Les triplettes de Belleville (2003)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Sylvain Chomet

Writer:

Sylvain Chomet (written by)

Release Date:

11 June 2003 (France)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Music

Plot:

When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him.

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Dog | Tour De France | France | Tricycle

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Béatrice Bonifassi	...	Triplets (singing voice)
Lina Boudreau	...	Triplets (voice)
Michèle Caucheteux	...	(voice)
Jean-Claude Donda	...	(voice)
Mari-Lou Gauthier	...	Triplets (voice)
Charles Linton	...	(singing voice) (as Charles Prévost Linton)
Michel Robin	...	(voice)
Monica Viegas	...	(voice)

Also Known As:

The Triplets of Belleville (International: English title) (USA)
Belleville Rendez-Vous (UK)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for images involving sensuality, violence and crude humor.

Runtime:

Argentina:80 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) | Canada:78 min

Country:

France | Belgium | Canada | UK

Language:

French | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:U | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Germany:6 | Mexico:B15 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 | Iceland:L | Canada:G (Ontario)

Company:

Les Armateurs

Trivia:

The bicycles are all computer generated and traced, because the director, Sylvain Chomet, did not believe it was worth the time to get the look of the bicycles "perfect". The figures on the bicycles, however, were only thin lines in the computer generated originals, allowing the animators to breathe life into them.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Madame Souza, pretending to be blind, is following the mechanic, she approaches a junction where there is a fire hydrant, a newspaper vending machine and a pedestrian crossing. In the next shot, all have vanished.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Madame Souza: Is that it, then? Is it over, do you think? What have you got to say to Grandma?

Movie Connections:

References La vieille dame et les pigeons (1998)

Soundtrack:

Das wohltemperirte Clavier, Prelude no. 2 in C minor

Unusual and delightful

Rarely am I riveted by animated cinema that isn't good Japanese Anime, but 'The Triplets of Belleville' had my eyes glued to the screen from the beginning. The story is quite simple: A grandmother tries to make her young grandson (who is living with her) happy, and discovers his fascination for bicycles, so she buys him one. Cut to years later, and he is now a contender for the Tour de France, with his grandmother still doting on him, now acting as his trainer. During the race itself he and other riders are kidnapped and taken to Belleville, so the grandmother and their enormously fat dog go looking for him. Without money or shelter, the two are discovered by three old women, former famous vaudevillians – The Triplets of Belleville. They invite her and the dog in to stay and help her attempt to rescue her grandson.

'The Triplets of Belleville' is wonderfully unusual in many ways. Firstly, the character design by director Sylvain Chomet is abstract and garish. Most characters are extremely ugly, and almost every citizen of Belleville other than the primaries are grotesquely obese. (Even the Statue of Liberty in Belleville's harbor is ridiculously fat) The goons who kidnap the grandson are hilarious in their design – they have tall, completely square shoulders and at times morph together. The cyclists have half inch waists, agonized faces and enormous leg muscles. Also, there is almost no dialogue during the 81 minute film. There are a couple of songs, (the music in 'Belleville' is great) but other than some incidental sounds, there is maybe a couple of lines of actual dialogue. This serves as definitive proof that the film was brilliantly told through the action and animation.

To be sure, 'The Triplets of Belleville' is not for everyone. It is probably the antithesis of Disney or Pixar in its abstractness, intelligence and design. Not to say that the others are not intelligent, most aren't, but films like 'Finding Nemo' rely on pop culture to convey their wit, whereas 'The Triplets of Belleville' is brilliantly compelling with a handful of words. A strong 8/10.

--Shelly