Weblog entry:
- The Triplets of Belleville
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I’d heard nothing about The Triplets of Belleville before a friend suggested we check it out; not being one to be over-adventurous in my moviegoing, I wasn’t expecting too much. Turns out that the first movie I saw in 2004 was one of the best I’ve seen in some time.
It’s really quite difficult to convey just how damn much I fell in love with Triplets. A film without dialogue, it’s incredible just how much it manages to convey with a character’s sideways glance, or a quietly hand-rolled cigarette. And the artwork is just breathtaking. My friend compared it to
like City of Lost Children but, you know, animated,
and I think there’s something to that; Triplets‘ visual style owes a heavy debt to Jeunet and Caro. But there’s definitely a nod to old-school Walt Disney and Max Fleischer as well. And yeah, the combination of all those influences is every bit as weird as it sounds — but it works, and wonderfully so.
And don’t get me started on the music, which is every bit as odd an amalgam as the film itself. The best way to describe it is something trapped between 1930s-era swing and breakbeats; after one musical interlude, you’ll never take newspapers, vacuum cleaners, bike wheels, or refrigerators for granted again. If you’re looking for a fine, captivating film that feels more than worth the too-hefty price of a movie ticket, The Triplets of Belleville is a solid investment.
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- 04th day of January 2004.
- Filed under Reviews, Movies.
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