--- title: "The Triplets of Belleville" year: 2003 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-triplets-of-belleville" fi1m_score: 84 critics_score: 83 critics_reviews: 16 published: "2026-09-17T06:31:38.885086+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T06:31:51.073588+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Triplets of Belleville (2003) Directed by Sylvain Chomet · 1h 20m · MPA PG-13 · Animation, Comedy, Drama, Adventure **Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 83 from 16 reviews *In a sentence:* A club-footed grandmother pedals across an ocean after her kidnapped grandson, and the fat dog comes too; of course he does > Sylvain Chomet’s near-wordless animated feature sends a tiny grandmother across an ocean after her kidnapped cyclist grandson, and draws every face in it as a grotesque. It is odd, funny, tender and a little slack in the middle. We recommend it warmly. ## Synopsis Madame Souza (Monica Viegas), a small, club-footed grandmother in thick glasses, is raising her orphaned grandson Champion in a lopsided house on the edge of a French city. The boy is miserable. She tries a puppy, Bruno, then a piano, then a tricycle, and the tricycle takes. Years later Champion (Michel Robin) is a racing cyclist, all thighs and nose, and Souza trains him from a bicycle behind, blowing a whistle. He rides the Tour de France and is lifted off the road mid-race by two square-shouldered men in black. They ship him across the sea to Belleville, a vast city of vast people. Souza and Bruno follow in a pedalo, and in Belleville fall in with the Triplets (Betty Bonifassi among them), elderly music-hall singers who live on frogs. ## Review Madame Souza is about four feet tall, wears glasses like the bottoms of jam jars and has one shoe built up because one leg is shorter than the other. She lives with her grandson Champion in a house on the edge of a city, and nothing she buys him works until she buys him a tricycle. Years pass. A railway viaduct goes up so close to the house that the house leans. Champion becomes a cyclist and Souza his trainer, riding behind him on a bicycle with a whistle in her mouth, and when he is stolen from the Tour de France by men in black overcoats and shipped across the sea to Belleville, she hires a pedalo and goes after him. *The Triplets of Belleville* is a strange, handsome, almost silent film, and we recommend it, with a caveat about its middle third that we will come to. It opens in black and white, with a music-hall number done as an old newsreel: three young women in matching dresses sing the title song while a Josephine Baker figure dances in a skirt of bananas and a Fred Astaire figure is eaten by his own shoes. Benoît Charest’s tune swings on guitar and the chorus is nonsense syllables, which suits a film that has decided words are not going to be much use to it. Nobody in the film says a sentence we needed to hear. Jean-Claude Donda’s sports commentators gabble, Souza hums, the dog barks, and the story gets on perfectly well. Evgeni Tomov’s production design gives France the colours of a stained tablecloth, ochre and brown and tobacco, and gives Belleville the grey-green of a fish tank. The city is enormous and so is everyone in it. The buildings bulge, the cars bulge, a Statue of Liberty at the harbour mouth is a fat woman with a hamburger. It is a good joke for about five minutes and the film keeps telling it, and Anthony Lane’s objection in the reviews, that this is a European’s idea of America drawn with a thick pen, is fair. Chomet is on surer ground indoors, in the Triplets’ flat, where three old women in a slum catch frogs with dynamite and serve them as soup, as skewers and as lollipops. We laughed, and then rather wished we had not looked so closely at the plates. The sound is where the film lives. The Triplets perform in a nightclub on a fridge shelf, a rolled newspaper, a vacuum cleaner and the spokes of a bicycle wheel, and Charest builds a real number out of it. Earlier, Souza tunes the spokes of Champion’s wheel like a harp, and it is the tenderest thing in the film. The scene that got us, though, is the quay. The ship carrying Champion pulls out, Bruno barks at it, and Souza stands there, tiny against the grey of the water, and then simply goes and finds a pedalo. Nothing is said. The scale did it: the size of the sea and the size of the woman, and the film’s refusal to make anything of the gap. Three editors are credited, Dominique Brune, Chantal Colibert Brunner and Dominique Lefever, and the cutting is mostly patient in the right way, letting a face or a bit of business run until it pays. Bruno’s dreams, black-and-white and all about trains, are dropped in without warning and never explained. The film is only 80 minutes long, and even so it sags once Souza reaches Belleville and before the plot finds its feet again. A pursuit through the streets goes on past its point, and one or two of the gags about size get a third airing. Champion himself is a pair of calves with a nose, on purpose, and the price of that is a rescue we cared about for Souza’s sake and not much for his. This is Chomet’s first full-length film, and its