Belleville Rendez-vous
(2003)
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In this animated French film, a boy named Champion trains relentlessly for the Tour de France, with the help of his loyal grandmother and overweight dog, Bruno (who loves to bark at passing trains). When the big race comes, Champion and a few of his fellow racers are kidnapped by some thugs who spirit them off to Belleville (a surreal impression of 1930s-1950s Manhattan) where they are forced to pedal as part of a clandestine gambling operation. Bruno and grandma set out across the sea in a paddle boat to rescue their boy, but once ashore they soon become lost, hungry and penniless, that is until the frog-eating Triplets of Belleville, former scat singing jazz prodigies turned experimental musicians, come to their rescue.
Filled with inspired, twisted imagery, this nearly dialogue-free film is a crowd-pleaser of unusual power, with the strange, measured pacing of a dream, and a great soundtrack of bizarre alternate-reality '30s jazz. It also offers a touching and believable evocation of a dog's life. A great throwback to the time before animation became dominated by CGI effects, BELLEVILLE RENDEZ-VOUS is a very strange, very loving French salute to obsession, affection, and persistence.
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Cheerful and fun, largely silent, animation
David from Dublin, 27 Apr 2011
This is a nice fun film with good movements, caricatures, nice plot and good style to it.
It feels like a kids movie in that it never goes for any deep theme or anything like that, but for what it is, it's enjoyable for all ages.
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