The Triplets of Belleville
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox film The Triplets of Belleville (Template:Langx) is a 2003 animated adventure comedy-drama film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet.<ref name="indieanimated">Template:Cite web</ref> It was released as Belleville Rendez-vous in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The film is Chomet's first feature film and was an international co-production among companies in France, Belgium, Canada and the United Kingdom.
The film features the voices of Lina Boudreault, Mari-Lou Gauthier, Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin, and Monica Viegas. There is little dialogue; much of the narrative is conveyed through song and pantomime. It tells the story of Madame Souza, an elderly woman who goes on a quest to rescue her grandson Champion, a Tour de France cyclist, who has been kidnapped by the French mafia for gambling purposes and taken to the city of Belleville (an amalgamation of New York City, Montreal and Quebec City<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>). She is accompanied by Champion's loyal and obese hound, Bruno, and joined by the Triplets of Belleville, music hall singers from the 1930s, whom she meets in the city.
The film was highly praised by audiences and critics for its unique style of animation and has since gained a cult following.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film was nominated for two Academy Awards—Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for "Belleville Rendez-vous". It was also screened out of competition (hors concours) at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.<ref name="festival-cannes.com">Template:Cite web</ref>
Plot
In France, Madame Souza is raising her grandson Champion, a melancholy orphan. They watch an old variety show on television featuring a trio of singers, the Triplets of Belleville (Rose, Blanche, and Violette). When the program is interrupted, Souza asks Champion if the "film" is finished. The listless Champion does not reply and instead changes the channel to a piano concert. Souza, seeing Champion's interest in the music, pulls out an old piano and tries to amuse him, but Champion remains indifferent. She deduces that Champion is lonely and buys him a dog, Bruno. Neither Bruno nor an electric train set succeed in lifting Champion's spirits, and the dog has no interests apart from eating, sleeping, and barking at trains.
While tidying Champion's room, Souza discovers a book filled with photos of cyclists. She buys Champion a tricycle, and he becomes an obsessive cyclist. Some years later he is competing in the Tour de France, when he is kidnapped by a pair of mobsters in a Citroën van. They take him and two other contestants across the Atlantic, Souza pursuing them on a pedalo.
Arriving in the United States penniless and hungry, Souza and the obese Bruno are adopted by the Triplets of Belleville, now elderly, and taken to their seedy apartment. When dinner is finally served, it consists of frog soup and frog stew, with tadpoles for dessert, collected by Violette using "expanding bait". Souza joins their band, playing bicycle spokes like a dulcimer, to their refrigerator-shelf harp, newspaper percussion and vacuum-cleaner bagpipe. During the show, Souza spots the kidnappers. With the help of the Triplets, Souza rescues the cyclists, who had been forced to pedal-power a gambling machine, and escape on the pedaling frame, pursued by the mobsters in Citroën sedans.
In a flashforward, an older Champion watches the TV again showing their adventure when they are leaving the city and remembers Souza asking once more if the film is finished. Champion turns to the empty bench next to him and says "It's over, Grandma".
In a humorous post-credits scene, the boatman who rented Souza the pedalo is seen patiently waiting for his vessel to return.
Cast
- Template:Ill as Rose Triplette (voice)
- Mari-Lou Gauthier as Violette Triplette (voice)
- Michèle Caucheteux as Blanche Triplette (voice)
- Béatrice Bonifassi as the Triplets (singing voice)
- Template:Ill as Le Général de Gaulle / Les commentateurs sportifs / Le clochard / Les réclames (voice)
- Monica Viegas as Madame Souza (voice)
- Graziella de Villa as Madame Souza (English version) (voice)
- Michel Robin as 'Champion' adulte (voice)
- Noël Baye as 'Champion' adulte (English version) (voice)
- Template:Ill as Les commentateurs sportifs / Le clochard (Dutch version) (voice)
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that Template:RT data of Template:RT data surveyed critics gave it a positive review, and the average rating was Template:RT data; the consensus reads: "Richly detailed and loaded with surreal touches, The Triplets of Belleville is an odd, delightful charmer."<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:RT data</ref> Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score, rated it 91/100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Awards and nominations
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 for Best Original Song (Benoît Charest and Sylvain Chomet for the song "Belleville Rendez-vous", sung by Matthieu Chedid in the original version). The film lost the Best Animated Feature award to Finding Nemo and the Best Original Song to Into the West from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. It also won the César for Best Film Music,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and as a co-production with Canada it won the Genie Award for Best Motion Picture<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the BBC Four World Cinema Award in 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
See also
- Arthouse animation
- Independent animation
- List of animated feature films
- List of films about bicycles and cycling
References
External links
Template:Sylvain Chomet Template:Sony theatrical animated features Template:Navboxes Template:Portal bar Template:Authority control
- 2003 films
- 2003 animated films
- 2003 comedy-drama films
- 2003 directorial debut films
- 2000s Belgian films
- 2000s British films
- 2000s Canadian animated films
- 2000s French animated films
- 2000s French-language films
- Animated films about sisters
- Animated films set in France
- Animated films set in the United States
- Belgian animated feature films
- Belgian comedy-drama films
- Best Film Lumières Award winners
- Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
- British animated feature films
- British comedy-drama films
- Canadian animated feature films
- Canadian comedy-drama films
- Cultural depictions of Django Reinhardt
- Cultural depictions of Fred Astaire
- Cultural depictions of Josephine Baker
- Cycling films
- Fictional triplets
- Films about old age
- Films about pets
- Films about wine
- Films directed by Sylvain Chomet
- Films scored by Benoît Charest
- Foreign films set in the United States
- French animated feature films
- French comedy-drama films
- French-language Belgian films
- French-language Canadian films
- Satellite Award–winning films
- Sony Pictures Classics animated films
- Animated adventure films
- French adventure films
- British adventure films
- Belgian adventure films
- Canadian adventure films