub, preferrably with optional original French sound and subtitles, and possibly some bonus material.