The Triplets of Belleville - Sylvain Chomet

The Triplets of Belleville is a strange and curiously wonderful film from france.  A lonely little boy Champion living with his Grandma recieves his first bycle and from that moment on his life goal is to race in the Tour de France.  No sooner has the race begun, he is kidnapped by men in black suits. His aunt goes to find him, and happens across the Triplets of Belleville, three music hall stars, and they go to battle against the french mafia. 

OH did i mention the dog, he is prob the best character in this plot, he is fat, he is clumsy and he likes to bark at trains. But in a weird and wonderful way he is cute and is very funny. 

I was told to watch this film by a good friend of mine, and it looked quite interesting.  It was a great film, but typically french. It was also a little bit crazy and trippy. Their's not much dialect to this film, just lots of visual references, music that gets stuck in your head and the occasionally barking from the mad dog.  I really enjoyed this film but felt like at some points was stuck in an art house with some crazy references and mad sequences. 

I love the characters in this film. Drawn in a very unusual way, almost caricatures, over exaggerated features to each character.  The Belleville triplets were fantastic, eating a diet of frogs and not talking at all in the film. Signing their catchy song which really gets stuck in your head.  The grandma is very devoted and watching her hobble around on one leg shorter than the other was quite amusing, but her devotion to her grandson is quite touching. And well the dog....the dog is just genies.  We don't to see much of the main character which is unusual for a film, and most of the time we do he is devoted to his cycling, but that makes it a great twist on a story, that the main character is not the main character in the film, but the whole point to the film. 

As a major fan of both french cinema and crazy animated films this film probably fitted the bill.  Its defiantly not for everyone but those who do get it, its pretty different and defiantly one to see. I quite enjoyed this film and thought it was very well done.  I look forward to checking out his other works.