Largo Winch, detail from Largo Winch: L''Heritier
                                                                                                          by Philippe Francq & Jean Van Hamme
                                                                                                          Belgium, Dupuis, 1990

"Sans famille ni attaches, contestataire, coureur, vagabond, iconoclaste et bagarreur, il se retrouve, a vingt-six ans, a la tete d'un empire de dix milliards de dollars..." (from the back cover, Vol. I, L'Heritier).

Imagine my surprise when I learned that a live-action film based on the enormously popular comic book series Largo Winch premieres this weekend in Montreal.  You think because of the world wide web that you are completely informed, up-to-date, hooked-in, on top of everything that's happening, that you've got the 411 on it all, unless of course you live in China.  Then your friends in Montreal write and say, "We're going to the new Largo Winch movie.  Don't you wish you were here?"

New?  you ask yourself.  You mean there was one before this?  

Then you try to imagine being in Quebec at this time of year when it's been known to be colder than the surface of Mars.

Of course you'd give anything to be there.

Largo Winch (short for Winczlav) is the adopted son of Nerio Winch, head of Group W, a corporate empire of immense wealth and power, which as luck would have it mysterious people are out to take away from Largo the minute he inherits it upon the unexplained death of his adopted dad.  Largo is a deeply appealing action hero, part James Bond and Jason Bourne, part Steve McQueen but darker, part Jason Statham with more hair...

   Detail, Largo WInch: L'Heritier

And for obvious reasons women find him irresistible.

My expat friends and acquaintances abroad say I miss out on so many good films because they are not in English, the only language most Americans can manage, and so films in French frequently don't get released here or else receive only limited play.  It does make me sad to think that, despite being at the very epicenter of the American film industry, it is still possible to feel as though one is living in a provincial outpost far from civilization and culture.  

Fortunately, whenever I can get away, I try to smuggle comic books back with me, to keep me fluent.  Not just Largo Winch, but also Tintin.   C'est difficile, mon pote.  But I try.