ancestors are not the American studios but Jacques Tati, whose films also let the world do the talking and whose people were also shapes before they were characters. There are no talking animals here, no songs about believing in yourself, and the grandmother never tells anyone she loves them. She does not need to. She has crossed an ocean in a hired boat. Watch it with the sound up and the subtitles off; there is nothing to read. Small children may find the frogs upsetting and the men in black frightening, and they will be right on both counts. *Fi1m score 84, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics fall for this one. The reviews lean strongly positive, and the praise clusters almost entirely on Chomet’s drawing: the caricatured, grotesque yet humane character designs, the invention packed into every corner of the frame, and a style several reviewers trace back to Jacques Tati and silent comedy rather than to Disney. The resourceful grandmother is picked out as an unlikely heroine, and the sound design and score come in for their share of credit in a film that gets by almost without dialogue. The reservations are about story rather than picture. Screen Daily finds the plot stop-start, with scenes that run too long, and The Skinny says the entertainment comes from background detail rather than from anything happening in the foreground. The AV Club warns that the grotesquery and the stream-of-consciousness telling may put some viewers off. The spread is narrow: no critic dislikes it, and even the two mixed notices admire the animation without qualification. ### Reviews we read (16) - **Evening Standard**, Neil Norman (90/100, inferred): Chomet’s dialogue-free animated feature is a staggeringly brilliant, visually breathtaking classic that blends surreal European graphic artistry with emotional depth and humor. It follows a grandmother’s determined rescue of her kidnapped cyclist grandson with the help of the eccentric Belleville Triplets. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/a-handdrawn-delight-7436170.html) - **Los Angeles Times**, Kenneth Turan (90/100, inferred): The film is a truly out-there piece of comic animation and the most outlandishly visual film of the year, the product of an artistic vision as rigorous as any lofty Cannes prize-winner. Turan singles out the fearlessness of Chomet’s singular point of view and the wacky plot involving the kidnapped cyclist and the triplets. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-nov-26-et-triplets26-story.html) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (90/100, inferred): The film is an animated feature of appalling originality and scary charm that sweeps viewers into its dark comic vision without caring to be loved. Ebert singles out the haunting comic drawing style and inexorable energy of the story for praise. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-triplets-of-belleville-2003) - **Slant Magazine**, Joshua Vasquez (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's dreamlike visual and sonic invention, its grotesque yet humane character designs, and its elegiac meditation on parental love and aging, calling it a near-masterpiece that lingers in memory. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-triplets-of-belleville/) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): The critic calls Chomet's animated feature thoroughly delightful, touching, hilarious and bracingly original, with superbly detailed and vividly eccentric animation. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,1030893,00.html) - **The New York Times**, A. O. Scott (NYT Critic’s Pick): The film is one of the best and oddest of the year, a tour de force of ink-washed mischief and unlikely sublimity that is sweet and sinister, funny and dark. Scott singles out the black-and-white overture evoking Josephine Baker and Fred Astaire for its naughty, exuberant quality. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/26/movies/film-review-nostalgia-for-a-land-that-twirls-in-dreams.html) - **Variety** (90/100, inferred): The film is a sardonic feast of narrative invention and graphic caricature that swings to a nostalgic beat, unapologetically French yet universal in its humor. The review singles out the terrific sound design, swell score, and conceptual highlights like the opening newsreel and the triplets’ frog-catching technique. [Read](https://variety.com/2003/film/awards/belleville-rendez-vous-1200541651/) - **Empire**, William Thomas (80/100, inferred): Chomet’s unique, dialogue-light adult animation mixes a comedic adventure with nostalgia, satire, and emotional resonance, delivering terrific set-pieces and an unlikely but winning heroine in the resourceful grandmother. It is moving and funny with moments of genius, despite occasional longueurs. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/belleville-rendez-vous-review/) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (80/100, inferred): The film succeeds at being indescribable with its avalanche of oddness and keen draftsmanship, though it harbors some stolid European prejudices about New York. Lane singles out the draftsmanship of caricatured figures and the reverent treatment of a dream sequence bestowed upon a slumbering dog. