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Belleville Rendez-Vous AKA The Triplets of Belleville
R0 - United Kingdom - Altitude Film Distribution Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (27th November 2015). |
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The Film
 "Belleville Rendez-Vous" AKA "The Triplets of Belleville" (2003) Madame Souza is an elderly grandmother raising her young grandson Champion who has lost his parents in an accident. To lift his spirits up, she buys a puppy which they name Bruno, but his happiness cannot be sustained. With his interest in bicycles growing, she buys him a tricycle which makes him extremely happy. Years later, Champion is training for the Tour de France cycling race, which Souza helps train with her rhythmic whistle for pace. But during the Tour de France race, a group of mysterious men in suits and sunglasses kidnap 3 of the racers including Champion. Souza and Bruno follow them to a sea port and then across the waters to arrive in the hustling and bustling metropolis of Belleville. But with Souza having no money, no shelter, and no connections in Belleville, help comes from an unlikely source: from 3 elderly ladies - "The Triplets of Belleville". But will this group of 4 geriatric women and one dog be able to find and rescue Champion? And what were the mysterious men’s intentions? “Belleville Rendez-Vous” or “The Triplets of Belleville” was directed by artist Sylvain Chomet in 2003. His short animated film debut “The Old Lady and the Pigeons” or “La vieille dame et les pigeons” was a critical success winning numerous awards, and also nominated for an Academy Award in Hollywood. “The Old Lady and the Pigeons” was nominated in the traditional 2D animation style, with no dialogue at all, which was like a throwback to animated works of the 1920’s and early 1930’s. Chomet’s feature length debut “Belleville Rendez-Vous” was also in the same vein, animated in traditional 2D style, and almost entirely without dialogue, though a few exceptions here and there. The opening of the film is an homage to the early 1920’s and 1930’s animated works of animators like Harman and Ising shorts at Warner Brothers, early Ub Iwerks films at Disney, and the Fleischer Brothers studios shorts, with character designs, character movement, and even the honestly “racist” and “sexist” tones which were part of entertainment in that era. In the sequence are caricatures of Django Reinhardt, Josephine Baker, and Fred Astaire. The opening is presented in the standard size 1.33:1 aspect ratio, in sepia tone, and with scratches and dirt on the frame intentionally. For the rest of the film, the animation style changes entirely. Character designs have large exaggerations , such as Champions’s cyclist legs looking massive with muscles, yet he has an extremely lanky frame. Madame Souza’s club foot and extremely short frame make her walking style stand out. The mysterious suited men in their square looking bodies and faces are strange yet menacing looking. But it’s not just the characters that are exaggerated, but also the environment. Madame Souza’s leaning tower house which sits uncomfortably next to the railway tracks, or the extremely tall buildings in Belleville are similar to those in the silent classic “Metropolis” are just a few examples. Though the film is almost entirely in traditional 2D ink and painted style animation, there are quite a few 3D elements used beautifully such as the spinning wheels, the waves of the ocean, and the train animations. As for dialogue, Chomet takes a cue from French comedian and master director Jacques Tati, by using as little dialogue as possible that any words or intelligible sentences are just like background noise. There is even a point in the film where the triplets watch Jacques Tati’s first full length film “Jour de Fete” on TV, which also has a main character that rides a bicycle. Tati’s strength was his influence of silent comedy, so without words it was about body language and the construction of the frame with set designs. Tati’s character of Monsieur Hulot had a specific way of standing and walking, as did silent comedians in Hollywood such as Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. Chomet’s characters also have specific ways of moving and reacting seemingly like a Tati film or a silent film. Chomet would go further with his love and respect for Tati with his 2010 film “The Illusionist” which was based on an unfinished script written by Jacques Tati. Of course a film with almost no dialogue relies heavily on the characters movements, but for 3 elderly triplets, they stand out musically, as they were performers in their youthful days and they still show that with the tapping of their feet, the playing of kitchen utensils, and of course singing their famous hit song “Belleville Rendez-Vous” throughout. “Belleville Rendez-Vous” is a very original film unlike other animated works out there, using very unconventional methods, but it is still a story about love and family at heart and also laced with social commentary about consumerism and class differences. It’s not exactly an animated work for children but it may be one more appreciated by the elderly, as even Chomet dedicated the film to his parents. “Belleville Rendez-Vous” was a big critical success, winning various awards and nominated for more, including 2 Academy Awards in Hollywood, for Best Original Song and Best Animated Feature Film. Note this is a region 0 PAL DVD, which can be played back on any DVD player worldwide capable of the PAL format.
