Belleville Rendezvous
Screening: 18 October 2004
France/Canada/Belgium 2002
Directed by Sylvian Chomet
Leading players ~ Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin.
80 minutes
Synopsis
The film opens with a grainy shot of Fred Astaire having an unbelievably hard time with his shoes, while song-and-dance trio The Belleville Triplets are also on the bill. They will return later in the narrative – Fred Astaire will not.Madame Souza adopts her lonely, orphaned grandson, Champion, and gives him a bike and a dog, Bruno. She then personally supervises his transformation from a podgy youth to a true, muscle-bound champion testing himself in the greatest cycle race of them all - the Tour de France. En route Champion is kidnapped by the French Mafia and whisked off to Belleville in America aboard a magnificent ocean liner. Granny and Bruno rush to the rescue on a pedalo – yes, a pedalo.
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Quirkiness and subversive humour are the hallmarks and joy of this unique film. Champion Supermarkets as sponsors of the Tour de France and Autoroutes In Inappropriate Places are just two of the many references that eagle-eyed moviegoers will spot.
