Film
in: SllilnEATEHR (AKA THE ORDER) (15) 102mm .
Penitent beware
Misshapen cartoon mayhem
ééLtévI'L'LE RENDEZ-VOUS (12A) 80min O...
This impressively inventive French animated feature from writer-director .. . .
Sylvain Chomet clocks in at a crisp 80 minutes. yet a single viewing can 3 z" ' ' w ' ' 1' : ' ' ~ 2' '- ' I barely do justice to this richly detailed and consistently surprising tale of adventure.
Its plot involves the diminutive, club-footed Madame Souza preparing her orphaned grandson Champion to be a world-beating cyclist, as she personally supervises his arduous training regime. But during the mountain stage of the Tour de France. Champion is kidnapped by black—suited men from the French Mafia and whisked across the Atlantic to the city of Belleville (a Metropolis-style amalgam of New York. Quebec and Montreal, . . . . -- . . . . - I, I stunningly designed by art director Evgeni Tomov.) It‘s up to granny and . - 1 -- . . : - Jbz
+m's' or” The ‘sun (15) 118mm 00
Champion‘s beloved dog Bruno to perform a daring rescue. although they v ’ can rely on assistance from the elderly Belleville Sisters. a song-and-dance :xi trio who once performed with Fred Astaire. '7 .' E- ' . . . ' ‘ "" The hand-drawn animation gives this primarily dialogue-free film a v t v' :' w ' : . Uncle Bruce‘s war on terror deliberately antiquated visual style, and Chomet relishes caricaturing the z . . . . .. ' body shapes of his characters; whether it‘s the overly muscular thighs and " : " 2' 2' : z : '- '- ~ '. 1' r- z 1 2' : .
protuberant nose of Champion, or the grotesquely obese residents of
Belleville. Sending up the eating habits of North Americans and the clichés
about the French predilection for frog-related dishes, the director manages
to pay homage to such cultural icons as the guitarist Django Reinhardt and ., . . .
French comic Jacques Tati. " " :".' .» w :' '. -- ' There’s so much to relish here: the dog's black and white dream 5-) z r ~ r I:
sequences, the unconventional use of hand grenades to catch frogs, and ' '
above all the operatic ocean crossing on a pedalo. (Tom Dawson) ' : ; t." : : z - ' '
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28 TNE LIST 1