Video
Altitude Film Distribution’s DVD presents the film in the original theatrical 1.66:1 ratio in the PAL format, with thin black bars on the sides of the frame. With most DVD editions worldwide of this title being in the 1.78:1 ratio, it is welcome that it is properly framed here. Colors are not brightly colored in the film, with a very brown palate for the early years, dark blues and greys for the evenings, and yellows for the cityscapes. It certainly looks fine for a DVD but lacks the depth and clarity of more recent HD mastered Blu-ray titles. As the film has been released on Blu-ray in France, it is a shame that Altitude decided to release this on DVD only. As for the opening scene, it is in the correct 1.33:1 ratio with dust and scratches, but this is intentional and lifts to clarity once it switches to the 1.66:1 ratio. The print is the original French version, with the original French language credit sequences.
Audio
French Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Here is a big disappointment, as the older UK DVD by Tartan had 3 options: DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo tracks. Considering how important the sound design and the music are in the film, by including only a 2.0 track is extremely disappointing. There are no audio issues that are a problem such as dropout or errors to speak of which is good, but sounds like the train approaching, the classical music used, and the explosions sound weak compared to the 5.1 tracks on the other editions. There are optional English HoH subtitles for the main feature. Yes, HoH = Hard of Hearing. The English subtitles translated the very minor French dialogue, the newspaper headings, and song titles, as well as captions such as “Playing Piano Badly”. I can tell she is playing the piano badly, and I don’t need the subtitles to tell me so, but this is the only option on the DVD. Of course the subtitles can be turned off, but then nothing is subtitled. Why only English HoH subtitles? Did Altitude think that only elderly people would be buying this DVD? With the subtitle issue and the audio being a downgraded 2.0 track, the audio score is unfortunately a low C- grade... A note to distributors: Foreign language films should have a literal translation subtitle track as the main subtitle track. A hard-of-hearing track is not necessary for a foreign language film, but it could be an optional track.
Extras
"The Making of Belleville Rendez-Vous" featurette (15:52) Featuring interviews with the crew, including director Sylvain Chomet, there are some behind-the-scenes footage, animation tests, and insight into the music. Chomet and art director Evgeni Tomov speak English while composer Benoît Charest and animator Hugues Martel speak in French. The featurette is not directed and edited very well, jumping from topic to topic quickly and without any particular order. in 1.33:1, in English and French with forced English HoH subtitles for both English and French portions Interview with Director Sylvain Chomet and with Art Director Evgeni Tomov (46:52) Taken from the same interview sessions as the making of, Chomet discusses topics such as how he became an illustrator, how he was not interested in animation at the start, and about other directors like Chaplin Tati, Bunuel, Miyazaki who inspired him. Russian born Tomov talks about some of the animation challenges faced in the making of the film during his interview. For both interviews, they are shot with a locked camera which never cuts away unless it goes to a title screen for a topic. If they had cut to examples of some of the scenes or drawings they were speaking of could have made it a little more interesting rather than just raw interview footage. in 1.33:1, in English with forced English HoH subtitles "Animation Lesson" featurette (5:21) Chomet gives some examples of how the characters were drawn and an analysis of style. The interview is taken from the same sessions as above. in 1.33:1, in English with forced English HoH subtitles 3 Scenes with Director's Commentary (7:01) The opening scene, the nightclub musical scene, the wheel repair scenes are played back to back with forced commentary by Sylvain Chomet and Benoît Charest. An authoring error here, as the 1.66:1 image is squeezed to 1.33:1 and is not flagged for anamorphic playback, meaning the image is thinner than it should be. in 1.33:1, in French with forced English HoH subtitles French Theatrical Trailer (2:03) A great trailer showing the eccentricities, but shown way too much of the climactic ending scene. in windowboxed 1.66:1, in French with forced English HoH subtitles With the main feature the English HoH subtitles are at least optional. But for some reason, on the special features, they are forced and non-removable. Which means when they are speaking English (which much of the extras are in English), they have forced English subtitles. Why is this necessary? Chomet’s English is not difficult to understand. I know it is necessary for the French language portions, so why not have again a literal subtitle translation track for the French portions, and optionally a hard-of-hearing subtitle track, like the main feature should? Usually forced subtitles are frowned upon, but I find it bizarre that they are forced English on English. Hopefully Altitude doesn’t continue this as a trend on future foreign-language releases. So what is missing? The music video and the making of the video which was available on previous DVD editions. Also, the French DVD had some exclusive extras such as a documentary which has not been ported over here. The Altitude adds nothing new to their new DVD release. It would have been nice to have a full commentary or a retrospective interview, or even “The Old Lady and the Pigeons” as an extra. With no new extras made, the existing extras not fully being ported over, and the issue of the forced English HoH subtitles, the extras score gets a bit of a downgrade.
Overall
"Belleville Rendez-Vous" still holds up with the test of time, something that feels nostalgic yet very original in feel. Altitude's DVD skips out on existing extras and adds nothing new, downgrades the audio, and has issues with the English subtitles. But for people looking for animation that is both beautiful and ugly, with a story that is silly yet exciting and violent at times will have a lot to look forward to.
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