Les Triplettes de Belleville

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Les Triplettes de Belleville
(The Triplets of Belleville)
Directed by Sylvain Chomet
Produced by Didier Brunner
Paul Cadieux
Regis Ghezelbash
Colin Rose
Viviane Vanfleteren
Written by Sylvain Chomet
Starring Béatrice Bonifassi
Lina Boudreault
Music by Benoît Charest
Distributed by Diaphana Films (France Theatrical)
Sony Pictures Classics (US Theatrical)
Tartan Films (UK)
Release date(s) 11 June 2003 (France)
29 August 2003 (UK)
November 26, 2003 (US, limited release)
Running time 78 Minutes
Country France
Belgium
Canada
UK
Language French
Budget $2,000,000[citation needed]
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Les Triplettes de Belleville is a 2003 animated feature film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as The Triplets of Belleville in North America, and as Belleville Rendez-vous in the UK. The film features the voices of Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin, and Monica Viegas; although there is some dialogue, the majority of the film story is told through song and pantomime. The film was highly praised by audiences and critics for its unique (and somewhat retro) style of animation. It was an international co-production between companies in France, Belgium and Canada.

The film satirically pokes fun at national stereotypes and clichés foreigners spread about French and Americans. It laughs at the stereotypes of the French (for example their alleged obsession with the Tour de France, or their so-called fondness for eating frogs)[citation needed] and Americans (for example their alleged obesity and lewd manner). The film features almost no spoken dialogue, though some spoken words (such as Tour de France radio commentary by Robert Chapatte and a speech by Charles de Gaulle on evening TV) are included sporadically.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Following a 1930s-style cartoon parody featuring the singing Triplettes of the title (Violette, Blanche, and Rose, whose names are loosely patterned on the colours of the French flag) in their heyday, as well as caricatures of Django Reinhardt, Glenn Gould, Josephine Baker, Yvette Horner, Charles de Gaulle and Fred Astaire, the story focuses on Madame Souza, an elderly woman raising her orphaned grandson Champion.

Seeking to pull him out of his funk, she buys the child a tricycle, and as the years pass he achieves such excellence as a cyclist that he enters the Tour de France. Unfortunately he and two other riders are kidnapped and brought to a fictional metropolis called Belleville (the inhabitants of Belleville represent caricatured 1950s-era American stereotypes, but the city itself is portrayed as a cross between Paris, Montreal and New York City) where a gangster forces them to pedal all day on a bicycle-based gambling machine located in the bowels of the Belleville French Wine Center. With the aid of the family dog Bruno, Madame Souza sets off on a paddle boat journey to the city of Belleville. There she meets the Triplettes, now aged and decrepit but still performing, and the four women set out to rescue Madame Souza's grandson.

One of the mobsters
One of the mobsters

[edit] Influences

Chomet admits the influence of the sitcoms.[citation needed] There are also references to the French director Jacques Tati's films Jour de Fête and Les Vacances de Monsieur Hulot,[citation needed] whose combination of pantomime with sound effects is an influence on The Triplets of Belleville.

Citroën vehicles influenced the design of the vehicles in the film: the mobsters' getaway cars are stretched versions of the Citroën 2CV, and the vehicle 'Madame Souza' uses whilst her grandson is in the Tour de France is a Citroën HY van.

The film's music is inspired by that of the 1920s, and includes characters reminiscent of Josephine Baker, Adrienne Glesinger, Fred Astaire and a Django Reinhardt-like character who plays along to the dancing 'Triplettes'. J.S. Bach's Prelude No.2 from The Well-Tempered Clavier (Book 1), is also featured during the bicycle scene (played by Glenn Gould). The triplets are also reminiscent of the Boswell Sisters

In the liner notes of the soundtrack CD, Benoît Charest says that his music ideas stemmed from his desire to see if he could make a song using a refrigerator, a vacuum, and a piece of paper. Indeed, these "instruments" show up in the film and the soundtrack.

[edit] Awards

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature, making it the first PG-13 animated film to be nominated in that category, and Best Original Song (Benoît Charest and Sylvain Chomet for the song "Belleville Rendez-vous", sung by Matthieu Chédid in the original version). It also has won the César for Best Film Music, and as a co-production with Canada it won the Genie Award for Best Motion Picture and the BBC 4 World Cinema Award in 2004.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Genie Award Winners for Best Motion Picture

The Changeling (1980) • Les Bons débarras (1981) • Ticket to Heaven (1982) • The Grey Fox (1983) • The Terry Fox Story (1984) • The Bay Boy (1985) • My American Cousin (1986) • Le Déclin de l'empire américain (1987) • Un Zoo la nuit (1988) • Dead Ringers (1989) • Jésus de Montréal (1990) • Black Robe (1991) • Naked Lunch (1992) • Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993) • Exotica (1994) • The Confessional (1995) • Lilies (1996) • The Sweet Hereafter (1997) • The Red Violin (1998) • Sunshine (1999) • Maelström (2000) • Atanarjuat (2001) • Ararat (2002) • Les Invasions barbares (2003) • Les Triplettes de Belleville (2004) • C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) • Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) • Away from Her (2007)