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:

Belleville | Mafia | Tour De France | Dog | France

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 20 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 11	11:00 PM	PBS
Sun. July 12	2:25 AM	PBS
Wed. July 15	1:30 AM	PBS

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

Colour:

Colour

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 president asking in an official television address his fellow citizens to cheer on the cyclist is French statesman Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970).

Goofs:

Continuity: When the two waiters are running to the Mafia in the restaurant, the left-hand waiter's hair color is black, but in the next take his hair is gray.

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:

Referenced in Une américaine à Paris (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Belleville Rendezvous

the best neo-surrealistic animation I've seen since The Wall- a unique movie-going experience

Within the first five minutes of The Triplets of Belleville I knew I was about to see either one of the worst films of the year, or one of the best- writer/director Sylvain Chomet and art director/designer Evgnei Tomov have created a (animated) world in which they seem to be in love with every frame, every image, every musical note, and at first there is that sense that this is an off-putting style. But soon I realized that what Chomet and Tomov were doing was much like what Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali did with their classic Un Chien Andalou. The story is not incomprehensible because it's simple enough so that a child could follow along, and the strategy thus is to tell it with an artistic, intense, mad-cap, whatever you can think to call it, personalized view on the characters and the environments they get themselves into. That the film is from France adds a charm once the elements get skewed (the animators tackle the Tour de France, big cities, ocean-liners, singers, frogs, and the gangster underworld), and that it doesn't have- and doesn't need- subtitles to tell the story is another remarkable feat.

As the film reached into the last act, I then realized two things- 1) this is one of those films, like Un Chien Andalou and The Wall (the great Gerald Scarfe's influence was one that I guessed, though there's probably more I didn't catch on), that won't appeal to everyone. Those expecting a cute French animated film can expect that, however a movie-goer needs to have an open mind to the material, and that the term "cute" would be taken for granted while being immersed in this film. 2) since the film is made like an original, without much compromise to where the story has to be headed or which characters do and say what, at the least The Triplets of Belleville works superbly to create an overwhelming state of mind for the viewer. Personally, I get exhilarated watching a movie where I don't even WANT to expect where the story is headed. Throughout most of the 80 minutes I felt an un-canny faith in the filmmakers that their oddball, free-wheeling visions wouldn't go up in smoke. And by the end I left wanting more for some reason or another. Like I said, some might be turned sour by the execution of the material, yet for others the fantasy-like nature of The Triplets of Belleville should make for an interesting night-out. For one thing, you won't get those frogs out of your mind very easily. A+