The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
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The Triplets of Belleville Movie Review
The Triplets of Belleville is a 2003 French animated comedy film directed by Sylvain Chomet. It’s a weird, but positively unique animated movie.
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“Is that it, then? Is it over, do you think?
What have you got to say to Grandma?“
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This movie has a plot, but it’s a loose crime plot which really isn’t all that well crafted or particularly interesting. It has a great beginning, and a moving ending, but the middle parts are more difficult to follow having in mind it is devoid of any dialogue.
Yes, the movie functions as a silent movie, but one with no intertitles or narration. I personally wanted at least some of those, but still this approach led to such a unique cinematic experience, full of wonderful colors for the eyes and sounds for the ears. Ultimately, no dialogue was needed for its charm to work properly on the audiences.
It’s a French movie which means it is exceedingly oddball, weird and darkly comedic. I personally do not like French movies for those reasons, but here I have to say that the humor really worked for me. It is spread in the smallest touches, but if you follow it correctly, you can properly enjoy all of the little details in this weird world.
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The beginning is instantly intriguing whereas the ending is quite moving emotionally. But even though the middle parts are devoid of a bigger connecting issue in terms of plotting, that is where the movie shined the brightest. In particular, the cycling scenes were memorable, and of course that frog supper was simply delightful in how gross and weird it all looked and sounded.
Yes, those three titular siblings are a lot of fun. I found their characters very interesting, memorably odd and particularly well designed. Their backstory is great, and the fact that they eat frogs was bound to make them iconic animation characters. I also liked Souza quite a bit, and Champion himself is fine, but he needed a bigger storyline for himself. I loved their dog who got quite a lot of amusing screen time.
The Triplets of Belleville is gorgeously animated without any doubt about it. This is hand-drawn animation at the top of its powers and with a strong emphasis on charm. Yes, it’s simple, but in its simplicity lies its charm. The colors are great, the comic-strip look of the film is quite unique, the scene transitions are splendid and its emphasis on minute detail is astonishing. The human designs are overall good, but the animalistic eyes did not work for me.
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The pacing is pretty good, and the runtime is short, but that made the movie very engaging to follow. The editing is almost exceptional in this instance. The direction from Sylvain Chomet is wonderful, and it’s a shame that he only directed a couple of animated films so far. I have to say that the score is superb too with the Belleville Rendezvous number being deservedly Oscar-nominated. It also deserved its Oscar nomination for best animated film, but it had tough luck going against Pixar’s ‘Finding Nemo’.
The Triplets of Belleville relies little on plot itself which isn’t all that great, but this French charmer succeeds largely on the strengths of its weirdness and astonishing minute detail. The hand-drawn animation is splendid and so endearing, the characters are pleasantly goofy and some sequences are darkly comedic and instantly memorable. It also succeeds as a silent movie with no dialogue, but with great sound and a terrific score.
