Belleville Rendezvous

Sylvain Chomet, Belgium/Canada/France/UK, 2003, 78 minutes

A loving old granny, Madame Souza, dotes on her poor orphaned grandson Champion. She gets him a puppy, Bruno, in the hope that it will cheer him up. Bruno gets fatter and fatter; his only interest in life being eating and his only passion his fanatical hatred of trains (stemming from a puppyhood accident with one of Champion’s toy trains). Finally Mme Souza and Champion bond over her gift of a small tricycle and Champion’s passion for cycling is awoken. After years of relentless training Champion makes it to the Tour de France, but sinister men with suspiciously square shoulders have other ideas. They kidnap Champion and some of his fellow competitors and enslave them in a bizarre gambling game.

Mme Souza and trusty sidekick Bruno set out on an epic rescue mission that takes them across the Atlantic to the port of Belleville, headquarters of the notorious French mafia. Just when it looks like their luck is out they encounter the Belleville triplets, who offer them shelter for the night. In their youth the Belleville Triplets were a glamorous close-harmony singing act, and in their golden years their act has evolved into a bizarre jazz ensemble. Mme Souza joins the troupe, playing her instrument of choice: the bicycle wheel supported by an empty oil drum. The mafia boss is at the quartet’s first gig and inadvertently leads the gallant granny to her incarcerated grandson. The ladies make a daring and slightly unorthorodox rescue attempt and well, I won’t spoil the suprise, you’ll have to come and watch to find out how it all ends.

Review by Jane Birch
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2004