The Triplets of Belleville – Sylvain Chomet's skewed animated riff on cabaret, cycling and the Tour de France – is a visual sensation, says CALEB STARRENBURG.


The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville), the debut animated feature by French born Canadian Sylvain Chomet, opens with a scratched, black and white cabaret performance. This homage to Max Fleischer's Betty Boop sets the tone for the entire film – a (mostly) dialogue free journey into whimsical pantomime.

The Triplets of Belleville, also known as Belleville Rendez-Vous, was amongst the most popular offerings at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival (it screened out of competition) and garnered a 'Best Animated Feature' Academy Award nomination the same year (it lost to Finding Nemo).

The animated film tells the tale of Champion, a Buster Keaton look-alike Tour de France rider, kidnapped by the French mafia and forced to compete for their gambling pleasure. Champion's grandmother, Madame Souza, follows her grandson to Belleville where he has been imprisoned. With the help of the singing Belleville Triplets, Madame Souza determines to win Champion back.

Director, writer and animator, Sylvain Chomet – whose previous work includes the short film The Old Lady and the Pigeons(1) – bizarre tale is told with an appropriately nostalgic vein. With little spoken word, the film allows its vaguely recognisable images act as its narrative.

Both surreal and disturbingly familiar, The Triplets of Belleville's animation is poised between endearing and grotesque. The film's title location Belleville – a re-imagined New York City – sees the Statue of Liberty replaced by an obese woman holding an ice cream. Belleville's underprivileged citizens live off frogs, caught by throwing hand grenades into the sea.

The Frenchman's critique of America is indicative of his violent sense of humour and aptitude for caricature. Displaying a sly appreciation of human behaviour, Chomet depicts a maitre d' with no backbone, athletes with thighs twice the size of their torso and henchmen with square shoulders.

Yet despite Chomet's many human observations, The Triplets of Belleville never attempts to make a cohesive statement. Instead, the film's plot functions as a series of non-sequiturs, which will undoubtedly frustrate and deter many viewers.

At this point I think it is also important to note, despite The Triplets of Belleville low censorship rating, the film's cruel themes and sexual innuendo may make it unsuitable for young children.

The Triplets of Belleville musical score, composed by Benoît Charest, is – like the film itself – surreal, yet carries and heightens the feature. The animation's theme song, written by Chomet, scored by Charest and sung by Béatrice Bonifassi, was nominated for an Academy Award.

Visually the film looks sensational, the five years taken to complete the feature are unmistakably apparent. Cel animation and computer generated images are combined seamlessly to realise Chomet's vision – filling every frame with rich detail, without overwhelming.

Indeed, adherents of animation will delight in Chomet's unusually strange creation. Those adverse to the genre may find The Triplets of Belleville, at 81 minutes, runs half an hour to long.