First Friday Films: The Triplets of Belleville (2003 Animated)

Written and directed by Sylvain Chomet, his mesmerizing hand-drawn animation (not CGI) tells a quirky tale of how an old woman with a club foot and a very fat dog become superheroes. When Madame Souza's grandson is kidnapped while competing in the Tour de France bicycle race, she is assisted by an eccentric singing trio to save him. In 2004 this was the first PG 13 rated animated film to be nominated for an Academy Award (Best Animated Feature); it lost to Finding Nemo. It was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

The voices of Michelle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin, Monica Viegas, Beatrice Bonifassi and Charles Prevost Linton are ably supported by Benoit Charest's enchanting music. Mathieu Chedid's catchy theme song, the Academy Award nominated "Belleville Rendez-Vous," will have you tapping your feet to is syncopated rhythm.

The late Roger Ebert describes the film thus: "Imagine Felix the Cat with firecrackers tied to his tail, in a story involving the French nephew and aunt of the Reservoir Dogs ... Sylvain Chomet ... has created an animated feature of appalling originality and scary charm."

The nefarious French Mafia characters who kidnapped Champion, Madame Souza's grandson, and another Tour de Force contestant, are using the cyclists for their own perverse gambling scheme. The cyclists' bicycles are hooked up to a Rube Goldberg type apparatus as they pedal furiously for their lives. The gallery above them is filled with gamblers wearing black berets betting feverishly on which cyclist will expire first.

Bruno, Madame's very large dog, accompanies her and the triplets on their cockamamie quest to free the captured cyclists. While the film begins in France, the action shifts to a made-up town which is a combination of Montreal, New York and Paris. Jazz pours onto the streets and Josephine Baker along with other music hall stars sing the night away.

If you enjoy finely drawn animation, quirky surrealism and snappy cabaret music, this is the film for you! Run time 80 minutes; rated PG 13. Free. Join us for popcorn during, discussion after. See http://peacejourney.org/adult-education-forums/first-friday-films/.  

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