Les triplettes de Belleville (2003)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Sylvain Chomet

Writer:

Sylvain Chomet (written by)

Release Date:

11 June 2003 (France)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Music

Plot:

When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him.

Plot Keywords:

Belleville | Mafia | Dog | Tour De France | France

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 18 wins & 20 nominations

Cast

Béatrice Bonifassi	...	Triplets (singing voice)
Lina Boudreau	...	Triplets (voice)
Michèle Caucheteux	...	(voice)
Jean-Claude Donda	...	(voice)
Mari-Lou Gauthier	...	Triplets (voice)
Charles Linton	...	(singing voice) (as Charles Prévost Linton)
Michel Robin	...	(voice)
Monica Viegas	...	(voice)

Directed by
Sylvain Chomet

Writing credits
Sylvain Chomet		(written by)

Produced by
Didier Brunner	....	producer
Paul Cadieux	....	co-producer
Regis Ghezelbash	....	associate producer
Colin Rose	....	associate producer
Viviane Vanfleteren	....	producer

Original Music by
Benoît Charest

Film Editing by
Dominique Brune
Chantal Colibert Brunner
Dominique Lefever

Production Design by
Evgeni Tomov

Art Direction by
Thierry Million

Production Management
François Bernard	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gérard T. Goulet	....	assistant director

Art Department
Karyne Bergeron	....	color design assistant
Bruno Ghigou	....	artistic supervisor
Carole Roy	....	color designer

Sound Department
Germain Boulay	....	sound editor
Mathieu Cox	....	sound re-recording mixer
Eric DeVos	....	sound (as Eric De Vos)
Xavier Drouault	....	foley artist
Alek Goosse	....	sound re-recording mixer
Eric Grattepain	....	sound effects editor
Gert Janssen	....	assistant sound editor
Marina Lerchs	....	adr mixer
Samuel Mittelman	....	additional sound
Henri Morelle	....	sound
Alexis Oscari	....	sound assistant
Stéphanie Perrin	....	sound editor
Denis Prud'hon	....	adr editor
Laurent Quaglio	....	sound
Carl Van Brande	....	sound supervisor
Griet Van Reeth	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Christel Boyer	....	digital compositor
Frédéric Dupuis	....	2D effects animator
Nicolas Ferrere	....	2D effects animation supervisor
Florian Fiebig	....	2D effects animator
Bruno Ghigou	....	visual effects supervisor
Yann Hradecky	....	digital effects
Rouja Koleva	....	2D effects animation supervisor
Julie Kuchlein	....	2D effects animator
Hugues Martel	....	2D effects animator
Dave W. Pelkey	....	2D effects animator
Simon Pelletier	....	2D effects animator
Raf Schoenmaekers	....	digital compositor
Pieter Van Houte	....	digital effects
Alexis Venet	....	2D effects animator

