Belleville Rendez-Vous

This is an absolute treat which can be watched time and time again… and you still will discover more details and quirks with every view! Witty, surreal, occasionally macabre, and darkly comical… this anime-jewel was nominated for ‘Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards 2004’.

The plot of the story is simple enough and most of it is told through the magnificent visuals and music/songs. It begins with a b/w flashback to the 1930’s during which a hugely successful music hall trio referred to as The Triplets of Belleville (the film’s original title) perform a snazzy jazz number. This sequence is brilliantly executed, for not only are the three singing sisters a hoot to watch but we have some (animated) cameo appearances by the likes of a semi-nude Josephine Baker (doing her famous banana-belt thing) and Maurice Chevalier.
We than forward to the present and voilà, it’s all in colour! Enter dumpy and lovable granny Madame Souza, owner of an unfortunate clubfoot and a shy and melancholic grandson named Champion. No matter what she tries to cheer him up, she cannot seem to lift the boy’s spirit. Only when she presents him with a puppy called Bruno things become slightly better; but it’s only a question of time before Champion drifts back into his melancholic state. Until Madame Souza has the brilliant idea to get him a tricycle, having noticed his interest in road bike racing (something the boy’s deceased parents enthused about). From then on things change for the better, as granny Souza puts him through a strict regime of discipline and physical exercise.

Some years later, Champion has turned into a professional cyclist who participates at the Tour de France, although the opposite is the case for dog Bruno… who has become obese and lazy. On the day of the race Champion and two other cyclists get kidnapped by the French Mafia: the gangsters intend on building a stationary cycling machine for the drugged racers to cycle on, all in the name of bets and gambling. Once again, all the characters are a riot to look at, with exaggerated features like incredibly muscular legs (as far as the cyclists are concerned) yet otherwise spindly thin arms and curved upper bodies.
A distressed Madame Souza and loyal canine Bruno follow the trail of the kidnapped Champion, which brings them to the bustling metropolis of Belleville… but soon lose track of him. Frustrated and broke, Gran Souza and Bruno warm themselves at a makeshift campfire outside a derelict warehouse building and Souza starts to ‘drum’ on a broken bicycle wheel in order to cheer herself up. As fate would have it, the three Belleville sisters, now eccentric old ladies, happen to drop by and break into an impromptu musical number of yore, accompanied by Souza’s bicycle wheel percussion skills. So taken are they by the old woman that they invite her and Bruno to stay with them in their house, although Souza is about to find out just how eccentric the three sisters really are… and never mind their penchant for DIY cuisine involving frogs legs soup, frogs legs ragout, and grilled frogs legs on a skewer… The scene in which one of the sisters goes out catching frogs for dinner is among the funniest in the film!

Some time later the sisters, who now are dedicated to improvisational music, perform at a fancy restaurant together with their latest member – Madame Souza. Everything from vacuum cleaners to fridge and assorted kitchen utensils is used on stage to create the unique ‘avantgarde music’ of the quartet. Among the guests happens to be the mafia boss responsible for the kidnapping, and its thanks to Bruno and his reliable nose that from thereon things take a turn for the better – although first they take a turn for the worse. Without wishing to give the grand finale away, let’s just say that a happy end is in store for our unlikely heroines, for Bruno and the rescued Champion!
Belleville-Rendez-Vous is splendid fun for all the family and a real treasure as far as animation is concerned.

The DVD contains the following SPECIAL FEATURES:
Original theatrical trailer / ‘Making of… Documentary / Interview with director and production designer / Animation lessons / Commentary.