neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Triplets Of Belleville
	Sylvain Chomet Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin, Monica Viegas 2003		From the fantastically peculiar mind of director Sylvain Chomet comes the must-see French animated feature "The Triplets of Belleville." It's a singular achievement that proudly absorbs its influences — from the '30s and '40s cartoons of Fleischer Studios and Warner Bros. to the gentle slapstick and quirky social commentary of Jacques Tati's live-action comedies of the '50s and '60s — and reconfigures them with a skewed, darkly humorous attitude similar to that of filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Amélie," "City of Lost Children"). Champion is a pudgy boy living on the periphery of Paris with his grandmother Madame Souza and his plump, pugnacious dog Bruno. The kid grows up to become a lean, monomaniacal bicycle racer dedicated to winning the Tour de France. When Champion is kidnapped mid-race and spirited away to the megalopolis of Belleville for nefarious purposes, Madame Souza and Bruno set off to rescue him. The liberation of Champion is in doubt until the three weird, elderly sisters of the vintage song-and-dance act the Belleville Triplets offer their help. With loony verve, an infectious title song, unique character designs — angular, squat, flagrantly Gallic — that are the antithesis of Disney, and a gleeful disregard of the laws of physics, "The Triplets of Belleville" is the trippiest of trips — and then some.