Animation Department
Ilze Albekeite	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Caroline Ardies	....	background painter
Isabelle Auclair	....	assistant animator: "Mme. Souza"
Carlos Barrato	....	background designer
Linda Best	....	assistant animator: "Mme. Souza"
Jolanta Bigele	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Liena Bizune	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Laura Bluma	....	assistant animator: Rija Film Studio
Michel Breton	....	background designer
Stéphane Cartro	....	assistant animator: "Bruno the Dog"
Lai Kin Chang	....	assistant animator: title sequence
Sylvain Chomet	....	animation director
Sylvain Chomet	....	animator
Sylvain Chomet	....	character designer
Kristine Cibulska	....	inbetween supervisor: Rija Film Studio
Roberts Cinkuss	....	animator: Rija Film Studio
Christelle Coopman	....	clean-up artist: title sequence
Vanessa Crahay	....	assistant animator: Studio Artdog
Antoine Dartige	....	animator: "Champion"
Dace Darzniece	....	animator: Rija Film Studio
Dirk de Loose	....	animator: Studio Artdog
Kellie Devries	....	background painter (as Kelly De Vries)
Samuel Dhaussy	....	background painter
Diana Druke	....	assistant animator: Rija Film Studio
Xavier Dujardin	....	additional character designer
Xavier Dujardin	....	animator: "Gangsters" and "Godfather"
Frédéric Dupuis	....	assistant animator: "Gangsters" and "Godfather"
Paul Dutton	....	additional animator: "The Triplettes"
Paul Dutton	....	animator: "Gangsters" and "Godfather"
Joke Eycken	....	animator: Studio Artdog
Benoît Féroumont	....	lead animator: Studio Artdog
Florian Fiebig	....	animator: "Bruno the Dog"
Dan Filippin	....	animator
Christophe Gautier	....	background painter
Olivier Goka	....	animator: Studio Artdog
Gérard T. Goulet	....	animation supervisor: title sequence
Gérard T. Goulet	....	assistant animator: "Champion"
Gunta Gracinska	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Emmanuel Guille-Vuora	....	animator: "Mme. Souza" (as Emmanuel Guille)
Marie-Laure Guisset	....	animator: Studio Artdog
Jennifer Gustavsen	....	assistant animator: "Bruno the Dog"
Jennifer Gustavsen	....	inbetween artist
Iveta Hincenberga	....	animator: Rija Film Studio
Diana Janele	....	assistant animator: Rija Film Studio
Dina Jansone	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Elita Kanepe	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Nelda Karpenska	....	animator: Rija Film Studio
Nelda Karpenska	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Laurent Kircher	....	animator: "Champion" and "Morissot"
Elie Klimis	....	assistant animator: Studio Artdog
Elie Klimis	....	clean-up artist: title sequence
Rouja Koleva	....	animator: "Mme. Souza"
Vineta Krastina	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Julie Kuchlein	....	animator: "Mme. Souza"
Corinne Kuyl	....	animator: Studio Artdog
Grigor Kuzmanov	....	background painter (as Grigor Kouzmanov)
Monica Langlois	....	background painter
Félix Lavallée	....	inbetween artist
Tatjana Lebedeva	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Marianne Lebel	....	assistant animator: "Mme. Souza"
Justin Lee	....	assistant animator: "Gangsters" and "Godfather"
Angelo Libutti	....	animator
Jean-Christophe Lie	....	animator: "Rose"
Jean-Christophe Lie	....	supervising animator: "The Triplettes"
Valentina Lietuviete	....	animator: Rija Film Studio
Philippe Lockerby	....	animator: "Gangsters" and "Godfather"
Dace Luce	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Pascal Maoloni	....	assistant animator: Studio Artdog
Hugues Martel	....	animator: "Blanche"
Dita Masena	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Parsla Maurina	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Benoît Milhorat	....	assistant animator
Alexei Nechytaylo	....	background painter
Alexei Nechytaylo	....	texture supervisor
Panayot Panayotov	....	animator
Sarmite Pape	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Dave W. Pelkey	....	assistant animator: "Mme. Souza" and "Bruno the Dog"
Simon Pelletier	....	assistant animator: "Rose"
Indra Petraskevica	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Inga Praulina	....	animation supervisor: Rija Film Studio
Laima Puntule	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Nicolas Quéré	....	animator: "Mme. Souza"
Ilze Ruska	....	animator: Rija Film Studio
Ringla Rutkovska	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Dace Saulite	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Aleksandrs Sehovcovs	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Anete Simanovska	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Marc Simard	....	assistant animator: "Champion"
Liga Skirmane	....	assistant animator: Rija Film Studio
Ieva Smite	....	animator: Rija Film Studio
Stanimir Stoilov	....	background designer
Gunta Sudraba	....	assistant animator: Rija Film Studio
Jacqueline Swennen	....	clean-up artist: title sequence
Aiga Tabaka	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Marina Trede	....	assistant animator: Rija Film Studio
Marina Trede	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Yann Tremblay	....	animator: "Bruno the Dog" and others
Patricia Vandevoorde	....	assistant animator: title sequence
Patricia Vandevoorde	....	clean-up artist: title sequence
Pieter Vanluffelen	....	assistant animator: title sequence
Zhigang Wang	....	animator: "Violette"
Éric Warin	....	additional character designer
Éric Warin	....	assistant animator
Bruno Wouters	....	animator: title sequence
Dana Zagere	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio
Ilze Zalane	....	assistant animator: Rija Film Studio
Linda Zepa	....	assistant animator: Rija Film Studio
Taiga Zile	....	animator: Rija Film Studio
Kristine Zvirbule	....	inbetween artist: Rija Film Studio

Music Department
Thomas Dutronc	....	musician: solo guitar
Luc Papineau	....	music mixer
Christopher B.J. Smith	....	musician: trombone and tuba

Other crew
Christophe Panzner	....	post-production deal broker

Thanks
Sophie Tatischeff	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Les Armateurs
• Production Champion
• Vivi Film
• France 3 Cinéma
• RG Prince Films (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• Gimages 3 (participation) (as Sofica Gimages 3)
• Cofimage 12 (participation)
• Téléfilm Canada (participation)
• Société de Développement des Entreprises Culturelles (SODEC) (participation)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (support)
• Fonds Film in Vlaanderen (support)
• Nationale Loterij van België (support) (as Nationale Loterij)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (in association with) (BBC Bristol)
• BBC Worldwide (in association with)
• Département de la Charente (participation)
• Région Poitou-Charentes (participation)
• Cartoon (support)
• Procirep (support)
• Programme MEDIA de la Communauté Européenne (support)

