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Special Features
- Select scenes with commentary: Opening Sequence, Restaurant Performance, Tuning the Wheel
- Making-of featurette
- "The Cartoon According to Director Sylvain Chomet" featurette
- Music video of the Academy Award nominated "Belleville Rendez-vous" Song
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And of the film itself? It's extremely absorbing visually; in fact, you probably will want to watch it at least twice, to catch all of the little details loaded in each scene. There are dozens of brief moments that contribute largely to the film's appeal, even if the plot seems to go nowhere and feels a lot longer than 80 minutes. In order to appreciate this film--which is essentially a "search and rescue" film like the other major animated feature from 2003, Finding Nemo--you must accept it at its own leisurely pace, savouring the many asides and set-pieces (including a hilarious cabaret act performed by the titular Triplets on a fridge rack, newspaper, and vacuum cleaner) and seeing them as essentially a series of loosely connected shorts. The one hole in the film, then, is the central character of Champion, a blank slate who seems totally unaffected by the fact that he has been stolen away from his home and forced to live in slavery in a bizarre gambling sport. Not only does he not appreciate Grandma's considerable efforts to rescue him, he doesn't even seem to notice she's there. The film isn't really about him at all, which makes most of the last act seem superfluous.
But do see this film, for the marvellous characters of Mme. Souza, her oversized dog, Bruno, and the Triplets themselves. And see it for the great visuals and the fabulous jazz score. And if you still want an edge-of-your-seat rescue plot, watch Finding Nemo again.
The French Film is directed by the artistic Slyvain Chomet. The plot rests around a grandmother, Madame Souza, her weary-eyed grandson Champion and a faithful chubby dog. As a young boy, Champion was always depressed and sad with his life. His grandmother could see this and would try everything to cheer him up. After failed attempts of a toy train, playing the piano, and a cute cuddly dog; she realizes he truely yearns for a bicycle. The movie flashes forward to him as an adult. He is training for the Tour de France with his ruthless grandmother coaching at his every side. During the actual race, he is kidnapped by the French Mafia, along with other cycleists where they are taken to Belleville and used for underground gambling. His grandmother seeks out on a journey to retrieve him and on the way gets help with the once famous triplet nightsingers.
Calling this movie bizzare would be just an understatement. To start things off, this movie has close to no dialogue what so ever. The entire movie consists of sound effects and oddball music. Typically a movie with a lack of plot and almost no dialogue seems destined to be a failure. But this is where the amazing animation comes in. The drawings are incredibly breath-taking. If it wasn't for the animation, I would have left my seat a long time ago. Mr. Chomet's love for drawing is evidently seen through his work. This is his first full length movie.
Before this movie, Mr. Chomet was busy drawing comics. This is where he gets most of his subtle humor. For example, his drawings are so strange, that he gives every character a unique base look. Champion has a narrow face, small waist, and over exagerrated muscular legs much like a cycleist. It's in these terms, he can take something normal and turn it into an exagerrated comedic moment. His opinion on Americans is shown and deeply funny. For example, the mysterious place Belleville is opened with the statue of liberty, only the statue is of a fat woman holding a hamburger instead of a torch. Throughout the city, all the characters walking are overly obeast. The famous sign "Hollywood" reads "Hollyfood". It's this kind of dry humor that is very witty and appealing to the audience.
I'm most impressed in that this movie keeps your eyes constantly watching even through there is a lack in dialogue. A couple of lines is all it has and nothing more. The rest are just sound effects and quirky music played by the triplets and the grandmother. They use all kinds of instruments, from a refrigerator to a bicycle wheel. The music is odd yet appealing. I found myself constantly tapping my foot in rhythm with the crazy style. But in this movie, dialogue really isn't even needed. Mr. Chomen's drawings give enough character development in itself. Champion, throughout his older self, still has the same sad eyes as he did when he was a young boy. The grandmother is ruthless in that she always carries her whistle around blowing it to help her son in cycleing. The dog is the best out of all the characters because the audience gets a chance to see the images of the psychological dreams the dog has and why he barks the way he does at trains. If anyone is a lover of dogs, the scenes involving the dog are enough to win over any fan.
These qualities truely set this movie out to be a masterpiece. Though lack of dialogue and simple plot, the animation, music, and quirky witty humor alone provide enough entertainment to turn this film into extraordinary. I am thankful it's nominated for Best Animated Feature. Although I want it to win and definitely think it deserves it over Finding Nemo, I fear the advantage of an earlier presence in Finding Nemo will win voter's hearts. Even if it doesn't win, it is definitely a film Mr. Chomet should take pride in. I recommend this film to everyone. Some will love its humor. Others will think it's just plain weird. But all will admire it's fantastic animation and its totally original idea.
I was told it was so good, and I usually like animated films too, but this one was the longest, most... Read more
