Métro, boulot, dodo - a night out at the movies to see The Adventures of Tintin

Released October 26 in France, The Adventures of Tintin will be in cinemas on December 21 in the USA.

Just in case anyone thinks that living in Paris is all romance and roses, a useful French idiomatic expression to know is métro, boulot, dodo (subway, work, sleep). That's the normal tempo of our lives from Monday to Friday.

So, when Stephane started his Tintin propaganda campaign, I expected to see Steven Spielberg's latest movie this weekend because we rarely go out during the week. But in a real demonstration of affection for one of his favorite comic book characters, Stephane said that he would make an exception and leave work before 7:00 on Thursday evening. Now that's devotion!

If you're reading this and wondering about a grown man's affection for what appears to be a children's story, you're probably not European. For as I discovered when I mistakenly thought that the cinema would be full of kids, Stephane is not the only person over 12 years old who is a fan of the boyish investigative reporter with his Kewpie doll curl. The 360 seat UGC Danton cinema was packed with adults who couldn't wait to watch Tintin and his faithful dog, Snowy, team up with the drunken Captain Haddock to solve the mystery of the Unicorn's missing treasure.

Since I'm not qualified to judge Spielberg's adaptation of one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century, The Adventures of Tintin was a fun night out at the movies for me.  Whenever the dialogue between Tintin and Captain Haddock felt a bit cliche, Spielberg changed gears and took us on a rip-roaring chase through a Moroccan marketplace or to fierce battle between two galleons at sea that reminded me of my recent visit to the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") in Boston.

Many movies are shown in English in Paris. Look for VO (original version) after the title of the film but  be sure that the film's original version is English. I learned that lesson some years ago after sitting through Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in Chinese! An adult ticket costs 11 Euros ($15.50), although we didn't see the film in 3-D.

When passing Belgian chocolatier Jeff de Bruge's chocolate store the other day,
 I noticed his homage to Hergé, the Belgian cartoonist who created Tintin. 

Comments

  1. I was thinking of you last night when I went to see "Hugo", in 3D even. First, they showed a preview for Tin Tin which hasn't been released here yet. I may see it although it's not really in my experience past.

    But Hugo,--so strange. The movie is set in Paris after the War, all the signs and written stuff is in French but everyone speaks English--it was very disconcerting for a large portion of the film, almost too much to dispense with to enjoy the movie. I thought it somewhat long and easily predictable, but since it's intended for children, I guess they would see it as charming. Paris does look very interesting in the 3D cartoonish way.

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  2. Interesting to read your review of Hugo - it comes out in Paris next week. It sounds like it would be a good movie to take our "children" to see while they're visiting for Christmas. Your comment makes me wonder if they speak English with a French accent or just regular American English. In any case, I've seen a lot of advertisements for it. They're probably hoping that it will be the big holiday movie in France. Thanks for telling me about it!

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