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/12/01/strange-lands) - **Time Out**, NB (80/100, inferred): The review highlights the film's place among inventive world animation, praising its skewed perspective, deadpan grotesquery, flair for invention, and blasé beauty alongside caricature. It recommends relishing these qualities over deeper analysis. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-triplets-of-belleville) - **The AV Club**, Noel Murray (70/100, inferred): The review highlights the film's sheer illustrative inventiveness, surreal whimsy, and one-of-a-kind contraption-like quality while noting its grotesque elements and stream-of-consciousness style may alienate some viewers. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-triplets-of-belleville-1798199155) - **Screen Daily** (60/100, inferred): The film is described as hugely inventive, visually striking, and often delightful, with strong animation and a distinctive non-naturalistic style, but it is let down by a stop-start storyline and scenes that run too long. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/belleville-rendez-vous-les-triplettes-de-belleville/4013575.article) - **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (90/100, inferred): The critic praises this engaging, original animated film in the classical style without Disney sentimentality, calling it entertaining from start to finish and quirky and quick-witted. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/belleville-rendez-vous-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson) - **Paste**, J. Robert Parks (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the film's inventive and enchanting qualities, its silent cinema-inspired humor and visual style reminiscent of Jacques Tati and children's books. They highlight the animation's use of facial expressions and everyday objects for comedy, noting it raises the bar for animated films. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/the-triplets-of-belleville) - **Collider**, Jacob Slankard (85/100, inferred): The piece celebrates the film's unique animation style and its bold, satirical take on American culture and Disney, positioning it as a standout indie animated film that challenged Pixar at the Oscars. It emphasizes the tactile world-building and influences from classic animation. [Read](https://collider.com/the-triplets-of-belleville-oscars/) - **The Skinny**, Josh Slater-Willams (★★★): The critic praises the film's enduring visual textures and designs, including art nouveau and Tati homages, but notes the story isn't particularly engaging, with entertainment mainly from background details and use of silence and sound effects. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews/belleville-rendez-vous) ## Details - **Director:** Sylvain Chomet - **Director:** Sylvain Chomet - **Screenplay:** Sylvain Chomet - **Editor:** Dominique Brune, Chantal Colibert Brunner, Dominique Lefever - **Music:** Benoît Charest - **Production design:** Evgeni Tomov - **Producer:** Didier Brunner, Viviane Vanfleteren - **Cast:** Suzy Falk as Triplet (voice); Lina Boudreau as Triplet (voice); Betty Bonifassi as Triplet (voice); Michèle Caucheteux as Triplet (voice); Jean-Claude Donda as General Gaulle / Sports Commentators / Homeless (voice); Mari-Lou Gauthier as Triplet (voice); Charles Linton as Additional Voice (voice); Monica Viegas as Madame Souza (voice) - **Runtime:** 1h 20m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13 - **Release (the US):** 29 August 2003 - **Genres:** Animation, Comedy, Drama, Adventure - **Budget:** $10 million - **Box office:** $15 million ## Where to watch in the US - The Roku Channel: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01 - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AU, BE, FR, GB, NZ, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Motion Picture 2005: Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Award for Best Motion Picture (won) - Academy Awards 2004: Best Animated Feature (nominated) - Annie Award for Best Animated Feature 2003: Annie Award for Best Animated Feature (nominated) - Critics' Choice Awards 2003: Best Animated Feature (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Mon Oncle* (1958): Tati’s world speaks for itself while the people mumble; Chomet learned it here. - *The Illusionist* (2010), Fi1m 78: Chomet again, quieter and sadder, with a Tati script and an Edinburgh made of rain. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-illusionist.md) - *Fantastic Planet* (1973): French animation at its most peculiar, and the strangeness is the point. - *Ernest & Celestine* (2012), Fi1m 84: Watercolour bear and mouse; gentler than Chomet, drawn with the same care. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ernest-and-celestine.md) - *The Red Turtle* (2016), Fi1m 84: Another wordless film about being small against a great deal of sea. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-red-turtle.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. 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