Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
The Triplets of Belleville [2003] [DVD]
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images

The Triplets of Belleville [2003] [DVD]

DVD ~ Sylvain Chomet
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.


7 new from £20.98
Learn about Lovefilm
Amazon's choice for DVD rental.
With a 14 day FREE trial. Learn more

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Triplets of Belleville [2003] [DVD]
87% buy the item featured on this page:
The Triplets of Belleville [2003] [DVD] 4.4 out of 5 stars (62)
Persepolis [2008] [DVD]
6% buy
Persepolis [2008] [DVD] 4.2 out of 5 stars (33)
£4.48
Coco Before Chanel [DVD] [2009]
3% buy
Coco Before Chanel [DVD] [2009] 3.6 out of 5 stars (29)
£6.48
Paris [DVD] [2008]
3% buy
Paris [DVD] [2008] 4.1 out of 5 stars (21)
£4.98
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Directors: Sylvain Chomet
  • Format: Anamorphic, PAL
  • Language French
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 12
  • Studio: Tartan Video
  • DVD Release Date: 26 Mar 2007
  • Run Time: 77 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000I6AMZ4
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 17,058 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

One of the more surprising critical hits of 2003, Sylvain Chomet's Belleville Rendezvous is a French animation that combines occasional beauty and charm with sardonic grotesquerie. People have commented about its bitchy portrait of a USA where everyone is overweight and over-helpful; it is equally nasty about a provincial France, where everything is grey and nothing is convenient. A grandmother and her dog set out to rescue a cyclist who has been kidnapped by the French Mafia and is forced to race endlessly into a receding projected landscape; she is helped by a superannuated trio of female close-harmony chansonniers marooned in American poverty.

Nothing in this film is mere chance--almost everything we see turns out to be relevant. There is also little dialogue--most of the time, sound effects and music take its place, from the irritating squeak of a mechanic's breathing to the sublimity of Mozart's "Kyrie" as a storm rages at sea. Belleville Rendezvous uses the best of traditional animation techniques and modern technology to produce something sharply funny and beautifully composed; it is not quite like anything you have seen before. --Roz Kaveney

Synopsis

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.
See all Reviews

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Belleville Rendez-vous

Belleville Rendez-vous

~ -M-
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £8.98
Persepolis [2008] [DVD]

Persepolis [2008] [DVD]

DVD ~ Catherine Deneuve
4.2 out of 5 stars (33)  £4.48
Kirikou And The Sorceress [2002] [DVD]

Kirikou And The Sorceress [2002] [DVD]

DVD ~ Doudou Gueye Thiaw
5.0 out of 5 stars (9)  £12.88
Les Triplettes De Belleville (Cinephile - Etude De Films En Francais Elementaire)

Les Triplettes De Belleville (Cinephile - Etude De Films En Francais Elementaire)

by Kerri Conditto
£6.64
Jeunet And Caro Collection [DVD] [1991]

Jeunet And Caro Collection [DVD] [1991]

DVD ~ Jean-Claude Dreyfus
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £9.48
› Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

62 Reviews
5 star:
 (42)
4 star:
 (11)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (4)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (62 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Silent Triumph, 17 Jun 2004
By Amanda Richards "Hotpurplekoolaid" (ECD, Guyana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
This review is from: The Triplets of Belleville [DVD] [2003] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC] (DVD)
Words almost fail me to describe this movie. It has scarcely any dialogue, but the hand drawing is so exquisite that you don't miss it at all. With just a look, or a movement, the characters portray so much that words become superfluous. The resigned desperation of the cyclists, the determination of Grandma, and those irrepressible Triplets, all expertly drawn to graphically convey every nuance.

There's humor to be found in every frame, the characters are caricatures of caricatures, and the imagery is breathtaking. This is one of those movies that you can watch over and over again, and find something new each time. The music and sound effects also contribute to an overall excellent movie.

It's sad, it's funny, it's moving. The Triplets of Belleville brings a new maturity to cartoons.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking, 28 Dec 2003
By MR PAUL A HOLMES (London, UK United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Belleville Rendez-Vous [2003] [DVD] (DVD)
This is something that has your eyes wide open, childlike, from beginning to end. It shares it's charm with Nick Park's Creature Comforts but unlike our plasticine friends' Belleville Rendezvous inhabits a slight darker world.

