The Triplets of Belleville Movie Review:


With a different and unique turn in animation style, Sylvain Chomet’s The Triplets of Belleville is an inventively decorative and admirably wild ride.
Recently, nominated for Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Song, the animated film is so "out there" and opposite from any mixture of animation that has ever donned the screen.

With only a few utters of dialogue, Chomet relies on abstract and colorful visuals to tell the story and his thoughts. The film opens in the 1930’s in
France where the elderly Madame Souza is desperately trying to enthuse her grandson, Champion. She first buys him a dog-named Bruno, but he is still constantly depressed. Champion then receives a tricycle and Madame realizes his
destiny. Flash-forward now to the 1960’s, where Champion is a terrific cyclist that has of course been trained by Madame Souza. Bruno waits all day in their apartment trenching up and down the stairs to bark at the close by rail-trains,
while Madame aggressively trains Champion for the Tour de France. During the mother of all bicycle races, Champion is kidnapped by the French Mafia as a part of a gambling scheme. Madame and Bruno then track the henchman who took
Champion all the way to America, (at least it seemed like America), where they encounter the help of "The Triplets of Belleville," whom are three elderly ex-famous singers, who sing catchy tunes and have an interesting diet. Now with the help of their new friends, Madame Souza and Bruno look to defy the odds by planning a rescue attempt beyond all reasonable proportions.

The animated visuals of this film are absolutely stunning with the way each character’s ticks are redefined through the medium. The opening sequence, which is a dated television broadcast of "The Triplets of Belleville" performing in their youth, is reminiscent of something one would expect from 30’s drawer Max Fleischer. Other sequences are varied blends as well, such as a sequence
where hand drawn animation and computer animated effects are used as Madame Souza and Bruno cross the Atlantic Ocean. The Americans are reflective of "Mad Magazine" characters with big teeth and problems with obesity. Even the Statue
of Liberty is show as an overweight woman sporting her favorite snack rather than the torch. The French are drawn very thin, such as Champion, who looks
like a beanpole, but has huge muscular calves and thighs due to his cyclist training. Lastly, the Mafia itself is a total trip, with two rectangular black
suited henchmen walking side by side to hold each of their tiny Mafia bosses in the middle of them.

Though the story of The Triplets of Belleville is not as engaging or unusual as the visuals of the film, this is still a film unlike any other. Chomet and
his animators' ideas as well as choices are just so creative, that one can not help but love this film. With the recent deceased notions of hand-drawn
animation by Disney among others, it is depressing to think that this art form will be gone. However, after seeing The Triplets of Belleville, the craft seems to be more originative and alive than ever.

This film is also a surreal tale for mostly teenagers and adults, there is some very crude humor in this film. Not as harsh as past popular adult
hand-drawn animation films, like Heavy Metal, The Triplets of Belleville is anything of a typical animated tale for youngsters. It is a very weird film that has a combination of styles all of its own. The Triplets of Belleville is a real gem.

Grade: A-

Joseph C. Tucker

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