Film Review: Belleville Rendezvous (2003)

The Triplets of Belleville, also known as Belleville Rendezvous in the UK, is a 2003 animated comedy film written and directed by Sylvain Chomet. Chomet is a French comic writer, animator and film director, although he has directed many other animation shorts, Belleville Rendezvous was his first feature-length film. Belleville Rendezvous is mainly considered a French film but was also co-produced in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Canada. After large success the film was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for "Belleville Rendez-vous".

The film follows a French cyclist training for the Tour de France until he is kidnapped by the French Mafia in the actual competition. It is then up to his grandmother, Madame Souza and her beloved dog Bruno to find and rescue the kidnapped cyclist. On her journey she is accompanied and helped by the Belleville sisters, an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire. The film is predominately silent with no main dialogue, relying solely on the animation of the film.

The factor that immediately stands out in this film is the animation technique used. The whole film is created using a very strong caricature style including stick thin cyclists with tree trunk legs and obese dogs whose legs shouldn't physically be able to support the weight it is carrying. This technique offers a very fresh and stand out piece of animation, moving away from more popular animation where everything is in the correct proportions. Although missing a main dialogue, the film is very easy to follow and easily recognizable as French, including the Tour de France, frogs for dinner and huge noses.