THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE
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Most reviews of this film dwell only on superficial facets; the stylized animation, surreal imagery, the lack of dialog, and the role of the oddly-shaped, train-obsessed dog. I'm stunned that people aren't talking about the most amazing thing about this movie: Symbolism. That's right, what would a French movie be without Symbolism? It would just be "Weird for the Sake of Being Weird," putting them at the same level as the American practice of "Gratuitous for the Sake of Being Gratuitous," and they'd never have that. What reviewers fail to comment on (or worse, fail to realize) is that "Triplets" symbolizes the changing relationship between France and America over the last 230 YEARS! That's right! The unsteady beginning between an established monarchy and struggling British colonies is symbolized by the Paddle-Boat vendor (Note: the symbolic references are not sequential in the movie because that would be "linear", which is a dirty word in the art-house world). The rest of the film is stuffed with symbols for almost every major Franco-American cultural event since, including Lance Armstrong, the War of 1812, France's frustration with their role in the international space program, Vietnam, and some particularly bitter imagery associated with EuroDisney. Perhaps it's a sad comment on American viewers' lack of sensitivity to symbolism that about all anyone remarks on is that the entire population of "Belleville" is obese, when I'd estimate the movie had over 359 symbolisms, not including the tricycle. It also has gunfire, car chases, explosions, and some particularly disturbing imagery involving frogs (the amphibians, that is). I guess if you're not caught up by the symbolism, this movie is just kinda weird. So the symbolically-inclined and those who tolerate strange and unusual animation will enjoy this film. Others should watch "Nemo" instead.
If you liked the movies below, you'll probably like this one (and vice versa):
Eight-Facet Info Rating, rated on a scale of 0 (None) to 4 (Lots!)): |