film: the triplets of belleville

[Banquo]

FILM: Triplets of Belleville

Summer is a great time to catch up on all the foreign films from last year's Oscars. It is bright and warm enough outside to make sitting through dark and depressing movies just tolerable. Even though I am not a big fan of animation, I decided to rent the Triplets of Belleville because it earned such glowing reviews from Ebert and his cohorts. And they are right: this is a great little movie. Much of the animation looks like the old Disney cartoons -- hand drawn. The characters are abstracted little French stereotypes and the satire is thick. The movie slows down just enough in places to give the film a sense of atmosphere, for this is certainly no American cartoon, with non-stop screen candy and well-timed humor. All language use is incidental, so there is no need to read English subitles for 80 minutes. In fact, there are no subtitles. There are several little jokes in the movie that I won't ruin here, but this move is definitely worth a look. There are probably some people who will not like this movie because the pacing is a tad slow, so steer clear if you need non-stop action.

 

[onetwothreefour]

thankyou for starting this thread.

it's very unusual, very french, but very good and very well animated. i like "very".

anyway, i really really enjoyed this - i thought the music fitted the film perfectly (and it was just nice to see the point hit home that music is just sound - it can come from anything), and the entire narrative was so enjoyable on a weird fantastic kind of level.

i really liked this

 

[dyscotopia]

i thought it was great too.. some of the animation, particularly before they get to the new-york like city is stunning.. and there's a lot of funny stuff that's too quirky to ever appear in a north american animated film. i did find the second half, once they get across the ocean, a little bit of a let-down and the final chase went on too long.

however, it's definitely an admirable piece of work with a very distinctive sense of style. also, the ability to communicate complex situations and emotions without hardly any dialogue is impressive.

 

[The Mexican]

I'll be watching it this weekend long with Tokyo Godfathers

 

[alasdairm]

yep - i caught this in the theatre soon after it was released and loved it. i'm a huge fan of france, french and things french so perhaps i'm a little biased.

i loved the exaggerated characters and sets, the pace of the movie and the tiny details which made the trip to belleville so rich.

alasdair

 

[34-breezey-nexus]

Yes, a very nice film, if a bit on the short side. Sorry to go a little off topic, but Spirited Away is another amazing animated film. I could draw some similarities between the animation, etc....but I'm lazy and all.

 

[drEaMtiMe*@#]

i'm a huge fan of france, french and things french so perhaps i'm a little biased.

HA me too. well most things foreign really... but i think the French can have this specific, classy, cultured edge, which has always really appealed to me.

I saw the ad for this movie a couple of days ago when i was flicking through a magazine and it caught my attention immediately. i love the old style hand drawn animation, as someone said "old disney cartoons." Their just so sketchy and bring with that IMO a specific warmth and dynamic that just cant we captured in any other way.

Looking forward to seeing it. definitely the combo of the two above factors are what should potentially give this film that special something me thinks

 

[onetwothreefour]

^^^ i'll third that notion. i was watching moulin rouge again for the umpteenth time last night, and though it's not french (but *is* set in montmarte), it reminded me a lot of this film.

i love france

 

[AmorRoark]

I'm really glad someone made a thread about this film. When I saw it I fell in love! The animation was fantastic, and the music was really supurb as well. I think it'd be a FABULOUS movie to watch high or maybe even tripping.

 

[SPUNK]

i came in here to post a thread about this flick and it was at the top of the list! i love this movie, its beautifully animated and i like the story. I think the end could of had a big more mmppft, but i dont thnk thats the effect that the director was looking for.

i love it when the little lady toots her whistle.

 

[kooky_swanky]

I LOVE this film. I saw it at the cinema and was absolutely enchanted. I think the animation was beautiful and it was so funny. I love the bodyguards and the way the dog barks at the train. What a gem

 

[skywise]

i saw this tonight and came in here to make a thread about it but what do you know - there already was one.

I thought it was really enjoyable and cute. I particularly liked Bruno and thought the belleville mafia's bike machine gambling was hilarious.

 

[monkeyjunky]

belleville rendezvous

anyone else seen this french animation? What did you think?

 

[FunkyAlfonzo]

Aww, I went to see this in the cinema and it is absolutely fantastic. I love the quirky, very french, style of hand-drawn animation and the almost slapstick, off the wall sense of humour. How many films can boast a transatlantic ship/pedalo chase?

Thumbs up from funky

 

[onetwothreefour]

yep, there's a thread already (under its english title: the triplets of belleville). i'm gonna merge them now.

i adore the film.

 

[onetwothreefour]

vote now

 

[Finder]

I saw this last summer on a relaxing evening. Very unusual, but highly enjoyable!