Film Review || Belleville Rendez-Vous (2003) 'France'

fig 1.

An animation directed by Frenchman Sylvain Chomet, it follows the story of a grandmother on a quest to save her grandson from the clutches of a exploiting mafia in the city of Belleville with the help of an aging trio of stage entertainers from the early 1900s.

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It boasts an impressive hand drawn aesthetic, while using technique to frame scenes that have built meaning into them characterises the film as a whole, providing the right materials for sustained discussion which is key for smaller budgets. To this end it also deliberately has conflicts in symbolism so as to maximise the individual perceptions of viewers. There is minimalist dialogue, which vastly simplifies actions that characters undertake, whittling meanings to a finer point as the plot requires. Caricatures play a big part in telling us about the purpose of characters within the plot, giving an indication of what kind of part they could play in the story.

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The concepts of hardship and commentary on industry characterises this film best, and the aesthetic of hand drawn animation reflects this to the best degree in both metaphor and direct meaning. As it is considerably lower budget than more well known films it shows how family life is more profitable than the simple money hoarding that companies encourage that Scott focuses on in his analysis. 'Food stands for money (the residents of rich Belleville are almost all obese and their state symbol seems to be the Statue of Hamburger; Madame Souza is unable to buy hamburgers without money) which is the driving force of competition (as in the hoopla around the Tour de France but also with reference to Hollyfood) which results in sameness without creativitity' (Scott, 2008) On top of this is the directors own skeptic nature that highlights itself throughout the content of the film, ranging from symbols to dreams and even of the future.

Belleville-Rende-vous is a good example of a film that can be both entertaining to children and adults, for the energetic characters and scenes, to the the deep thought questions that it is built around. Examination of its production goes to show the mindset of individuals behind the entrepreneurial products that we're more familiar with. 

Bibliography
Ebert, R. (2003). The Triplets of Belleville. [blog] Roger Ebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-triplets-of-belleville-2003 [14/02/18]
Scott, J.P. (2008). The Triplets of Belleville analysis. [blog] Satirist. Available at: http://satirist.org/swapa/belleville.html [14/02/18]

Figures
fig 1. Chomet, S. (2003). Belleville Rende-vous. [film still] [15/02/18]
fig 2. Chomet, S. (2003). Belleville Rende-vous. [film still] [15/02/18]