Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Harry’s been freakin’ out about this one for over a year now, and the little bits I’ve seen are very cool. But this guy’s seen the whole thing! Grrrrrr...
Hi Harry, Vinz, from Paris, here.
I know how much you're interested in the highly anticipated LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE, and I as just saw it this afternoon I thought I should tell you about it !
Let me tell you this straight, you probably have never seen such a film ! I don't know where to start, there is so much to say about it...
I'll start with the story.
It's very original from the beginning, since LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE is set in a very realistic 60's era, but still in places that doesn't exist. At the basis, "Belleville" is a district of Paris, in the East of the City. But here, Belleville is what New York would look like if it was a French city. There's a Statue of Liberty, but french flags are everywhere in the City, everyone talks french, drives french cars, sings french music...
Ok, the story :
The main character is a little grandma who raised her grandson as if he was her son. His parents are certainly dead. He's about 8 or 9 years old, and seems always bored. His grandma don't know what to do to distract him. She buys him a wonderful dog (one of the best character of the film, this dog) who loves to bark at trains. But the boy is stille bored. She tries to initiate him to piano, but he's not interested.
But one day, she discovers he's a big fan of (how do you say?) "cycling". So she buys him a bike, and the boy finally finds interest in life. During years, she's gonna train him to be the greatest racing cyclist.
All this part is set in the late 40's, in the french country.
We find them back a few years after. he's now a grown up, and is set to participate to the "Tour de France", the biggest racing cyclism event in Europe. Now begins the craziness of LES TRIPLETTES DE BELEVILLE after this wonderful first part.
During the "Tour de France", the boy and 2 other cyclists are kidnapped by the Mafia of Belleville, and taken there. The loving grandma don't want to lose her boy, so she and Bruno the dog go after the Mafia to get him back.
I don't want to spoil too many, so I'll be quick for the rest: arrived in this "Newyorkesque" Belleville, ruled by the Mafia, the grandma will meet the famous Triplettes de Belleville, 3 famous old music-hall stars very original (understand: a bit crazy). They will help the grandma get her boy back. If you wanna know more about the story ask me, but I prefer not to spoil too much in case you don't wanna know everything.
Here's the story. Pretty good, don't you think?
Now the story is very well helped by the esthetic of the film. Basically during all the film, it's a quite traditionnal animation, since Sylvain Chomet, the director, comes from comic books. But there's a scene on the ocean, during a storm, using advanced techniques, very impressive. The traditionnal aspect, plus the 60's era, gives a nostalgic look to the film, very charming.
Another thing that makes LES TRIPLETTES very original is that there is almost no dialogue. And when I say almost no dialogue, I mean maybe 6 or 7 lines of dialogue in the whole film! It's more musical, and the music used is excellent, especially the song heard during the end credits, by french singer "M".
So you will have understood how great LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE is. And I didn't mention it, but it's so funny too!
I hope you will sonn get a chance to see it over there, it's worth it! If you wanna more, or have specific questions, don't hesitate!
Sounds like a fairly original vision, and anytime there’s an animated film that succeeds outside the simple Disney formula, I’m fascinated. I hope we see it here soon, too, man. Thanks for writing.
"Moriarty" out.