Like Ardman, it chooses to make a charicature of it's host nation, but then goes some. France is both quaint and tiresome through the eyes of the director, but more viciously, America is a grotesque nightmare.

Whilst the politicking will keep the intellectuals amused, the real fun is the adventure. And what an adventure it is. Dog lovers will love Bruno, and just plain humans will love everything else.

If there is a genre, and a tradition, this film adheres to it with a final chase scene that is brilliantly absurd. Disney doesn't make this stuff. Because it can't. It's not allowed. And for that we really all should be thankful. See it, whether you are nine or ninety - it's a masterpiece.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


 
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Why you should watch The Belleville Rendez-vous today!, 29 Dec 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Belleville Rendez-Vous [2003] [DVD] (DVD)
I truly cannot speak highly enough of this wonderful little animated film.

Set in France in the early 20th century, it tells the story of Champion, a young chubby-cheeked boy who is sent to live with his grandmother after the death of his parents. After trying a variety of techniques to cajoule a smile out of her grandson, she eventually decides that a bicycle may be the answer... her intuition pays off and, after many late-night, rainy bike rides among the steep inclines of the town's hills, Champion begins to live up to his name.

This is where the film really begins to get going. Shady mafiosa-types carry out a daring kidnap of Champion and two of his opponents mid-race. Their tired bodies are then led to a dark underground lair and the trio's cycling talents are used for gambling purposes.

Meanwhile, Champion's Grandmother embarks on an epic trail across deadly seas and through an even more dangerous New York City in an attempt to track her boy down. She has help along the way from three once-famous singing sisters who are now a little down on their luck. Their heroic efforts eventually result in an unlikely end to the tale.

The animation in this feature was truly Oscar-worthy. While some of the recent Disney/Dreamworks pictures have been very special, The Belleville Rendez-vous is in a different league. The animation is wonderfully dark and all of the characters are deliberately exaggerated caricatures - particularly the marvellous dog; the scenes involving his interest in trains are hilarious.

Overall, the film feels as if it was from a different age... one where the emphasis was on imagination and originality rather than cheap laughs and colourful fish. A must-see film for anybody looking for something with a little difference and panache.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed with duplication
Be warned - Belleville Rendez-vous and The Triplets of Belleville are exactly the same film. My husband's favourite film is Belleville Rendez-vous so when I saw the Triplets, I... Read more
Published 1 month ago by K. S. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming & quirky
A charming film fully of lovely little quirks and visual treats. Fascinating characters, seedy characters, a kidnapping, a loyal dog, a game granny and even a chase sequence -... Read more
Published 2 months ago by G. Clapton

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Film
Very good service. Film arrived very fast and in great condition. Loved the film. Well done even if you don't speak French it was easy to follow along.
Published 3 months ago by Judith Bb Furlong

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best cartoon ever made!
This is the kind of cartoon that could only have been made by the French. Brilliantly witty and yet full of pathos. Read more
Published 3 months ago by T. Scharf

4.0 out of 5 stars Belleville Rendez-Vous
This is a charming film, full of wit and humour. Set in France, it tells the story of a boy called Champion who wishes to compete in the Tour de France. Read more
Published 6 months ago by B. Wright

5.0 out of 5 stars Belleville Rendez-Vous
A classic, one of the best animated films ever. And you never forget the tunes . . .

When I first ordered this dvd I didn't realise I needed the UK version and ended... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Aunty Anna

5.0 out of 5 stars A work of art
I will not spoil the plot for you, instead here is my thoughts after watching this...

Quirky, imaginative and beautifully crafted. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Ms. S. Westwood

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
This is not a Walt Disney cartoon, so if you want to see lots of colour, action and loud music, forget it, go and watch "Cars" or "The Invincibles", but it is a very clever... Read more
Published 15 months ago by C. R. Doust

1.0 out of 5 stars I got this in a ewspaper for free!!!
The film is 5 star, get it when it's cheap, but I got it free in a newspaper about a year ago, shouldn't it be like, £1.98?
Published 16 months ago by S. Boullier

5.0 out of 5 stars dark and comic - do the French really see themselves like that?
Whatever else anyone likes or hates about this fmin, its the small details that really make it work. Read more
Published 17 months ago by AnOldGoat

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject






i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.