Tintin et le lac aux requins (1972)

Tintin et le lac aux requins (1972). 1h 21m

“As an avid fan of Tintinu0026#39;s adventures, I remember my original response to u0026quot;Lake of Sharksu0026quot; wasnu0026#39;t as enthusiastic as for u0026quot;The Temple of Sunu0026quot;. I didnu0026#39;t dislike the film but I canu0026#39;t recall being overwhelmed either. Who would have thought that discovering a movie at 4 or 8 would make a difference? in a childu0026#39;s mind, it did, and rightfully so.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTo be objective, u0026quot;Tintin and the Temple of Sunu0026quot; wasnu0026#39;t better animated, nor more spectacular, but it had imagery, it had thrills and exotic settings, it had the words u0026#39;adventureu0026#39; and u0026#39;escapismu0026#39; transcended by a unique local color, it also had a simple plot line, easier to follow for a child : Tintin, Haddock and Zorrino were looking for Professor Calculus. And much more than this, it had a beautiful music and two great songs composed by the Belgian icon Jacques Brel. Hearing the score and the songs of u0026quot;Temple of the Sunu0026quot; always provoke shivers down my spine, itu0026#39;s like my own childhood resurrecting in one magical instant. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Tintin and the Lake of Sharksu0026quot;, also belongs to my childhood memories, but since I discovered the film at a later time, it inevitably suffered in comparison. I thought the plot was too complicated, what was with all this spying and secret agents, with this opening sequence, with the whole 3D copy issue? I understand now, that the filmu0026#39;s plot line is inspired by many James Bondu0026#39;s movie with Rastapopoulos as a Blofeld-like villain. But then again, as accessible to adult minds as the film is, itu0026#39;s ruined by the corniness of some cheap visual gags.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn u0026quot;Temple of the Sunu0026quot;, the Thompsons carried the slapstick, in u0026quot;Lake of Sharksu0026quot;, itu0026#39;s the villain, Rastapopulos, but how to take him seriously when he plays the bad-guy card? There was a u0026#39;Tintinu0026#39; marathon on TV yesterday, and no matter how cheap the animation looked, I was pleasantly surprised by the mature content of u0026quot;Hergeu0026#39;s adventures of Tintinu0026quot; made in 1964. The dialog sounded adult, the film also featured some disturbing parts, it really had the thrills of a James Bond film. The problem with u0026quot;Lake of Sharksu0026quot; is that it didnu0026#39;t make a clear choice whether it was intended for adults of kiddies.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThat lead to some over-the-top unforgivable moments: one scene that I always found to be unbelievably creepy when Calculusu0026#39; servant was receiving her phone call from the u0026#39;wellu0026#39;, and while hearing her instructions, started nodding in a very devilish way. Not only did that scene freaked me out as a kid, (what were all the animators thinking?) but as an adult, I donu0026#39;t get the necessity of overdoing it, we know sheu0026#39;s with the bad guys. The same goes for the little villains who cuts wire with a sort of manic laugh. Too over-the-top, like the whole suspense built up, until the villainu0026#39;s revelation.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd the film spares no cliché, with the obligatory use of children, Zorrino was a solid protagonist in u0026quot;Temple of the Sunu0026quot;, both the guide and the friend, he already touched our hearts, and continued through two beautiful songs already. In u0026quot;Lake of Sharksu0026quot;, Tintin is saved by Nico and Nouchka, two little Syldavians. Naturally, the kid is brave, the girl is wimpy and their drawing is too awkward at a first stance, as if it didnu0026#39;t belong to the same film. In the following musical part, you realize that the Syldavian men are drawn like common Herge characters, but the girls have stranger features, almost like Disney characters, and some children look very weird, one is basically Nico with blonde hair.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe whole awkward feeling is redeemed by characters behaving like their usual personality, in the scenes that involves Tintin, Haddock, the Thompsons, we know itu0026#39;s a Tintin movie, Bianca Castafiore also makes a respectable cameo, but the rest is like a weird mix between James Bond, Walt Disney and Hanna Barbera. And Iu0026#39;m only speaking of the original version, if you see the English one without being distraught by Haddocku0026#39;s voice, I salute your patience. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI didnu0026#39;t dislike the film either; but the animators didnu0026#39;t make an effort to create an impact. There are some tacit rules in animated film-making, one of them is at least to feature a few songs, in u0026quot;Lake of Sharksu0026quot;, it betrays some laziness from the director, since the same Syldavian theme is used over and over again, from catchy at first, it gets too repetitive, especially since it doesnu0026#39;t have that u0026#39;epicu0026#39; feeling on it. And donu0026#39;t get me started on the villain theme.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt ends with an obligatory u0026#39;all laughingu0026#39; gag typical of the 70u0026#39;s corniness, and the theme that is nothing compared to the epic fanfare of u0026quot;Temple of the Sunu0026quot;. I wish u0026quot;Lake of Sharksu0026quot; left a better impression on me, but the more I see it, the better I appreciate u0026quot;Temple of the Sunu0026quot;, maybe they should have adapted a real Tintinu0026#39;s adventure after all.”