Released last year to limited distribution, this feature-length
animated film is finally coming around to more theaters, thanks to some
award nominations. Although it's considered a French film, with
production in Belgium, Canada, and the Czech Republic, it screams of
Montreal. Who else would openly admit to heavily soaking in the
music/pop/art cultures of both the French and the Americans
(re-performing the mmusic on various musical non-instruments) while
blatently poking fun at each (without being completely degrading)? It's
a semi-musical semi-surrealistic culture clash, with a linguistic mix
of French and English, void of subtitles. (They're not necessary
anyhow.) An old woman and her grandson live together in France, enjoy
old Vaudville-like (from the fictitious Bellville) musical productions
on the TV, have a cute dog, and the grandson is a bicyclist. But,
during the Tour de France, something awful happens and it's up to the
grandmother, dog, and the aging Triplets of Bellville to do something
about it. The adventure is fun, the tunes are catchy (while almost
completely nonsensical), and the animation is something to be enjoyed
on the large screen. It's also a bit of a tribute to older cartoons in
a few ways: most notably that old Looney Tunes cartoons weren't always
just for kids and Disney films of yesteryear had both tragedy and a
moral. The quirky animation and bouncy tunes are something most
definitely to be experienced on the large screen as to be fully
appreciated. (Don't leave during the credits since there's something
afterwards too!) Due to its short length, animated shorts are appearing
with it across the USA. For those as lucky as I was, the theater showed
Destino,
a short begun by Salvador Dali and completed recently, as Disney was
originally planning to use some of the surrealistic adventures in a
series of Fantasias, which were never completed. A number of famous
Dali paintings come to life with a retro soundtrack which is absolutely
out of this world. Once again, the big screen experience is truly
breathtaking.
