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
'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