Les Triplettes de Belleville -- half on-topic
sam6...@earthlink.net
(Triplets of Belleville, USA
Belleville Rendez-Vous, UK
directed by the French director Sylvain Chomet)
It's a cartoon, a French/Canadian/Belgian 2003 co-production. Those of
you with a taste for surrealism, quirky humor, parodic genius, and
boundless imagination. . . you need to see this. The plot is rather
simple, but its treatment is a visual wonder to behold. The
sophistication and especially the wild variety of the animation are
beyond belief. The odd, anything but predictable emotional shadings
resonate in you when you wouldn't expect. The humor is in a league of
its own. (I don't want to spoil any of the dozens of LOL moments by
writing about them.)
It was a pity that it had to compete with "Finding Nemo" for the Oscar.
They are both gorgeous, but Finding Nemo is, dunno, "rounder", quite
accomplished on any imaginable level, while "Les Triplettes" probably
isn't. . . but the latter is not "better", it's better than better, it's
unique. Finding Nemo is improving, in (of course) aquatic terms, on
Pixar's already outstanding visual trademarks. "Les Triplettes" looks
like nothing else you'd been likely to watch before. I would have given
it the Oscar if only because that way more people would have watched it.
. . while it would have been difficult anyway to add to "Finding Nemo"'s
already achieved (and deserved) notoriety.
Here comes the on-topicity: one aspect in which Les Triplettes de
Belville should have won in the Oscar contest -- not only against
"Nemo", but all other movies, including the unexceptional "Lord of the
Rings" -- was *every* sound/music-related category. The use of sound
effects/music is just mindblowingly original, crazy, and clever.
Feet-exciting cabaret music (why the heck did I like that commencing
cabaret song so much?? I think it's the way it's performed), the Kyrie
from Mozart's C Minor Mass, a kind of leitmotif based on Bach's C Minor
Prelude from WTC I, later in the movie cleverly jazzified, as well as
some surprises I won't disclose make for a great counterpoint to the
assumed eclecticism of the imagery itself, going from grandiose to
caricatural. And back to caricatural.
Miss this at your own peril. Oh, by the way, before I forget, you,
vegetarians, *watch* it at your own peril.
regards,
SG
P.S. Do not read reviews (other than mine ( :) before watching it. You
don't need it and getting the experience with as fresh a mind as
possible is even better.
P.S.2 This is not a cartoon for people under 13, more because of
comprehension issues than because of its being rated or not.
Eric Grunin
> a kind of leitmotif based on Bach's C Minor
> Prelude from WTC I
There was a thread about this when the movie was first released in New
York. The pianist playing the Bach seems intended as an affectionate
parody of Glenn Gould.
> P.S.2 This is not a cartoon for people under 13, more because of
> comprehension issues than because of its being rated or not.
My 8-year old found it worthwhile, though obviously he didn't catch
all the references.
Did you spot the delightfully nasty swipe at Disney?
Regards,
Eric Grunin
www.grunin.com/eroica
sam6...@earthlink.net
Eric Grunin wrote:
> sam6...@earthlink.net wrote:
>
>
>>a kind of leitmotif based on Bach's C Minor
>>Prelude from WTC I
>
>
> There was a thread about this when the movie was first released in New
> York.
So I see now. For whatever reason I missed that completely. I am a bit
surprised to see one of our rmcr friends took offense at the humor.
Folks, humor is supposed to be rude, and the guys here were rude to
everyone in sight -- French and American alike --, which made it easier
to take ( :
> The pianist playing the Bach seems intended as an affectionate
> parody of Glenn Gould.
Yup, I got that.
>>P.S.2 This is not a cartoon for people under 13, more because of
>>comprehension issues than because of its being rated or not.
>
>
> My 8-year old found it worthwhile, though obviously he didn't catch
> all the references.
Well, send him to MENSA. ( :
> Did you spot the delightfully nasty swipe at Disney?
Probably I blinked. Which was it?
regards,
SG
Frank Lekens
>> Did you spot the delightfully nasty swipe at Disney?
>
> Probably I blinked. Which was it?
The technician in charge of the bicycle looked a lot like Mickey Mouse.
--
Frank
(xs4all dot nl is where it's really @)
Eric Grunin
>Eric Grunin wrote:
>
>> Did you spot the delightfully nasty swipe at Disney?
>
>Probably I blinked. Which was it?
When we first walk through the Triplet's apartment building, we pass
an unflushed commode, the contents of which are in the shape of Mickey
Mouse's head.
Also noted here:
http://www.naturalbornviewers.com/archive/t/tripletsofbelleville/review.htm
Regards,
Eric Grunin
www.grunin.com/eroica
LaVirtuosa
> Eric Grunin wrote:
> > The pianist playing the Bach seems intended as an affectionate
> > parody of Glenn Gould.
>
> Yup, I got that.
I wonder who John Sadowy's
jazzed-up Bach is meant to
parody? Also, I missed the
Madame Souza joke altogether
until I looked at the credits.
*************Val
Owen Hartnett
LaVirtuosa <LaVir...@aol.com> wrote:
OK, I missed it too, and had to get up to allow others out during the
credits - what was the Madame Souza joke?
-Owen
LaVirtuosa
>what was the Madame Souza joke?
Madame Souzatska.
Owen Hartnett
<lavir...@aol.com> wrote:
OK, now I get it. Thanks!
-Owen