JULIA CLARK
b. 1975 works in Cape Town
Screen 1986 [Walk Like an Egyptian], detail, found objects
The detectives Thompson & Thomson are riding in an open jeep,
in search of Tintin, who has been kidnapped by Sheik Bab El Her. The
setting is the desert of Khemed, a fictional Middle Eastern country.
Needless to say, the twins loose their way. They attempt to orientate
themselves in relation to landmarks, but are beset by a series of
mirages...
Thompson: Goodness gracious!
A mirage!
Thomson: A mirage? Really? I thought
they'd been abolished.
Thomson: Nevermind: we'll
drive on.
Thompson: Bother and another mirage!
Thomson: And there's a third! They really are overdoing it!
In time, distinguishing between what is real and illusionary leads
the twins into near fatal confusion...
Thompson:
This time there's no mistake: we are saved!
Thomson:
My poor friend it's only a mirage. Any fool can tell at a
glance...
Thompson: No! NO! I promise you it isn't!
Thomson: It isn't, eh? Very well, I'll prove it!
Thomson storms up to what he thinks is an apparition ña group of Arab
men praying next to a tent- and kicks one of the men
Thomson: Whoops! Oh my goodness I...er I beg your pardon I
mistook you for a mirage!
Pursued by the irate
knife-brandishing victim , the twins leave the scene, quickly.
Despite this 'learning experience', they continue to run into
trouble... they dive into a pool that isn't there and drive into one
that is. They find a petrol canister lying in the sand and imagine it
has been lost by other travelers. In fact, it is their own.
Eventually, they are found - by Tintin himself - driving round and
around in circles, following their own tyre tracks.
(Text adapted from Adventures of Tintin: Land of Black Gold by Hergé) |
