''The Triplets of Belleville'' (french: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written and directed by

Sylvain Chomet Sylvain Chomet (; born 10 November 1963) is a French comic writer, animator and film director. Early career Born in Maisons-Laffitte, Seine-et-Oise (now Yvelines), near Paris, he studied art at high school until he graduated in 1982. Chomet ...

. It was released as ''Belleville Rendez-vous'' in the United Kingdom. The film is Chomet's first feature film and was an

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...

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 Michel Robin (13 November 1930 – 18 November 2020) was a French film, stage, and television actor. A sociétaire of the Comédie-Française since 1996, he also appeared in 120 films from 1966 to 2018. He won several awards for his acting, ...

, and Monica Viegas. There is little dialogue; much of the narrative is conveyed through song and

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

. It tells the story of Madame Souza, an elderly woman who goes on a quest to rescue her grandson Champion, a

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

cyclist, who has been kidnapped by the French mafia for gambling purposes and taken to the city of Belleville (an amalgam of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

). She is accompanied by Champion's loyal and obese hound, Bruno, and joined by the Triplets of Belleville,

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

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. The film was nominated for two

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

— Best Animated Feature and

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

for "

Belleville Rendez-vous ''The Triplets of Belleville'' (french: Les Triplettes de Belleville) is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. It was released as ''Belleville Rendez-vous'' in the United Kingdom. The film is Chomet's first feature ...

". It was also screened out of competition (''hors concours'') at the

2003 Cannes Film Festival The 56th Cannes Film Festival started on 14 May and ran until 25 May 2003. French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer Patrice Chéreau was the President of the Jury. The Palme d'Or went to the American film ''Elephant'' by G ...

Plot

In France, Madame Souza raises her grandson Champion, a melancholy orphan. Both watch an old variety show on television featuring a trio of singers, the Triplets of Belleville (Rose, Violette, and Blanche). 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, upon noticing Champion's interest in the music, pulls out an old piano and tries to attract Champion's attention by playing a scale, but Champion remains indifferent. Souza deduces that Champion is lonely and buys him a dog, Bruno. Neither Bruno nor an electric train set succeed in lifting Champion's spirits. While tidying Champion's room, Souza discovers a book filled with photos of cyclists. She decides to buy Champion a

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes ...

, which finally allows Champion to indulge in his passion. After a few years of training, Champion competes in the

, but finds himself left behind in his exhaustion, and he is kidnapped by a pair of

mobsters A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization a ...

, who take him and two other contestants across the Atlantic. Souza pursues Champion on a

pedalo A pedalo (British English) or paddle boat (U.S., Canadian, and Australian English) is a human-powered watercraft propelled by the action of pedals turning a paddle wheel. Description A pedalo is a human-powered watercraft propelled by the ...

to Belleville. Arriving in the United States, Souza finds herself penniless, but meets the elderly Triplets of Belleville, Rose, Violette and Blanche. The Triplets take Souza into their apartment, and after a peculiar dinner, they allow her to participate as a musician in one of their shows. During the show, Souza spots the mobsters who kidnapped Champion. With the help of the Triplets, Souza pursues the men and rescues her grandson after a Homeric chase. In a flashforward, an older Champion watches the TV again showing their adventure when they are leaving the city and imagines Souza asking once more if the film is finished. Champion turns to the empty couch seat next to him and says "It's over, grandma". In a humorous post-credits scene, the boatman who rented Souza the pedalo is seen waiting expectantly for his vessel to return.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, a

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

, reports that of surveyed critics gave it a positive review, and the average rating was ; the consensus reads: "Richly detailed and loaded with surreal touches, ''The Triplets of Belleville'' is an odd, delightful charmer."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized score, rated it 91/100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Awards

The film was nominated for two

: for Best Animated Feature, making it the first PG-13 animated film to be nominated in that category; and for

(

Benoît Charest Benoît Charest (; born in 1964) is a Canadian guitarist and film score composer from Quebec. He is best known for the soundtrack of the animated film ''The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville)'' (2003), for which he won a César ...

and Sylvain Chomet for the song "

", sung by

Matthieu Chedid Matthieu Chedid (born 21 December 1971), better known by his stage name -M-, is a French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player. Since 2018, he has been the most awarded artist at the Victoires de la Musique Awards with 13 awards, tied with A ...

in the original version). The film lost the Best Animated Feature award to ''

Finding Nemo ''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was writ ...

''. It also won the César for Best Film Music, and as a co-production with Canada it won the

Genie Award for Best Motion Picture The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Motion Picture to the best Canadian film of the year.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishin ...

and the

BBC Four World Cinema Award The BBC Four World Cinema Award is an annual prize given out to celebrate the best in world cinema. A shortlist of up to six films is made by the UK's leading critics, film-school heads and festival directors from the foreign language films rele ...

in 2004.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Triplets Of Belleville, The 2003 films 2003 animated films 2003 comedy films 2003 directorial debut films 2000s French animated films Belgian animated films Belgian comedy films Best Film Lumières Award winners Best Picture Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners British animated films British comedy films Canadian animated feature films Canadian animated comedy 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 French animated films French comedy films 2000s French-language films Sony Pictures Classics animated films French-language Belgian films 2000s American films 2000s Canadian films 2000s British films

Plot

Reception

Awards

See also

References

External links