Tired of bloated, mediocre blockbusters? Maybe you would prefer to see a surreal cartoon for adults that veers between the pleasantly bizarre and the utterly nightmarish. Maybe you don’t think dialogue is necessary in a movie, or perhaps you prefer that your films be melancholy, animated and French. The Triplets of Belleville is that kind of movie, breathtaking in its ingenuity and frustrating in its self-indulgence.
The title refers to three singing sisters of the 1930s, but the story centers around a sad-eyed boy, Champion, and his grandmother, Madame Souza, who live in the French countryside. Champion is depressed and withdrawn, doing nothing but sitting around with his head in his hands. Finding out about his obsession with bicycles, Madame Souza buys one for the sad little boy.
Fast forward into the future, and we find the boy grown up, with the same melancholy eyes and a gargantuan nose. The obsession with bicycles has developed into a bid for first place in the Tour de France, for which Champion has been rigorously training. He struggles up and down hills with his grandmother close behind him puffing on a little whistle for encouragement.
Unfortunately, the boy’s stint in the Tour does not last very long, for he and two rivals are kidnapped by the French mafia for nefarious purposes. It is then up to Madame Souza and her huge, dimwitted dog to rescue Champion. Along the way they enlist the help of the famous, aged triplets of Belleville, who are living in poverty on the outskirts of town.
What ensues is funny, grotesque and sad, but the story is almost not the point of the movie. The real star is the gorgeous animation. Stylistically, the drawings resemble surreal New Yorker cartoons. Size is constantly exaggerated: bystanders at the tour waddle around obesely, the cyclists’ muscles bulge repulsively, and henchman loom as giant black rectangles.
The city of Belleville itself seems to be a satire of the United States, for it features a fat Statue of Liberty holding a hamburger instead of a torch. Other than that, social commentary is nonexistent or perhaps gets lost in the madness in the movie. Watching The Triplets of Belleville is a bit like tumbling head first down Alice’s rabbit hole. A dancer gets eaten by his own shoes, human beings turn into firecrackers, and Madame Souza plays music on a bicycle wheel.
The most winning character of the film is the grandmother, who is determined not to lose her little boy. Squat and tenacious, Madame Souza climbs each steep hill with her grandson and literally crosses an ocean to save him. Other characters include the eccentric triplets and the obese, loyal dog. They, along with the grandmother, surely comprise one of the oddest rescue teams onscreen.
The Triplets of Belleville would have been a masterpiece as a short film, but as a feature it is a bit much. After about an hour the whimsy grows tiresome and the rich animation becomes overwhelming. Like a rich dessert, you can’t take too much. The characters and the drawings are charming, but by the end the audience wishes the filmmakers had not bombarded them.