Distributors

• Celluloid Dreams (2003) (worldwide) (all media) (sales)
• Diaphana Films (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• France Télévision Distribution (2004) (France) (DVD) (special edition)
• Bright Angel Distribution (2003) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Concorde Filmverleih (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Frenetic Films (2003) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Klock Worx Company, The (2004) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Metro Tartan Distribution Ltd. (2003) (UK) (theatrical)
• Mikado (2003) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Quasar Films (2004) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2003) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2003) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Casablanca Filmes (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Casablanca Filmes (2004) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Concorde Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD) (retail)
• DeA Planeta Home Entertainment (2004) (Spain) (DVD)
• EuroVideo (2004) (Germany) (DVD) (rental)
• Metro Film (2005) (Yugoslavia) (DVD)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2004) (Finland) (VHS)
• Slovenska Kinoteka (2004) (Slovenia)
• Tartan Films (UK) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2005) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (2005) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2007) (Finland) (TV) (TV1)

Other Companies

• Falco Ink.  award campaign

Also Known As:

The Triplets of Belleville (International: English title) (USA)
Belleville Rendez-Vous (UK)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for images involving sensuality, violence and crude humor.

Runtime:

Argentina:80 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) | Canada:78 min

Country:

France | Belgium | Canada | UK

Language:

French | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:U | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Brazil:Livre | Chile:TE | Denmark:7 | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Germany:6 | Mexico:B15 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/6 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 | Iceland:L | Canada:G (Ontario)

Company:

Les Armateurs

Trivia:

The song performed by Madame Souza in the piano is called Uma Casa Portuguesa (A Portuguese House), and was originally performed by Amália Rodrigues, the queen of Fado music.

Goofs:

Continuity: Near the End, where the Triplets and Souza are going across the bay over the bridge, you see a ship passing under it into the harbour. However, when the Mafia goes over the edge into the funnel of the ship, It is leaving the harbour, not entering it.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Madame Souza: Is that it, then? Is it over, do you think? What have you got to say to Grandma?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Une américaine à Paris (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Mass in C minor, K427: Kyrie

What does it all mean?

Yesterday evening a friend introduced me to this extraordinary piece of animation. After watching it I was left with the feeling that I'd just watched a film which communicated something to me, but I wasn't quite sure what that might be. For hours afterward I thought to myself, "Why did that film appeal to me so?" The story is simple and straightforward. The details are charming and nuanced. The rendering is a true tour-de-force. The one thing that caught my eye was the sheen of the water as Mme. Souza and Bruno are crossing the ocean in pursuit of her grandson. I can hardly believe that was animation. Then I noticed the play of the light on the water reflected against the hulls of the boats at dock in the harbor. My friend pointed out the skill of the graphic designers in maintaining the proper camera angles of the projected live film footage on the screen during the chase sequence.

The music is absolutely captivating. Everything from the opening dance-hall sequence to the extraordinary use of the Kyrie from Mozart's Mass in C Minor during the storm at sea and the entrance into the harbor of Belleville. Notice how the music builds in richness as the camera descends from the few spires at the beginning of the sequence to the dense mass at street level.

Remembering the details and how they relate to each other and the film as a whole keeps you thinking about the significance of the film's contents. For instance, I only now remember that the opening sequence was drawn in the archaic, fluid style of early cartoon animation (Steamboat Willy, Olive Oyl and Popeye) because, of course, it was depicting events which predated the time of the film proper. The style served a purpose, beyond being an end in itself.

For a long time after watching the film I remained puzzled about its appeal to me. I've seen a large number of animated feature films, but none have left me quite as reflective as did this one. I was less concerned with the meaning of the details. It is a cartoon, after all.

I continued to wonder about Madame Souza's expression. About how the creator was able to invest such meaning in those simple dark circles set behind thick lenses and the line of her mouth, which modulated between forthright resolve and a gentle satisfaction. Then it occurred to me. Beyond the larger outline of the story and the details in which it is couched, it tells us of the power of one person's love and concern for another. I suppose we all wish we could receive such unconditional love, and it makes us feel warm to think that such a thing could actually be. Even if only in a cartoon.

The film either will or will not appeal to you, depending on what it is you're looking for in an animated feature film. I watched it without expectations, and was left wondering, "Why does it resonate with me?" And you'll want to see it again.