The Triplets of Belleville (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
3 spinsters & an obese dog entertain us in 'The Triplets of Belleville', a French animated film written & directed by Sylvain Chomet. When her cyclist grandson, Champion, is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza & her loveable dog Bruno team up with the elderly, eclectic Belleville sisters - a vaudevillian song and dance trio from the 1930's - to rescue him. One of the great attributes of the character of Madame Souza is that she never has and never will let 'anything' get in her way. The plot is simple and wacky. Most of the visions we bear witness to in this movie are absurd -- but they're all wonderfully absurd.
Champion was a sad little boy (his parents had died). Grandma Souza thought that getting him a puppy would raise his spirits. But Champion seems to be a gloomy kid no matter what. Loving Champion with all her heart, Madame Souza decides to train him hard for the Tour de France. Perhaps she once dreamed of being a cyclist, perhaps she saw potential in him. Whatever the case, she trains him hard, and he's willing to put in the time & effort (notice his bulging quadriceps & calf muscles). Things go badly when Champion is kidnapped (during the race) by a pair of sinister crooks. Their intent is to use his talent for private gambling sessions within the French mafia. Hell bent on his rescue, Mme. Souza & her obese dog Bruno follow the kidnappers across the ocean to Belleville.
Lost & confused, Mme. Souza & Bruno encounter the quirky Belleville Triplets while slumming under a de-lapidated bridge. We initially met the triplets in all their glory in the opening scene of this film. Mme. Souza & little Champion watched an old vaudevillian/jazz television show in which a lady the size of a building, a naked Josephine Baker-esque woman, and a man who is eaten by his shoes, parade across the stage for entertainment. Yes, you read that correctly. The hot tickets at the time were the aforementioned Belleville sisters as they belted out their Belleville Rendez-Vous. 60 yrs. later, and long forgotten, the decrepit sisters decide to help Souza outsmart the ruthless mafia and get Champion back. Everything culminates in a climactic, highly original car chase (if you can call it that).
Aside from the imaginative visuals within the film, it's the sound design, mood, & tone of 'The Triplets of Belleville' that makes this thing work. By sound design, I mean: the croaking of frogs (the only thing that the Belleville sisters eat - even turning them into cold frogsicles!); the sound of Bruno barking (every. single. time. a train passes by the window). We all know how dogs can & will bark (for no reason) at something they've seen millions of times. The character of Bruno is brilliant. I also mentioned the mood & tone of the film. With practically NO dialogue, we rely not only on the eye-popping, astonishingly inventive visuals, but on the characters themselves. Though they minimally move or speak, you do 'feel' their love, their fears, their intentions, and their senses of humor.
The jazz-tinged music aids the film, a lot. Because this is a throwback to silent-era films, great music is a necessity. I liked how the film takes jabs at culture (the fickle French, the bloated Americans). And the animation itself is dense & complex. The foreground is interesting enough, but the background is just as innovative. It would take multiple viewings to get the whole scope. The creativity here recalls last yrs. Spirited Away; similar films of outlandish visual & narrative styles. 'Triplets ...' may be too odd for mainstream kids & adults. But I can be sure that my 13 & 11 yr. old siblings would watch this. And whether or not they loved it, liked it, or hated it, they'd never forget it. At 75 minutes in length, its blend of dazzling imagery and progressive plot makes this a truly great film.
Champion was a sad little boy (his parents had died). Grandma Souza thought that getting him a puppy would raise his spirits. But Champion seems to be a gloomy kid no matter what. Loving Champion with all her heart, Madame Souza decides to train him hard for the Tour de France. Perhaps she once dreamed of being a cyclist, perhaps she saw potential in him. Whatever the case, she trains him hard, and he's willing to put in the time & effort (notice his bulging quadriceps & calf muscles). Things go badly when Champion is kidnapped (during the race) by a pair of sinister crooks. Their intent is to use his talent for private gambling sessions within the French mafia. Hell bent on his rescue, Mme. Souza & her obese dog Bruno follow the kidnappers across the ocean to Belleville.
Lost & confused, Mme. Souza & Bruno encounter the quirky Belleville Triplets while slumming under a de-lapidated bridge. We initially met the triplets in all their glory in the opening scene of this film. Mme. Souza & little Champion watched an old vaudevillian/jazz television show in which a lady the size of a building, a naked Josephine Baker-esque woman, and a man who is eaten by his shoes, parade across the stage for entertainment. Yes, you read that correctly. The hot tickets at the time were the aforementioned Belleville sisters as they belted out their Belleville Rendez-Vous. 60 yrs. later, and long forgotten, the decrepit sisters decide to help Souza outsmart the ruthless mafia and get Champion back. Everything culminates in a climactic, highly original car chase (if you can call it that).
Aside from the imaginative visuals within the film, it's the sound design, mood, & tone of 'The Triplets of Belleville' that makes this thing work. By sound design, I mean: the croaking of frogs (the only thing that the Belleville sisters eat - even turning them into cold frogsicles!); the sound of Bruno barking (every. single. time. a train passes by the window). We all know how dogs can & will bark (for no reason) at something they've seen millions of times. The character of Bruno is brilliant. I also mentioned the mood & tone of the film. With practically NO dialogue, we rely not only on the eye-popping, astonishingly inventive visuals, but on the characters themselves. Though they minimally move or speak, you do 'feel' their love, their fears, their intentions, and their senses of humor.
The jazz-tinged music aids the film, a lot. Because this is a throwback to silent-era films, great music is a necessity. I liked how the film takes jabs at culture (the fickle French, the bloated Americans). And the animation itself is dense & complex. The foreground is interesting enough, but the background is just as innovative. It would take multiple viewings to get the whole scope. The creativity here recalls last yrs. Spirited Away; similar films of outlandish visual & narrative styles. 'Triplets ...' may be too odd for mainstream kids & adults. But I can be sure that my 13 & 11 yr. old siblings would watch this. And whether or not they loved it, liked it, or hated it, they'd never forget it. At 75 minutes in length, its blend of dazzling imagery and progressive plot makes this a truly great film.