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MOVIE REVIEW
Triplets of
Belleville, The
(2003)
Starring:
Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin
Director:
Sylvain Chomet
Rating: PG-13
Studio:
Sony Pictures Classics
Release Date: 11.26.03
Review
Posted: 12.19.03
Spoilers:
None
By
Sara M. Fetters
Brazenly Bizarre "Triplets" an
Animated Masterpiece
Leave it to the French to craft something beyond explanation.
French animator Sylvain Chomet – a genius whose work until now I
did not know and in the future will search out – writes and
directs the year’s most ingenious movie “The Triplets of
Belleville.” For those expecting the emotional warmth and wisdom
of Walt Disney or the surreal magic realism of Hayo Miyazaki,
please check them at the door. This is one movie where the term
“unexplainable magnificence” was certainly coined.
The
plot, what there is of one, concerns a young man nicknamed
Champion raised by his grandmother Madame Souza to be a Tour de
France competitor. Along with their overweight dog Bruno, the
trio put every waking hour into making this dream a reality,
grandmother following grandson around their small town from
morning ‘til night aggressively training him to be a cycling
hero.
During the race, Champion is kidnapped by a nefarious black
cloaked duo and whisked away to the metropolis of
Belleville where he is put under the thumb of a brutal
crime lord. But Souza and Bruno track him down, and with the
help of the famous singing sisters The Triplets of Belleville,
grandmother will do everything in her power to see her boy
returned unharmed. Music, mayhem and weirdly macabre breakfast
meals of gangly green frogs ensues, the only constant a
grandmother’s undying love for an imperiled grandson.
If
only it were as simple as all that. In many ways, “The Triplets
of Belleville” is like an old-school silent movie that just
happens to be animated. There are maybe five or six lines of
character dialogue throughout the picture’s 80-minute run time,
and those are limited to three or four word sentences at best.
Instead, this is one animated farce where everything is told
through music, images and sound, “Triplets” a feverish
dreamscape of surreal wonderment.
Good gawd I loved this movie! Chomet proves himself to be an
absolute prodigy in the art of outrageous animation. From
Bruno’s sensational daydreams to Madame Souza’s bizarre training
rituals to the grotesquely out-there opening featuring the three
sisters, this is one movie sure to have at least one moment the
likes of which you’ve never seen or imagined. It’s like a poem
working in rhythmic steps with all its pieces, each one on their
own nothing particularly special but when combined become
something extraordinary.
There are so many little things to love; the squeaky miniature
mechanic more mousy plush toy than man, Madame Souza’s one tiny
shoe and one extra-large platform – both of which she always
wears at the same time, Bruno’s slow-mo barking at local
commuter trains whooshing by their home; that it’s virtually
impossible to list them all. The colors and sounds are like no
other movie’s this year, Chomet magically mixing every
ingredient at his disposal into a uniquely peculiar stew that’s
impossible to detest. And while there are illusions to some of
the masters; references to Disney, Miyazaki, Salvador Dali and
other renowned animators abound; in the end “Triplets” is a
creation unique upon itself.
Rating:
êêêê (out of 4)
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